Every Day Is Earth Day #2

Every Day Is Earth Day #2

On January 6, 2023, in an attempt to provide readers with 2022 publications related to our beautiful planet and its protection prior to the ALA Youth Media Awards, I compiled a post of
seventeen books
, including early readers through middle grade titles.  During the course of 2022 I talked about other climate crisis and earth-friendly books, but these were books I categorize as too-good-too-miss tomes.
I am setting up this post in the same manner as the previous post.  Author, illustrator, and publisher links, when available, are provided.  Social media accounts will be included.  Passages from the books are shown.  Short summaries, observations, are supplied.  If there are other valuable resources about these books, links will be attached.  These six titles are listed in order of release date.
There are warning labels on plastic bags for a reason, usually involving children.  To me, it seems as though our planet is in the same situation.  We are suffocating under an overabundance of plastic.  Titles like
One Earth
by Eileen Spinelli with art by Rogerio Coelho,
Ocean! Waves for All
by Stacy McAnulty with art by David Litchfield and
Washed Ashore: Making Art From Ocean Plastic
written and illustrated by Kelly Crull draw our attention to this dilemma and offer solutions.
The Last Plastic Straw: A Plastic Problem And Finding Ways To Fix It
(
Books For Better Earth, Holiday House
, February 21, 2023) written by
Dee Romito
with illustrations by
Ziyue Chen
not only gives us answers but provides us with information about the evolution of this serious issue.  At the end of the book is an author’s note, a list of sources, and more information to be found online, in books and by watching documentaries.  There is an index, too.  At
Penguin Random House
, you can view the endpapers.  At
Maria Marshall
‘s website, you can read about Dee Romito and her work on this book.
Over five thousand years ago, the ancient Sumerians had a problem.
They needed a way to avoid the icky substances in their beverages.  The barley-based drink they brewed was thick, and the undrinkable solids sunk to the bottom.
We feel like time travelers as a fascinating history of the straw is presented.  It began with reeds, hollow grasses.  Over time, different substances were used to fashion a hollow tube.  In South America, they even devised a
filter
on the end of their
«bombilla»
when drinking tea.
Believe it or not, by the 1800s, rye was being used.  Who wants pieces of rye in their drinks?  Marvin Stone is credited with inventing the first paper straw.  Another gentleman, Joseph Friedman, invented the bendable straw.  As you might imagine, paper was not very durable.  Now plastic enters.
To address this problem, a boy named Milo Cress, when he was nine years old, began a campaign titled
«Be Straw Free»
.  Twelve years later, it is still active.  Other options are offered for readers with straws fashioned from more earth-friendly materials.  The …