North Yorkshire author educating children about the impact plastic is having on the planet
Children's book Save Us tells the story of a sea turtle trapped in plastic who needs help from humans to be set free
A North Yorkshire author's inspiring the next generation to become more environmentally friendly through her new book.
Save Us is a tale about a seal, whale and sea turtle that addresses the problem of plastic causing problems in our oceans, but things take a turn when the turtle becomes trapped in plastic who needs help from humans to be set free.
It's hoped the book will help young people to understand what can happen if plastics aren't recycled properly and the damage it can cause to the planet.
Author Christina Gabbitas, said:
"Sienna Seal and Wahilda Whale rescue Thierry Sea Turtle out of a plastic bag that's floating in the ocean but they realise that his feet are also bound in plastic and they can't set him free so they need human intervention. So it's educating the children that the oceans need our help, they need human intervention to stop this crisis.
"I thought if we can educate children from a young age to look after our planet and environment then we've got a better fighting chance. The children are always really engaged with it and really switched on to what is happening in their world.
"It's just getting that message across, because you can never underestimate the power of storytelling. It's evident they really care about the environment and in some cases more than the adult generation.
"Whilst Thierry is rescued out of this dreadful plastic, I make it clear that it isn't always like that. So the story has a happy ending but there are messages in there that we need to do all we can to help."
Christina goes into schools across the county educating children through her books and gets them to create a wrap poem as a way to make sure they understand the subject matter.
The inspiration for writing this story came from when Christina watched BBC Blue Planet 2 with David Attenborough and she was shocked at how dangerous it had become.
It's predicted plastic pollution is set to treble in a decade unless action is taken to deal with the problem.