Kate Assaraf spent almost two decades inside the beauty industry before she founded Dip, and what she saw there stuck with her: before-and-after photos timestamped to meet regulations, with Botox quietly filling the gap the rules didn't cover; hair-growth claims stamped on rinse-off shampoo bars that, by definition, can't grow hair. She's not vindictive about it, she says — she'd rather build something honest than report anyone to the FTC. That something is Dip, a plastic-free shampoo and conditioner bar company built less around a single "sustainable" product and more around rethinking nearly every assumption behind how beauty products get made, packaged, marketed, and — crucially — how often you're asked to buy more of them.

In this conversation with Janet Kraus and Ally Giebutowski, mother and daughter, Kate explains why a conditioner bar designed to last a full year isn't a bug in Dip's business model but the whole point, even though it means she sells less and makes less than a company built on repeat purchases. She walks through the "trust recession" — a consumer landscape worn down by fake reviews, AI-generated content, and knockoff "sustainable" marketing — and makes an unexpectedly nuanced case for synthetic fragrance over essential oils, plus a warehouse of 40,000 landfill-bound plastic bottles she rescued rather than let go to waste. She closes with her own litmus test for sustainable living: conservation, not consumerism.

In This Episode:

• Nearly 20 years in the beauty industry, and the marketing tricks she saw over and over: Botox-filled "before and afters" and hair-growth claims on products that legally can't make them

• Why unsubstantiated hair-growth claims on shampoo and conditioner are a drug claim, not a beauty claim — and who that hurts most

• Founding and closing her first company, and what it taught her about refill store owners as the "truth tellers" of a digitally dishonest industry

• Why Dip is built to be bought once a year instead of once a month, and how that against-the-grain model still works (one independently owned refill store has sold over $200,000 of Dip)

• The "trust recession": bot-written reviews, AI-generated influencer content, and why Kate argues shopping in person is how consumers take their power back

• Rescuing 40,000 landfill-bound plastic bottles for Dip's "Secret Sauce" scalp spray — and why she trademarked the joke name "Deadstock"

• The case for synthetic fragrance over essential oils: the land, pesticide, and biomass cost of "natural" that most consumers never hear about

• Why "purity tests" in the sustainability movement do more harm than good, and her case for meeting people where they are instead of finger-wagging them out of the movement

• "Conservation, not consumerism" — Kate's litmus test for whether you're a consumer of a place or a steward of it

About Kate Assaraf

Kate Assaraf is the founder and CEO of Dip, a company making salon-quality, plastic-free shampoo and conditioner bars after nearly 20 years working inside the traditional beauty industry. Dip is sold almost exclusively through independent and refill stores across the U.S. and Canada, and Kate has been recognized with the 2022 Beauty Design Award for Doing Good For The Planet.

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/

Ericka Rodriguez thought she'd already solved the problem. Axiology, the beauty brand she started making in her New York City kitchen in 2014, was vegan, cruelty-free, and palm-oil-free from day one — the kind of brand people call sustainable without a second thought. Then a shipment of broken aluminum tubes revealed something she'd missed: the "recyclable" packaging she'd built her brand's story on had a plastic lining inside, which meant it couldn't be recycled at all. It was just trash.

In this conversation, Ericka walks Janet through creating her first product, Balmies: a tubeless, hand-wrapped lip color that looks like a crayon, made possible by a women's paper cooperative in Bali that still hand-recycles, hand-folds, and hand-stamps every box Axiology sells.

In This Episode:

• The cruelty-free "light bulb moment" — a bunny logo on a mascara tube that sent Ericka down a research rabbit hole into cruelty in the beauty industry

• Why she stopped eating meat at 11, and how that empathy for animals shaped Axiology's vegan, palm-oil-free formulas from day one

• The link between palm oil, deforestation, and animal habitat loss — and why she avoided the ingredient before it was a mainstream concern

• Making lip balm in her NYC kitchen as a creative outlet (and driving her roommate out in the process), then launching six lipstick shades on Etsy in 2014 after a move to Bali

• The wake-up call: broken aluminum tube shipments revealed a hidden plastic lining that made the "recyclable" packaging impossible to actually recycle

• A local landfill tour that reframed the problem for her — even packaging that's 50% post-consumer recycled plastic is still headed for the trash

• Why she scrapped tube packaging entirely and invented the Balmie — a tubeless, paper-wrapped lip color that looks like a crayon

About Ericka Rodriguez

Ericka Rodriguez is the founder of Axiology Beauty, a company she built twice — first as a clean, vegan, cruelty-free beauty brand, and then again as one of the beauty industry's pioneers in plastic-free packaging.

