Last month we published The Plastic Problem, a book to help your family cut plastic out of their lives. We were lucky enough to speak to its author, Aubre Andrus, about what she learnt through writing the book. Take it away Aubre!

“Writing this book changed my life. It made me re-examine a lot of the ‘auto-pilot’ actions I take on a daily basis, like grabbing a lid or a straw when I don’t need it. I became much more aware of how much plastic pollution my daily routine created, and I immediately tried to change that. I’m still working on cutting out plastic from my life, but every time I do it makes me feel really good!

When it comes to saving the planet, many people are taught 'reduce, reuse, recycle' but the mantra should actually be 'reduce, refuse, recycle'. With that in mind here are some extra ideas to get your family started as 'plastic patrollers'" :

Take a check-list of your waste

"How many bags of rubbish and recycling does your family create each week? Each month? Don’t forget about small waste bins in the bathroom or bedrooms. Keep a tally of how many bags or bins you fill up then make it a fun family challenge to reduce that amount next month and so on".

Focus on one room at a time

"There are so many ways to cut plastic out of your life, which is great - but it’s also overwhelming! Try focusing on one room like the kitchen or the bathroom first. For the next month, make small changes that reduce waste in that room specifically".

Declare a plastic-free shopping week

"Take a trip to the shop and attempt to fulfill your needs with the least amount of plastic possible. This is called ‘pre-cycling’. Ask your kids for help finding these solutions".

Model eco-friendly behaviors for your kid(s)

"As parents, we know that kids are more likely to pick up on a habit that they see us doing ourselves, like grabbing a piece of fruit instead of crisps for a snack. Start modelling low-waste behaviours for your kids like saying no to plastic cutlery, straws and bags and using fabric napkins and dish cloths instead of paper ones".

Challenge your family to pack a waste-free lunch for a day

"Our daily lunch routines often create a lot of plastic waste. There are many simple solutions kids and adults can take such as buying snack items in bulk and portioning them out in reusable bags, or packing reusable silverware and cups as well as fabric napkins”.

Thanks Aubre for all of that useful info! Since its release, both kids and adults alike have been flicking through the pages of The Plastic Problem. Here’s what Annabelle, 8 years old, had to say about it:

“ I like this book because it gives me ideas about how to help the environment. The book talked about how lots of plastic ends up in the ocean, how there's plastic in your clothes, and how plastic heats up the earth. I also learned that a plastic water bottle can take 450-1,000 years to break down. That's not good! This book is important because it helps to solve the plastic problem. I would recommend this book to anyone - young or old ”.

The reviews have also started to come in on the children’s book review site, Toppsta. Here’s what Kate-jw, who has been reading it to her class, has said:
" My class loved this and were all eager to get a chance to read it! Some great ideas in here on how to reduce our plastic usage, which they are all pledging to do!"

If your kids would like to explore more about becoming a ‘plastic patroller’, get them to take the ‘plastic patroller pledge’ from our activity sheet here. To pick up a copy of The Plastic Problem, head to our online shop.

Want to investigate even more ways on how to help save the environment and the planet? Read an account of one of our families doing a beach-clean on Chesil Beach here. For tips on how families can travel more sustainably, read our blog here.

Spotlight on: The Plastic Problem

Bored of being stuck indoors at home? Are you looking to join intergalactic explorers and discover somewhere completely out-of-this-world? Well then; it’s time to take your imagination to space and become an astronaut with our Cardboard Box Creations!

Rockets and space shuttles are used to take people and robots all the way up to space, launching from sites in Florida, Russia and other places all around the world. Build your own personal spacecraft, blast off from a launch pad in your own home and imagine a world of planets, asteroids, aliens and much more. To infinity and beyond!

Remember – cutting into cardboard can be tricky and dangerous. Ask a grown-up to help or supervise.

You will need:

- A very large box or multiple smaller boxes
- Sticky tape
- Extra cardboard
- Foil or silver paint
- Felt-tip pens or paint
- PVA glue
- Scissors

Step one

From a very large cardboard box or smaller box, cut four panels in the shape above. Cut one shape from each side of your box, or use more than one box if one side isn’t big enough. These will form the body of the space rocket, and you want to be able to fit inside it!

Step two

Lay the shapes flat on the floor next to each other, with the tall sides touching each other. Tape the pieces together along these seams.

Step three

Stand the pieces upright and wrap them around so that the open edges touch. Tape together this last side. Fold all the pointed tops in towards each other and tape in place.

Step four

From the cardboard, cut four identical shapes into fins, as shown. Make each one about half the height of the rocket. Cover them in foil or paint them silver to make them look like real rockets!

Step five

Tape one fin to each corner of the rocket body, at a height so that the fin sits a few centimetres above the floor. Use tape on both sides of the fins to hold them securely in place.

Step six

Ask a grown-up to help cut a door on one side of the spacecraft, as shown, as well as a handle in the door and a round window on each of the other three side panels so you can look out and enjoy the view! Then; it’s time for blast-off!

Step seven

Cut a rectangular piece of cardboard and bend in the bottom edge, as shown. Draw a screen, then glue on circles cut from cardboard to make buttons. Tape the control panel to the inside of the rocket. Decorate your rocket with moons, stars and planets – or your own unique design!

If you’ve enjoyed escaping home during this activity, make sure you pick up a copy of The Daredevil’s Guide to Outer Space for more rip-roaring space adventures!

