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,
I am feeling hopeful. I've dispensed with plastic baggies to preserve food, and upped my game on recycling. I buy organic, and try to get out of the market without too much plastic, and...
Dear Dot,
What is the difference between pasture-raised hens (and therefore eggs), cage-free, or free-run? I want eggs only from the happiest of hens.
Rona
West Tisbury
Dear Rona,
Oh, my hen-loving friend … your innocent question has opened up...
Dear Dot,
I can’t afford a new electric vehicle. Is there a way to make my internal combustion engine more energy-efficient? Does it matter what grade fuel I use?
Poppy MacCormack
Oak Bluffs
Dear Poppy,
For too long, the notion...
Dot tackles your thorniest questions from a perch on her porch.
Dear Dot,
Where do I start?
–Overwhelmed in Edgartown
My dear Overwhelmed,
In 2004, I had three young children and a nascent awareness that their future on earth, this...
Dot tackles your thorniest questions from a perch on her porch.
Dear Dot,
I was told that monarch butterfly cocoons were developing in the bottlebrush near my house, but this year there were fewer than last year....
Dot tackles your thorniest questions from a perch on her porch.
Dear Dot,
Ads for laundry strips have been showing up in my Facebook feed, touting their eco-friendliness. Do they work? Also … what are laundry strips?
–The...
Dot tackles your thorniest questions from a perch on her porch.
Dear Dot,
Someone told me that used coffee grounds are really good for my backyard compost. Is that true? Where can I get some?
–Tea Drinker, Tisbury
Dear...
Dot tackles your thorniest questions from a perch on her porch.
Dear Dot,
I’ve been reading about the volume of microplastics in our oceans and waterways, and am concerned about what can be done to reduce my...
For a relative newcomer to Martha’s Vineyard it’s the ocean that dazzles. But spend any time here and you’ll realize that, to longtime Islanders,...
Emily and Steve Solarazza are really committed to solar power.Â
When I walk up to Steve and Emily Solarazza’s 600-square foot Vineyard Haven home on...