Introducing the Eco Protection Squad
The Eco Protection Squad
I am thrilled to introduce you to the Eco Protection Squad. A super team of kids fighting to save Terra, Mother Earth, from Bill McGreedy and his band of Eco Squashers.
Background
In January, I was sitting at the table with my mother in law and talking about how I wanted to reach more people with simple but clear messaging about sustainable and planet positive living. I had been wracking my brain to try to get the messaging bigger and more accessible.
Through my research and conversations with likeminded people, one thing that keeps coming up is how conflicting and somewhat difficult finding clear information is. It is something I have been trying to tackle with my Instagram profile, sustainable.ideas but it never seemed to be on a big enough scale.
My mother in law mentioned that to help kids understand their emotions, there are characters that they use. The discussion evolved to why not create something similar to help tackle environmental issues? Not just how to recycle or reuse items, but to help conversations around plastic free periods, packaging, energy consumption, climate change and ghost net fishing, amongst many more themes.
And so the Eco Protection Squad was born, and the possibilities are endless!
I have been working on this since January, and when I moved out of London back to the village my parents lived at, I was able to spend more time on it.
The village they live in has such wonderful community spirit, and after sending an email of help out to them, I managed to convince a couple of incredibly talented illustrators, Caitlin and Carla (check out her website here), to work on the first book for me, and hired a talented person called Niccola to work on my brand look.
With extra support from my incredibly supportive parents, husband, brothers and some close friends, I have now set up a kickstarter campaign which will be ready to share shortly where you can pledge money for rewards I have on offer. There will also be an exclusive item which will be given to all backers, and won't be available any other time, to say a special thank you to those supporting this.
The first book will currently only be available in the UK. This is because I am currently researching printers in the US and other countries so I can reduce carbon emissions. The first book is targeting recycling and rubbish left in the park – the rules for recycling are different country to country so I am also trying to create a generic one but it is a lot of research at the moment. I have specific standards of companies that I am going to be working with to delivery this. After all, they have to uphold the ethos of the Eco Protection Squad!
Who are the Eco Protection Squad?
Meet a team of teenage kids, some with special powers, working to save Mother Earth (Terra) from the pesky Bill McGreedy and his band of Eco Squashers. From characters such as Recycling Romesh, Plastic Free Prival and Danny Do Gooder to Single Use Sally and the Toxic Twins, the aim is to create a series of stories to tackle every day environmental issues in a fun, informative, engaging and memorable way.
While it will start out as a series of books, I am already working on ‘What’s next?’
Social media campaigns will be set up to get kids (and adults!) involved with monthly eco-friendly prizes such as branded “Danny Do Gooder” or “Plastic Free Prival” litter pickers, team shirts or free copies of the book. This is hopefully going to be live early 2021.
There will also be a website with tips and tricks from the team. It will include a kids section with quizzes and games, a parent section with tips at home and a teachers section with downloadable / online assets for the classroom. Treemendous! Hopefully in the future I will also create audiobooks / podcast and an animation series.
As you can see, I’m thinking big!
The first story is Eco Protection Squad: Go to the Park.
Join Danny Do Gooder and Plastic Free Prival who meet a friend in the park only to find it covered in rubbish! Read on as they struggle against Single Use Sally and the Toxic Twins who capture them in slime (EEWWW!). Find out if they manage to save the day or have been defeated by Sally and the Eco Squashers.
I hope this is something of interest to you and that you will help support. I truly believe in this project, and I know you will love it.
Please help raise the message and help me get this out there!
Together, we can turn the tide and help save Mother Earth – or as the Eco Protection Squad say “Terra Mater Est!” (for Mother Earth).
Eco Squashers characters The Toxic Twins and Single Use Sally
All characters, names, illustrations and writing are copyright.