You Can Change the World text copyright © 2019 Lucy Bell. Illustration copyright © 2019 Astred Hicks, Design Cherry. This edition © 2020 Andrews McMeel Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case or reprints in the context of reviews.

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First published in Australia in 2019 by Pantera Press Pty Limited P.O. Box 1989, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia 2089

ISBN: 978-1-5248-6664-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020938280

Cover Design and Illustrations: Astred Hicks

Internal Design: Elysia Clapin

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For Adrian and Francesca, who showed me how to love the planet and all the creatures who live on it.

One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.

Malala Yousafzai

I

ntroduction

1. Plastic

2. Ethical and Environmentally Friendly Clothing

3. Waste

4. Food

5. Gardening and the Outdoors

6. Energy, Electricity, and Water

7. Animal Activism

8. An Act of Kindness

Group Activities

Resources

Earth is an incredible planet,

home to amazing creatures, plants, beaches, rivers, streams, forests, and mountains. There are so many animals in the world that we can’t even count them—we can only guess! Scientists estimate that there could be anywhere from two million to fifty million different species on Earth, with thousands more being discovered every year. And we share this planet with all of them. Earth is our friend, our family, and our home.

But every day, we see problems we would like to fix. A piece of trash in a green, grassy park. Plastic water bottles buried in the sand at the beach. A garbage bin overflowing onto the street. A skinny, stray dog. A homeless person on a cold day.

Human beings are some of the smartest creatures ever to walk the Earth, but we have also made some big mistakes. Now it’s time for us to work together to fix those mistakes.

We hear that the ocean is being polluted, animals are dying, and species are going extinct. That climate change is warming up the planet, melting icebergs, and threatening animals and people.

When we hear about these problems, most of us want to help, but it’s hard to know where to start. And some of these problems are so big, they can seem impossible for one person to fix. But we can fix them, if we each do our part.

To do that, we have to take action. Kids are the future—you can save the world, one step at a time. As you will discover in this book, there are lots of amazing children in the world, just like you!

If you want to join the mission to save our planet, then this is the book for you.

These pages contain information, ideas, and activities to show you, your friends, and family how to make simple changes every day to make the planet a safer, happier, and greener place. Because it’s up to us to protect our Earth.

Things to remember when you’re changing the world:

Changing the world won’t happen in a day, and you don’t have to do everything at once. It’s all about making a few changes at a time.

Start with the things that are easiest for you. You don’t need to read this book in order—pick the activities you want to do most.

This book is about being more aware of the things you are doing and the choices you are making every day. It’s not always possible to make the best choice, but it’s important to be informed, so you know how your actions affect the world around you.

Saving the planet is fun! We’re all on our own journey, and every day we can do something to help the fight.

Track your progress so you can see all the important changes you have made. Everything you do matters.

The number of

plastic items on Earth is in the trillions. It is estimated that there are more than five trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean alone. That is a huge number! With five trillion teaspoons of water, you could fill over 9,800 Olympic swimming pools. And if you joined all of those pieces of plastic together, they would go around the whole planet more than 4,000 times.

Plastic objects break down into smaller microplastics, but they never disappear completely. Plastic contains chemicals that are harmful to humans, and animals often mistake small bits of plastic for food and feed them to their young, who can choke on them or become sick. It piles up in our environment, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Plastic never goes away. In fact, every piece of plastic ever made still exists on Earth in some form.

Getting rid of the plastic in our lives is almost impossible. How many things in your house are made of plastic or have plastic parts? Maybe too many to count!

But cutting back a little bit can make a big difference. Every time you choose an alternative to plastic, you’re helping save an animal, save our oceans, and stop the spread of toxic chemicals, making the world a happier place.

And there’s an easy way for you to start: with single-use plastics. Single-use plastics are objects made of plastic, such as straws, that you only use once before throwing them away. Lots of countries are trying to ban single-use plastics, but for now, we can do our best to avoid them.

It’s strange just

how many bottles of water we buy each year, even though we have access to clean tap water.

Bottled water first came to America in the 1970s. At the time, no one actually believed people would pay for bottled water when they could get it for free. But incredibly, they did! Now, each year, Americans buy about 700,000 tons of plastic drink bottles, yet we recycle fewer than one in four of those bottles. We can do better than that!

Instead of buying your water in a plastic bottle, get a reusable water bottle, such as a stainless-steel bottle. These are available in a range of colors, sizes, and patterns and will last you a long time. Alternatively, you can start by reusing bottles you already own.

Every minute, more than a million bottles of water are bought worldwide.

FACT

— ORGANIZATION —

earth bottles

Danni Carr is a musician and mother of two who started a business called Earth Bottles in 2014 to help try to stop the rising plastic issue in its tracks.

Driven by a passion to do something about the single-use plastics that had begun to pile up in her environment, Danni and her husband, musician Ash Grunwald, work together to encourage people to eradicate plastic from their lives, also partnering with the Clean Coast Collection to fund beach cleanups around the world.

Along with their faux-timber drink bottles, Earth Bottles now have stainless steel straws, coffee cups, thermoses, and shopping bags.

What are your top tips for kids who want to quit plastic?

Ask Mom and Dad to make your school lunches plastic-free. They can use a reusable lunchbox, beeswax wraps if anything needs wrapping, and lots of fresh yummy food. Always pack your reusable water bottle.

Try