"The first in an intended series entitled Garbology Kids™, Where Do Recyclable Materials Go? takes the next step in educating children about the importance of recycling by explaining what actually happens after you put an item in the recycling bin. An educational resource for parents and teachers alike, the book will educate and entertain while also encouraging children to participate in all aspects of the recycling cycle. Persad understands that by educating the next generation about the importance of recycling from an early age, we'll be able to build a society that naturally cares about the earth and knows how to take the steps to protect it and its resources. The valuable insight and information she provides children in this book will be part of a larger dialogue that will contribute to this ongoing education."

"Through clear and colorful diagrams, charts, and illustrations and catchy narrative with humorous asides, the story of why, when, where, how, and what to recycle is told in full. ... It is a fun, educational series dedicated to the goal of the "greening" of the planet."

Did you know:
*Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours?
*A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose– and even longer if it’s in a landfill?

*If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save around 250,000,000 trees a year?
*9.1 billion plastic bottles were disposed of in 2002 with only 360 million of them being recycled?

We all know the confounding questions our kids ask that we have no answers to. As a parent and teacher, I get them a lot. You know, ones like this one, just from last night’s dinner with my 4 and 6 year olds:

“Where did plants come from?”  Great question, hard to answer!

You get the idea. If you’ve ever been asked, where do cans go when we recycle them and not really known the answer,  I have a book for you.  If you want to teach your children about the life cycle of what we consume, and how we can and should be considering the impact and life span of products, this book is for you, too.

Where Do Recyclable Materials Go? is by Saabbithry Persad.  The book has infinite uses for science teachers, environmental educators, and parents alike.

In a Magic School Bus type layout, this book takes readers from a classroom, to a child’s home, and from there on a quest to find Bubbles, the children’s lost dog.  On the way, Bubbles takes readers on a journey on the path to being recycled, step by step.

Each page shares solid waste vocabulary, diagrams, and interesting facts.  In search of the lost puppy, the characters follow recyclables from the bin to the single stream sorting, to the distribution center, and then into new products.  It’s loaded with facts, illustrations, and diagrams.

Maybe you have a child like my dear friend, who wants to know how everything works, all the time.  This would be a great gift book for any child who asks lots of questions, and to connect our kids to the real life cycle of the recyclables we consume.   This book raises awareness and empowers kids to recycle everything they can.

The Garbology Kids™ Series follows the National American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Excellence in Environmental Education – Guidelines for Learning, helping children to learn to question, analyze and interpret what they see; gain an understanding of environmental processes and systems; understand and address environmental issues; and learn about personal and civic responsibility.

I was once told that a lot of children think that milk comes out of a bottle or a carton and are disconcerted to find that it actually comes out of a cow. The thinking has been reversed in Sabbithry Persad's book 'Where Do Recyclable Materials Go?' It's all very well dividing up your waste but it doesn't make a lot of sense unless you actually know what happens to it after you put it out at the kerb. And it all started when Tiana and Peter went looking for their dog Bubbles who loved to go running after the recycle truck.

It might look like a child's picture book but there's rather more to it than you would expect. It would be perfect for children just starting at school up to the age of about eight and would be ideal for class or group discussion. There's an exploration of how recyclable materials are collected and the impact of ensuring that they don't go into landfill. There's the financial aspect of the operation – how recycling saves resources, energy and money – and how children can takes practical steps to help. If you start at this age it's a habit which is likely to stay with you for life.

I had a couple of reservations about this book and they're to do with the story rather than the subject. On the cover Bubbles the dog is shown as sitting in a recycle bin. OK – it's obviously a bit of fun, but some idiot, somewhere is going to believe that pets can be recycled . That's a minor point and I probably wouldn't even have mentioned it was it not for the fact that the story is based on Bubbles the dog chasing the recycle truck which the story makes clear is something that happens on a regular basis. This isn't OK. At some point there's likely to be an accident, involving Bubbles or someone else – and it will all have been avoidable.

If you put that to one side there's a reasonable story in the book with a lot of knowledge delivered with a light touch. It is primarily for the American market (many of the phrases will be completely unknown in the UK), but the principles will hold good anywhere. Children are treated as responsible adults and there's nothing patronising about the message. That's a good thing because the more I see of adult attitudes about recycling the more I'm convinced that it's going to be children who lead the way.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

Have a look at the Garbology Kids website for more information. Younger children might like to start on 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh or Bob's Great Green Book. We've also thoroughly enjoyed Planet In Peril by Anita Ganeri and Mike Phillips.