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/

Lentils seem simple until you actually try to buy them — then you're staring down French green, black beluga, red, yellow, brown, and more, with no idea what separates one from the next. In this installment of our pantry series, Caroline Saunders walks through the wide, varied world of lentils: where they grow, why the soil and climate of a place shapes the lentil that comes out of it, and which variety belongs in which dish.

Caroline and her co-host dig into the prized Le Puy lentil from France's volcanic Haut-Loire region (protected by AOC status), why black beluga lentils hold their shape best of all, and the case for red lentils when you actually want them to break down into something creamy. Along the way: how to cook lentils so they stay al dente instead of turning to mush, the aromatics and acids that make a plain pot of lentils taste like something, and why lentils — like all legumes — are quietly one of the best things you can put in the ground.

In This Episode:

• The basics of lentils: what they are, where they grow, and why so many regional varieties exist

• French green (Le Puy) lentils, their AOC-protected status, and why they're grown in the volcanic soil of France's Haut-Loire region

• Black beluga lentils — the "vegetarian caviar" — and why they hold their shape and texture better than any other variety

• How to cook lentils: rinsing and sorting first, then simmering 40 to 60 minutes and checking texture along the way

• Building flavor with aromatics — garlic, bay leaf, dried herbs, leftover onion — while lentils cook

• Why an acid (tangerine juice and balsamic, or berry vinegar) finishes a pot of lentils, plus a favorite Melissa Clark roasted vegetable and lentil salad

• Red and yellow lentils: hulled, split, and made for breaking down into soups like a pureed red lentil soup

• Brown and green lentils, the classic diner-soup base, and why they get an unfair reputation

• The environmental case for lentils: a low carbon footprint and their role fixing nitrogen back into the soil

• What's still ahead in the pantry series — rice, grains, and a promised trip into the fridge

About Caroline Saunders

Caroline Saunders is a food expert and recurring guest on Imagine If's pantry series, where she helps demystify the ingredients sitting in listeners' cupboards — one category at a time.

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/

What if the most sustainable protein in America was sitting in a 7-Eleven in Bangkok the whole time?

In this episode, Janet Kraus sits down with Steven Shonts, founder of The Hermit, to talk about squid jerky, yes, squid jerky, and why it might be one of the most overlooked climate wins in the American snack aisle. 

Janet and Steven get into the ecological case for squid (low bycatch, a population that's holding steady or growing, and minimal habitat disruption) and the nutritional case (high protein, omega-3s, easy digestibility). It's a conversation about conscientious protein, progress over perfection, and what happens when you're willing to rethink something as ordinary as a snack.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Why squid might be the most under-appreciated sustainable protein in America

• How a Crohn's disease diagnosis reshaped Steven's relationship with food

• What "one degree of weird" means when you're launching an unconventional product

• Why California's squid fishery is Marine Stewardship Council certified — and why that matters

• Why American fisheries management is "a gold standard" most people never hear about

• The Imagine If closing question: what does it mean to ask "what do I get to eat today?"

About Steven Shonts:

Steven Shonts is the founder of The Hermit, a company making paleo-, keto-, and Whole30-friendly calamari jerky from 100% American, wild-caught, Marine Stewardship Council-certified squid. Before starting The Hermit, Steven worked in carbon markets, data analytics, and fintech. A Crohn's disease diagnosis in college reshaped his relationship with food, eventually leading him to Thailand, where dried squid became the inspiration for the company.

