Justine McKeen, Queen of Green (5 page)

“Right,” Justine said to Mr. Tait. She pulled the tape recorder close to her mouth and spoke into it. “First, my name is spelled J-U-S-T-I-N-E M-C-K-E-E-N. Justine McKeen.”

“Yes,” Mr. Tait said to Lily Kempler. “Justine McKeen. But you should call her the Queen of Green.”

Chapter Eleven

On Monday at lunch, Justine sat in the cafeteria with Michael and Safdar.

Safdar removed his science project from his backpack. His project used two big soda bottles. He was about to explain what it was when Justine saw Jimmy Blatzo leaving the cafeteria with the older kids.

“Hey, Blatzo,” she yelled. She stood and waved at him. “How are you doing?”

He frowned and shook his head at her. He raised a finger in front of his mouth and made a shushing sound.

“Hey, Blatzo, you looked good in the newspaper!” she shouted.

Jimmy Blazto marched up to her table. “Come on,” he said. “You can't yell at me like we're friends or something. And don't call me by my last name. If I let you get away with doing it, people will stop being scared of me.”

“
I'm
scared of you,” Michael said.

“Me too,” Safdar said. “Really scared.” Safdar clutched his science project bottles close.

“Blatzo,” Justine said. “That's stupid. Why do you need people to be scared of you?”

He shrugged.

“Exactly, there's no good reason at all,” Justine said. “Besides, I bet it felt great to help us on Saturday. We needed someone strong and smart.” Justine opened her backpack and handed him a ziplock bag. “I brought you the cricket brownies as promised. It took me awhile to catch more crickets.”

“Ha, ha. Yeah, sure it did,” Jimmy Blatzo said. He took out the brownies. He chewed on one and handed back the empty bag. “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Right?”

“Right,” Justine said.

Jimmy Blatzo swallowed a big bite of brownie. “Boy, these sure make me thirsty.” He looked at Safdar. “Give me some of that soda.”

Safdar pulled the bottles closer.

“I should have asked nicer,” Jimmy Blatzo said. “Please could you give me some?”

“That's not a good idea,” Safdar said.

“I thought you said you were scared of me.” Blatzo grabbed one of the bottles. “Ginger ale?”

“No,” Safdar said. “It's my science project. It's a fire extinguisher. Instead of chemicals that are bad for the environment, the bottles have lemon juice mixed with baking soda.”

“Ha, ha,” Jimmy Blatzo said. “One of you tells me there are crickets in the brownies. The other one says his soda is a fire extinguisher. Remember, you can't fool someone like me.”

“Please don't tip the bottle,” Safdar said.

“Like this?” Jimmy Blatzo said. He lifted the bottle and tilted it toward himself.

Nothing happened.

“See?” Jimmy Blatzo said. “You can't fool me.”

He started to take off the lid.

The lid popped off and hit him in the nose. Foam sprayed all over him.

“What's this?” he shouted.

“I told you,” Safdar said. “A fire extinguisher.”

“I'm going to give you to the count of three before I grab all of you!” Jimmy Blatzo shouted.

Michael and Safdar dropped their lunches and ran.

“Hey,” Jimmy Blatzo said to Justine. His shirt and pants were soaked. “How come you're still here?”

“Sit your butt down, Blatzo,” she said. “I'm here because we need to talk. You're going to help me with my next project. I'm thinking we need a garden on the roof of the school.”

JUSTINE McKEEN

QUEEN of GREEN

Notes for Students and Teachers

Chapter Two

Green projects are a lot of fun, and I hope this book gives you some ideas for how you can pitch in. It's just as important, though, to do small things that no one would probably notice. The biggest difference kids can make is doing small acts every day, such as taking home the ziplock bag from your lunch to use the next day, or using cold water instead of hot, or checking the taps for drips. These small acts of conservation may seem boring, but if all of us do them, the impact is huge.

Chapter Three

Cow F-A-R-Ts

Farmers are among the most responsible people when it comes to the environment. Part of why they choose to farm is because they love the land. They care about the environment because they depend on the environment every day. Justine didn't make up the story about scientists and cow F-A-R-Ts. More information and research on cow methane can be found on the Internet.

But watch out! If you google
cow farts
, you'll probably find a couple of links to cow farts in a can. Yes, people who move to the city and miss the smell of the country can buy cow farts in a can.

Chapter Four

Insects as human food!

Do you think
Insects as Food
would be a fun report to present to your class? As Justine points out, people in many different cultures eat insects. If you would like to learn more about it, or to write a report guaranteed to gross out your class (and your teacher!), there is lots of information on the Internet. To get started, enter
food + insects
into Google or any other search engine.

Chapter Five

My family loves local produce. It tastes fresher, and we know buying local reduces our carbon footprint because we are not buying produce that has been shipped from across the country or the other side of the world. A carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) a person's activities create in a given time frame.

Chapter Seven

Two words: Compost bin.

Three words: Easy to do.

Four words: Makes a big difference.

More words: Jump on the Internet and learn how easy home compost bins are to set up. (By the way, I learned from friends about how to get rid of the maggots in my own compost bin.)

Chapter Eight

The Internet has lots of information on how to recycle paper and use it for cool art projects. And remember, paper shredders, blenders and hair dryers really are POWER TOOLS!!

Chapter Nine

There are a lot of links on the Internet to show you how to build a plastic-bottle greenhouse. I was particularly inspired by Rogart Primary School in Sutherland, Scotland, and their greenhouse project.

Chapter Eleven

Do you want to make an environmentally friendly fire extinguisher for a science project? ( Just remember, it's not for grease or electrical fires.)

Here's what you need:

• a plastic bottle

• lemon juice or vinegar

• tissue

• rubber band

• baking soda

How do you put all of it together? Hint: enter
science project + fire extinguisher
into a search engine.

Sigmund Brouwer
is the bestselling author of many books for children and young adults. Sigmund loves visiting schools and talking with youth of all ages about reading and writing.
Justine McKeen, Queen of Green
is the first book in his new series about Justine and her efforts to create a greener community. He also has a new book for teachers and parents called
Rock & Roll Literacy
. Sigmund lives in Red Deer, Alberta, and Nashville, Tennessee.