Dear Dot is here to answer all your sustainable living questions from her perch on the porch. Got a question for Dot? Send her a note for a chance to be featured in an upcoming post.
Dear Dot,
Can you help me figure out how to stop all the catalogs I get in the mail? A terrible waste of paper!
–Virginia, Santa Barbara
Dear Virginia,
It can feel like something of a mystery in our...
Dear Dot,
We buy and use compostable doggie bags for our pup’s poops. But we typically toss them in the garbage so is there any point to compostable bags? Are they still better than non-compostable or...
Dear Dot,
How can I celebrate an event without balloons?
–Cathy
Dear Cathy,
One day in third grade, my teacher Mrs. Wright showed us a movie in which a young child encounters a balloon that seems to have a...
Dear Dot,I’m really impressed when I hear about universities divesting from big oil. I know that the biggest impact I could make would be to follow suit. Why is it I’m having such a hard...
Dear Dot,
My husband is harping about the toilet paper I purchase, the super-soft kind that’s easy on my delicate nether region. He says I’m a tree killer and that it’s bad for our septic. But...
Dear Dot,
The other day we were talking about how much oxygen a tree can produce from CO2 and we got to wondering — do trees remove particulate matter from the air too?
–Will, Seattle
Dear Will,
Trees sprout,...
Dear Dot,
I recently read an article about “fatbergs” in our sewers and I’m afraid I might have been part of the problem. I’m wondering what is the best way to dispose of cooking oil?
—Concerned Cook,...
Dear Dot,Coffee, how do I choose? It says locally brewed but does that mean it’s better for the environment? What do all those labels mean? What should I look for?–Curious Coffee Connoisseur
Dear Triple C,
I, too,...
With baby wildlife season underway, Project Wildlife is calling on the public to watch and wait before intervening, to ensure the animals really need to be brought in for rehabilitation.
Third-party certification encourages cannabis farmers in California and beyond to adopt regenerative agricultural practices, champion workers' rights, and support their communities.
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are vital for reducing carbon emissions and combating climate change. However, as critics like to point out,...
