At Home On Earth

SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES

Photographer and wildlife writer Ilene Klein captured this male Northern Cardinal at the Nicolson Audubon Center in Nebraska. “Cardinals are non-migratory birds known for their strong sense of place,” she writes in her recent column. “They are the state bird in seven states — more than any other species. States across the Midwest and East designated them as their emblem over the course of the 20th century, drawn to their ‘splendid color and song’ (North Carolina), dependable year-round presence in backyards (Illinois), and role as a ‘symbol of warmth and home’ (West Virginia).” 

If you are spotting birds where you live, consider participating in the Christmas Bird Count, the nation’s longest-running community science bird project, which the Audubon Society holds each year. Reporting on which birds are where helps scientists track the impacts of climate change on migration and bird populations. Plus, looking out your window at a red bird on a pine tree, a symbol of “warmth and home,” isn’t such a bad holiday project, is it?

Elevate Your Holiday Gifting With Sustainable Gifts From Our Store

We’ve made sustainable gifting simple just in time for the holidays. Our new store is stocked with everyday essentials, clever swaps, and hardworking products that help reduce waste — all from brands we’ve vetted for real environmental responsibility. Treat the people you love to gifts that feel good and do good.

“They do not sweat and whine about their condition, they do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins … not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things.”

– Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself, 32,” Leaves of Grass

Poet Walt Whitman wrote this about animals in his seminal book Leaves of Grass (available on Thriftbooks and Amazon). It’s hard not to get swept up in Whitman’s celebration of life, his words helping crack it open for the rest of us, urging us to see the universe (to paraphrase another poet, William Blake) in a blade of grass. Whitman wanted us to love the world, to love ourselves and each other, and to love nature, especially. 

• Climate Quick Tip: Shop Your Fridge

• Dear Dot: How Can I Humanely Evict Rodents?

• Donate Wisely Thanks to Giving Green

• Cardinals (the Birds!) and Their Cardinal Rules

• Go Sit Outside on This Nomadix Puffer Blanket

• And Maybe Count All the Birds You See

• Bluedot Guide to Citizen Action

• Conserving Wildlife, One Photo at a Time

• A Refuge from Chemical Weapons in Colorado

• Saving Endangered Monk Seals in Hawaii

• Seventy Years of Planting Trees in Iran

• Recipe: Wild Japanese Burdock With Carrots

Make sustainable living simple with the Bluedot Living’s Green Home Deluxe Kit — a $170+ value collection of our editors’ favorite Earth-friendly products, free with your membership. You’ll also enjoy exclusive member savings, inspiring community connections, and more planet-positive perks.

FEATURED STORIES

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Plan meals around ingredients you have and buy only what you need to help reduce food waste.

Wild Japanese Burdock Carrot Kinpura

Conserving Wildlife, One Photo at a Time

When wildlife filmmaker Ashwika Kapur first learned about the traditional hunting festivals in West Bengal, she was shocked at the scale of the killing: The events claim the lives of thousands of birds, mammals, and reptiles annually. But she was even more concerned to see so many children taking part — and learning to see animals as targets, rather than fellow living creatures. She decided she would try to change that mindset by putting cameras in the hands of five local boys and teaching them the basics of wildlife photography. Writer Puja Bhattacharjee reveals what happened next.

Dear Dot: How Can I Get Rid of Rodents in a Humane Way?

Illustration by Elissa Turnbull

Dear Dot,

Is there a non-toxic, humane way to rid a plague of chipmunks and rats?

– Karleen

Dear Karleen,

Dot was recently sitting around with a few neighbors, chatting about our community’s robust population of skunks. Living on an island mostly without predators is skunk nirvana, and they have responded by procreating with abandon. Consequently, many of us humans who have invaded this tiny island are frustrated with the unsurprising and unwelcome aroma of our adorable little pals — including my neighbors, who were trading stories about their “pest-control guy” who addresses the issue with a shotgun.

I reacted with horror. While I am no fan of de-skunking my dogs, who seem determined to relearn a stinky lesson, I am also no fan of violence or cruelty to small (or large) critters. I’m with you, Karleen. We come to evict in peace.

But … how exactly? What does “humane” even mean? What qualifies as “non-toxic”? Read on.

BUY LESS/BUY BETTER:
Go Sit Outside—Puffer Blankets From Nomadix

If you make a purchase through our links, including from Amazon, we may earn a small commission.

Stay in the iconic Hotel Californian in the heart of Santa Barbara when you join our upcoming Bluedot Living trip to California’s Central Coast. Designed and led by Bluedot’s founder, Victoria Riskin, this curated trip was designed with sustainability and luxury in mind and features private tours, whale watching, wine tastings, meetings with local change-makers, and inspiration to care for our planet.

What You Can Do:
Donate to Environmental Organizations

If you’re considering where to deploy some of your financial resources, there are loads of nature-focused organizations that would love the help. Giving Green evaluates environmental non-profits and provides a list of those that make the best use of donations. Some Bluedot staff favorites: The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Village and Wilderness, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon. 
 

Or help us continue to deliver award-winning,

solutions-focused journalism by becoming a Bluedot member. 

The Keep-This Handbook

If “get more involved” is on your resolution radar, we’ve got you covered with a wide range of things you can do to help preserve our environment, our communities, our democracy. Check out Bluedot’s Guide to Citizen Action. 

When We Love It, We Protect It

You don’t have to call yourself an environmentalist to want to protect the natural environment around you. When the World Wildlife Fund surveyed Americans, they found that people united around these statements: “Nature is an essential part of America’s cultural identity” (73% said it describes their opinion completely, or a lot), and “Nature is an essential part of my region or state identity” (64% said it aligned completely or mostly with their opinion). Eighty-four percent of Americans said they like or love spending time in nature, and the same amount said they were concerned about threats to nature. 

At Bluedot, we love featuring stories of people acting as stewards, like these students maintaining trails on Nantucket, or the folks banding birds along the Atlantic Flyway. One of our most popular stories ever was about how Yellowstone National Park is addressing climate change; another reader favorite told the story of a man who created a 27-mile cross-town hiking trail through Boston’s abundant urban parks. We can do these stories because of your generous support; please consider becoming a Bluedot member. Meanwhile, go outside and play. 

Have a great holiday; we’ll see you next week. 

–Jamie Kageleiry (and Emily Cain, Leslie Garrett, and Robin Jones)

Editors

Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com

Leslie Garrett has been covering climate stories for close to two decades.  She makes her home in Canada, west of Toronto. She’s still figuring out her favorite spot but it’s definitely near the water.

Jamie Kageleiry, a longtime magazine and newspaper editor from Martha’s Vineyard, says her favorite spot on earth is out on a kayak there, looking at birds.

Robin Jones is a Southern California native who served as an editor at Westways magazine for more than a decade. She lives in Long Beach and teaches journalism at Cal State Long Beach.

Emily Cain is a recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where she wrote and edited for the university’s award-winning magazine, DIG.

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