What a great find today at the library!  We randomly grabbed it, not knowing anything about this book.  I guess the super cool art is what caught our eye.  This mostly true story about the 1987 Garbage Barge filled with 3,000 tons of garbage from Islip, New York is thoroughly entertaining.  It will most definitely help young readers take recycling to heart and make them think twice before they throw something in the trash.

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 2—A fictionalized account of real events that occurred in 1987, this story will convince young readers to take their recycling efforts more seriously. When Islip, NY, has nowhere to put 3168 tons of garbage, the town officials decide that shipping them south is the right thing to do, so a tugboat towing a garbage-laden barge takes it to North Carolina. But North Carolina won’t allow the vessel to dock. It goes on to New Orleans, but again is denied harbor rights. Then it is on to Mexico, Belize, Texas, Florida, and back to New York. The garbage is ripening all along the way. Now even Islip refuses to take it back. Finally a judge orders Brooklyn to take it and incinerate it, 162 days after the barge started its journey. Islip is ordered to take the remains to their landfill. The illustrations are photographs of objects made from garbage. The people, full of personality and expression, were made from polymer clay, and wire, wood scraps, and leftover materials of all kinds were used for the tugboat and barge. The inside of the paper jacket explains how the art was done. This title should be a part of every elementary school ecology unit.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

I saw this sign for my son’s school farmer’s market, which sells produce exclusively grown by the K-5 students at his school.  It made me smile.  In the first year of their Garden To Cafeteria program, these public school gardens contributed 251 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to their cafeteria.  Their goal is to double that output this fall.  My kindergartener told me he made pesto in class yesterday and asked that I make it more often.  This made me smile too.

This lunch box was a great purchase for my kindergartener.  It’s stainless steel (no plastic!), creates zero waste and helps with portion control.  Making lunches has never been quicker.  I even ended up buying a second one for my preschooler.  His teacher mentioned how convenient it was.

There are also these really cool magnets that go on the front, which is what sold it for my boys.  The company is family-owned and located in Northern California.  To find out more, go to Planet Box.