She couldn't drink coffee without wrecking her stomach, so she built an entire sustainable industry instead.

Teeccino founder Caroline MacDougall joins Imagine If to talk about turning a caffeine problem into a rainforest-preserving, women-empowering herbal coffee company.

In This Episode

• How a lifelong caffeine intolerance led Caroline into the herbal coffee business

• Why an unexpected pesticide-drift result in "wild" carob pods sent Caroline on a mission to get every Teeccino ingredient certified organic

• What "new trade" means, and how it differs from fair trade

• How sourcing rainforest ingredients gives standing trees economic value

• What "rewilding your gut" means, and how plant diversity supports gut-microbiome health

• What adaptogens actually are, and what Caroline learned visiting mushroom-growing villages in the mountains of China

• Why gratitude is Caroline's daily practice, and what she'd like the world to imagine

  
  

About Caroline MacDougall

Caroline MacDougall is the founder and CEO of Teeccino, a certified-organic herbal coffee alternative made from ingredients like chicory, barley, and wild-harvested ramon seed.

Learn more about Teeccino: https://bluedotliving.com/meet-caroline-macdougall-founder-of-teeccino/

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/

What if the lowest-carbon protein in your kitchen was also the easiest one to always have on hand?

In this episode of Pantry to Dinner, Victoria sits down with Bluedot Living contributor Caroline Saunders to talk all about mushrooms, from childhood memories of fairy rings and foraged morels to the roughly 2,100 edible varieties (out of 14,000 total) hiding in plain sight. 

Whether you're looking to stretch your grocery budget, cut down on meat, or just want a better mushroom soup recipe, this conversation is packed with practical, delicious ways to put mushrooms to work — including a mushroom bourguignon, a thyme-cream pasta sauce, and a five-ingredient mushroom pot pie.

• Why mushrooms are one of the lowest-carbon proteins you can buy

• The health case for mushrooms: protein, fiber, and a rare plant source of vitamin D

• How to use dried mushrooms as a pantry staple — and turn the rehydration liquid into stock (or tea)

• A tour of Caroline's favorite varieties, from workhorse button mushrooms to prized oyster mushrooms

• Why mushrooms land on the Environmental Working Group's Clean Fifteen

• Recipes worth stealing: mushroom bourguignon, a portobello sandwich, and a five-ingredient pot pie

Read more about the magic of mushrooms: https://bluedotliving.com/the-magic-of-mushrooms/

Explore more recipes and sustainable living inspiration at https://bluedotliving.com/sustainable-recipes/

Get your copy of Bluedot Living's Magazine: https://bluedotliving.com/magazine-subscriptions/

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/

What if the most hopeful thing you hear about climate this year comes from a college class called 'Solutions'?

Sage Lenier designed UC Berkeley's "Solutions for a Sustainable & Just Future" course at 19 — now the largest student-led class in the school's history — and joins Vicki and Cleo Carney for a genuinely hopeful conversation. Solar and wind keep getting cheaper, cities are stepping up, and even a tangle like California's water politics has real, workable fixes already on the table. They also highlight Stripe's Nan Ransohoff as proof that power and money can be put toward real good.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Why Sage's solutions-focused climate class became the most popular course at Berkeley

• The genuinely good news behind solar's price collapse

• The fixable ideas behind California's water challenges — like solar-covered canals

• Why Stripe's Nan Ransohoff is proof that power can be used for good

• Practical, doable takeaways: diet, market signals, and where to spend a little more

Connect with Sage Lenier and Sustainable & Just Future: https://www.sustainableandjustfuture.org

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/

Anchovies and sardines get short shrift. It's time that changed.

In this episode of the Pantry to Dinner series, Victoria sits down with Bluedot Living contributor Caroline Saunders to make the case for two of the most overlooked ingredients in the pantry and to show just how far a single tin can stretch.

 From a five-minute Caesar dressing to a lemony, caper-studded chicken dish Caroline and her boyfriend call "crack chicken," this conversation is a tour of everything a can of anchovies or sardines can become.

