Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with this Giveaway

The recent conversations surrounding our planet and the importance of all of us doing our part of consuming less and being careful with our choices have become even more important. With the current situation in the world, we can see how closely we are all connected - what happens in one part of the world can impact us all! We have had a lot of time to think about our impact on the environment and how we can reduce it during the recent months. With the 50th anniversary of Earth Day coming on April 22, 2020 we have been reading and learning from two DK Canada books surrounding the topics of our planet - DKfindout! Climate Change and How We're F***ing Up Our Planet. 

DKfindout! Climate Change is a "small book filled with big ideas". This child friendly book explains facts using diagram, pictures, and charts so we can understand the challenges we're facing. Since the industrial revolution from 18th and 19th centuries, greenhouse gases have risen to dangerous levels making climate change one of the biggest issues we face as a society. 

This book lays out the science behind the natural process that has been massively sped up by humans such as the use of CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) gases found in refrigerators and aerosol sprays which caused a hole to open up in the ozone layer that let harmful ultraviolet radiation to enter Earth from the sun causing living things to burn - which is why CFC is now globally banned. It explains the different ways in which we have caused the climate to heat up, from traffic pollution, buying expensive gadgets and fashionable clothes, animal farming, sinking islands, coastal erosions, and more. There is a lot of information about animal extinctions, heat causing insect outbreaks, and the cause for more migrants and refugees. It explores the past, present, and future of our climate and covers key developments such as the Industrial Revolution, the advent of plane travel, and climate activism.

The book covers what we can do to help prevent further damaging changes to the climate in our everyday lives. To reduce climate change here are a few things we can do...

• Grow our own vegetables and buy local - this will reduce plastic waste and the amount of food that is shipped.
• Using less electricity - switch off lights, air dry clothes, and instead of increasing the heater, dress up warm.
• Instead of throwing away unwanted clothes that end up in landfills, fix and reuse and try not to be part of the throwaway culture. Think about factories that produce cotton and polyester for clothes and dump fabric dyes in rivers to make our clothes that end up in landfills.
• Use sustainable transportation such as walking, bicycling and taking public transportation. The rise in the use of air travel and cars cause a lot of emissions. 
• Reducing food waste and the amount of meat and dairy consumed, as this causes deforestation, water pollution, and greenhouse gases. We learned that flooded rice fields produce methane and nitrous oxide (laughing gas). 

Books such as Vegan in the House helps us include more grains, pulses, and other natural meat and dairy-free alternatives as base ingredients. 

This book has healthy, delicious recipes that appeal to both children and adults. There are options for every meal of the day, whether you're looking for quick lunchbox ideas or preparing a big dinner for the whole family. "The good stuff" box on each recipe gives an expert breakdown of nutritional value, so everyone is getting the nourishment they need. 

The "Flex It" section on many recipes give busy cooks an option to easily add meat or dairy to their meal, perfect for pleasing non-vegan members of the household.

How We're F***ing Up Our Planet is a useful reference book that uses scientific evidence and simple graphics which dives deep into explaining a variety of topics that contribute to climate change. The content is divided into three main parts; drivers of change, consequences of change, and bending the curves focusing on global plan and our future. The subtopics include population changes, economics, cities, fuel, food, water, and consumerism.

This book charts the dramatic explosion of human population and consumption. More than half the world's population live in towns and cities, which escalate urbanization creating large food needs causing more fossil fuel, land and freshwater use that puts economic pressures and a reason for globalization.   

On a separate note:
Check out DK Canada's Stay Home Hub that is updated with at home learning activities to inspire families to have fun and learn. DK books can be purchased from their website or from Amazon.ca  

Giveaway:
If you live in Canada and would like to win a copy of DKfindout! Climate Change enter the giveaway using the giveaway tool below. This giveaway ends on May 20th. Please leave comments and follow my social media networks to be eligible to win.
Update: The winner is Michelle

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Disclosure: This post is in partnership with DK Canada. Please note that all opinions and thoughts expressed are my own. All rights reserved on photographs and written content Createwithmom © 2010 - 2020. Please Ask First