Dear Dot, I wear a lot of cashmere in the winter. I know that might sound snooty, but I do it because wool makes my neck itch. I've noticed that in recent years, I can buy...

Dear Dot, As I assess peels and skins and tops and petals and stems, I often wonder: Where should I put this? It's equally easy for me to put most scraps in the compost or down...

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,...