Along the way: the real difference between brown and silver anchovies (and why your waiter keeps bringing you the wrong one), a sardine toast so old the Romans were basically eating it, and a wild little pasta with raisins and saffron that Caroline swears by. Oh, and it turns out these tiny fish might be one of the most climate-friendly things on your plate — right up there with tofu.

Whether you keep a tin in your bag for Caesar salad emergencies or have never opened a can of anchovies in your life, this episode makes the case for giving them a permanent spot on the shelf.

• Brown vs. silver anchovies, and when to use each

• A five-minute Caesar dressing that skips the raw egg

• The lemon-caper "crack chicken" sauce recipe

• Sardine toast and pasta con le sarde (fennel, raisins, saffron)

• Why anchovies and sardines are an unusually climate-friendly protein

Read Vicki’s story on Caesar Salads: https://bluedotliving.com/resurrecting-caesar-the-great-salad/

Shop sustainable tinned fish at Bluedot Living: https://shop.bluedotliving.com/collections/food-kitchen?filter.p.product_type=Seafood&filter.v.price.gte=&filter.v.price.lte=&sort_by=best-selling

Get your copy of Bluedot Living's Magazine: https://bluedotliving.com/magazine-subscriptions/

Imagine if kids clothes that outlast childhood instead of the wash cycle. That's the world Marianna Sachse is building.

As founder of Jackalo, America's first circular children's clothing brand, Marianna is on a mission to fix an industry that quietly stopped designing for durability, and to show parents that "sustainable" doesn't have to mean "expensive."

In this episode, Victoria Riskin sits down with Marianna to trace her path from a shredded pair of school pants to a four-question framework for smarter buying, a plain-spoken case for cost-per-wear over price tags, and a new collection built entirely from reclaimed denim. Along the way: what actually happens to fabric in a dryer, why "value" and "cheap" aren't the same thing, and an Iroquois principle about deciding with seven generations in mind.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Why children's clothing quietly stopped being built to last, and how Marianna traced the problem to fabric blends that can't be recycled or donated

• A four-question framework for smarter buying: do I need this, can I get it secondhand, does it align with my values, and how do I make it last

• The real math behind cost-per-wear, and why a $100 pair of jeans can outlast — and out-value — a $40 pair

• Fabric basics worth knowing: organic cotton, linen, wool, and other materials to look for in kids' clothes

• Why air-drying instead of machine-drying is the single biggest thing you can do to extend a garment's life

• Inside Broken In, Jackalo's new collection made entirely from reclaimed B-grade denim

• Marianna's closing reflection on the Iroquois principle of deciding with seven generations in mind

About Marianna Sachse: Marianna Sachse is the founder and CEO of Jackalo, a line of long-lasting, sustainably and ethically made clothes for active kids that accepts used garments back for resale or responsible recycling. Before Jackalo, she spent two decades in public health, working with organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Aspen Institute. She started Jackalo after her own son's pants failed her within weeks of a new school year, and the company has since gone through the Techstars Accelerator.

Learn more about Jackalo: https://bluedotliving.com/marketplace/products/jackalo-apparel-for-kids/

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/

When a county road crew accidentally sprayed herbicide near their fence line, nobody would have known. B Bar Ranch reported it anyway — and gave up three years of organic certification on that land to do right by their own standards.

Host Vicki visits B Bar Ranch in Montana's Tom Miner Basin to talk with Jackson Stewart, steward of the 9,000-acre ranch his grandmother Maryanne Mott bought in 1978. Now the largest organic beef producer in Montana, B Bar raises cattle entirely grass-fed and grass-finished. Jackson shares what USDA organic certification really takes and the pride behind carrying his grandmother's vision forward.

In this episode:

Learn more about B Bar Ranch: https://bbar.com/

Be part of the Bluedot Living community

At Bluedot Living, we imagine if people were actually making progress on climate change—because they actually are. Each episode of Bluedot Living Podcast shares stories of people, policies, and projects that prove your choices matter, from micro decisions at home to macro shifts in law and industry.

If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us BluedotLiving.com

For daily inspiration you can follow us @Bluedotliving on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotliving/