Trash Revolution, written by Erica Fyvie and illustrated by Bill Slavin. Kids Can Press, 2018. $19.99 ages 10 and up

"Do you carry a backpack to school? If you think about it, a backpack can hold almost everything we need to survive and communicate: water, food, clothing, paper, and perhaps an electronic device. In every chapter of this book (except when we visit outer space) we're going to take a look at something you might carry in your backpack to school. We'll see how it is produced ... "

In doing so, we will also learn what happens when those items become waste. What happens to water, paper, food, plastic, metals and electronics when we are finished with them?

Common items that kids carry with them go through many different stages of development before being used or thrown away. If we take a look at the 'stuff' that surrounds us, it is everywhere. Spring cleaning forces us to look carefully at what we have collected and kept over the past year. It can be overwhelming. As the author discusses the waste cycle, she helps us understand that each and every one of us has a role to play in reducing waste because the world can no longer endure the ever-growing piles that threaten our world.

It will take a lot of thought and hard work to decide how we can make simple changes, and tough ones, to ensure the future of the planet. There is a lot of information to process, but it is written clearly and coupled with terrific illustrations that help with understanding and access. The table of contents is useful for readers in determining what they would like to learn about first. I was interested in two: paper and plastic.

"Worldwide, approximately 270 000 trees are cut down every day for paper production. Ten percent of that is for toilet paper. According to the Toilet Paper Encyclopedia (yes, it exists), 49 percent of people would choose toilet paper as their one desert-island item. Toilet paper ranked higher than food! The same study told us that the average person spends three years of their life on the toilet. That's a lot of paper. (And a lot of time.)"

"Globally, we use 4 billion plastic bags a year. We use them for an average of 12 minutes, but they take 500-plus years to decompose in a landfill. They were first introduced into supermarkets in 1977. So that first bag may be gone by the year ... 2477? Most plastic bags won't decompose (biodegrade) easily because the polymers in them are not recognized as food by microorganisms and they won't eat them."

Where will I start - and what about you?

An introduction, glossary, index and list of resources to provide even more information for those interested are included in backmatter.

Bill Slavin provides a touch of humor in illustrations that both inform and instruct. Charts and sidebars are well done and very useful. I think it is a book that should be in every school classroom and home. Only by informing ourselves and reducing the amount of waste we create on a daily basis can we be part of the solution. Shouldn't we all take responsibility? Isn't it up to each individual to play a part in reducing the footprint we leave every single day. Start with the easy stuff, and work up to bigger things. Do it at school and at home. It will help make the difference we want to see in the world.