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 issue.
Dear Dot,
Why can’t you compost cheese, yogurt, or meat?
—Nina Maruca, via email
Dear Nina,
I am meticulous about clearing my plate. Even so, the occasional meat scrap or piece of cheese evades my stomach. And I feel...
Dear Dot,We used to be able to take plastic bags to Stop and Shop . Is there any other option locally? Stop and Shop stopped taking them.—Jana Bertkau
Dear Jana,The eldest of my Young Dots recently...
Dear Dot,
My longtime partner and I are planning to get married. I don’t usually go for a lot of the conventional stuff but we have decided to give each other rings. I’ve heard some nasty...
Dear Dot,I recently read an article exposing some of the organic cotton market as fraudulent. I want to do the right thing but I don’t want to support the bad guys. What should I look...
Dear Dot, In my town, we have curbside paper/cardboard recycling, but we also have municipal composting that accepts paper/cardboard. Is it better to recycle paper or compost it?
—Nikki
Dear Nikki,
When I first considered your question, I...
Dear Dot,When I was a child the Easter bunny would come to my house and leave a special basket filled with plastic straw, candy, and a new stuffed bunny to add to the pile. I...
Dear Dot,
What should I do with the temperature on my water heater when I leave for a week’s vacation?
–Wayne, West Tisbury
Dear Wayne,
Your question raises something of a tempest in a water heater. On the one...
Dear Dot,
I seem to have a lot of battery-operated gadgets in my home. Should I switch over entirely to rechargeables?
–Laura, Vineyard Haven
Dear Laura,
The short answer to your question is — yes, switch out those disposable...
Dear Dot
I recently read that grass-fed beef is not better than grain-fed for greenhouse gas emissions and, in fact, may be worse. What does Dot know about that?
–Robert, Chilmark
Dear Robert,
What Dot knows is that, many...
Dear Dot,
Why can’t you compost cheese, yogurt, or meat?
—Nina Maruca, via email
Dear Nina,
I am meticulous about clearing my plate. Even so, the occasional meat...