Buckle up, space cadets! For more space-themed activities, why not design your own planet with our fun-filled activity sheet, in association with How to be a Space Explorer? Your cosmic adventure awaits...

Escaping Planet Earth: how to build a space rocket

This month our family travel snap carries us to the splendour of a marble-clad mosque in Abu Dhabi, with Lonely Planet magazine editor Peter Grunert and his family.

What’s the story behind this photo?

Here’s my daughter Savithri, aged seven, along with her mum Sharmila. They are pausing for a rest and learning from a guide whilst on a tour of the marvellous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Savithri is a well-travelled little girl but has never seen a building as intricate or spectacular as this one. In fact, neither have her parents!

Completed in 2007, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was the creation of designers, engineers and artisans from countries as diverse as the UAE, UK, China, India, Iran, Morocco, Italy and Germany. Our guide Fatima did such a fantastic job of revealing the mosque’s wonders in a way Savithri could relate to: the floral designs in semi-precious stones that swirl around the pillars of its central courtyard; a 15.5-metre-high chandelier in the form of a bejewelled date palm; the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet in the main prayer hall.

We wanted Savithri to have the chance to learn all about another culture and religion in a memorable way, ahead of the swimming, shopping and fun times in the desert that would follow on this trip. I was pleased (and a little surprised) to notice that on the flight home, she chose to switch from watching cartoons to an episode of the TV series Megastructures, about the drama behind the construction of this immense, incredibly ambitious monument.

Kid's perspective

We stopped by a shop selling dates and tried the many different varieties grown locally in Abu Dhabi in dried and fresh-off-the-palm-tree form. As this photo was taken, Savithri said: 'These fresh dates are so sweet and juicy! Where can we find them back home in London?'

Peter's tips for visiting Abu Dhabi with kids

1) The beautiful, horizon-to-horizon sand dunes of the Rub’ al Khali – also known as the Empty Quarter – are an easy one-and-a-half-hour drive from where most people live and stay in Abu Dhabi. With kids, be sure to avoid the vicious heat of summer. We found opportunities to stroll, cycle, drive in a Land Cruiser and even sand board in the desert, plus a first for all three of us: to ride a camel. Our camel handler shared the tip that parents should trust their kids to keep hold of the handles on a camel’s saddle; it’s always the parents sat behind who forget to hold on and slide off the back while trying to grapple with their kids.

2) It’s taken me a while to appreciate that well-organised family resorts can provide the best foundation for stretching young kids’ boundaries. At the clean and extremely welcoming Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas on Saadiyat Island, Savithri played on a beach visited by wild bottlenose dolphins, enjoyed topping up her swimming skills and – at her own pace – got to try several delicious Emirati and Indian dishes from the buffet each evening.

Where’s next on your family travel bucket list?

We have our eyes on a farm stay in north Cornwall, England – one where our miniature poodle Kitty will be welcome too.

Lastly, complete the sentence:

When we shut the front door ready to go and travel as a family, we always make sure we have… …several food bags in our pockets. They’re ideal for collecting together the treats and tiny souvenirs kids love finding along the way, and to have just in case car sickness strikes halfway through a drive over rolling sand dunes!

You can follow Peter on Twitter and sign-up for more family travel inspiration with our monthly newsletter and in our new Family Travel Handbook.

Family travel snap: adventures in Abu Dhabi

Our children are all too aware of the importance of living an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, and travelling certainly contributes to our carbon footprint. However, for many of us travel is key to ensuring our children understand and appreciate the wider world, so how do our community of family travellers balance these two concerns? We asked them for their tips on how families can travel more sustainably.

The expert view

It's important to consider your whole life, not just your vacation, in your bid to make your family's travel more sustainable. If you have low-waste, low-energy and low-animal-product consumption at home it goes a long way towards offsetting your travel footprint.

Obviously minimise your flights and travel by bus or train if you can. If flying is your only option, pick the shortest route and try to travel with an airline which offsets and is as plastic-free as possible. On the road do everything you can to minimise plastics. Take your own, refillable water bottles and use them. There’s even an app ReFillMyBottle to help you. Choose your accommodation carefully: avoid huge resorts with constant aircon and large golf courses and swimming pools, say no to a daily room clean and boycott buffets. The waste generated by buffets is off-the-scale and often it is the expensive, high-footprint products going to the trash.

Nobody is perfect, but millions of small steps go a long way towards decreasing total consumption.

- Alyson Long, from World Travel Family

Our Twitter community says

Our Facebook fans say

The above comments and more family travel tips can be found on our Facebook feed.

Want to investigate further? Try these helpful extra resources:

1) World Travel Family has ways to be a more eco-friendly traveller.

2) Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2020 has this list of the 10 best sustainable trips for families.

3) If you want to join a beach clean , this list of clean-ups around the world on Lonely Planet is a good place to start.

4) Our latest title The Plastic Problem will give your kids loads of ideas for how they can reduce their plastic consumption.

Ask Lonely Planet Kids: how can families travel more sustainably?

This month's postcard is from carnival time in a town near Barranquilla, Colombia and is told to us by 12-year-old Rico.

The second biggest carnival in the world is held in Barranquilla, Colombia, and this year it was celebrated from 2nd March to 5th March. We were staying in the neighbouring town called Santa Marta where a smaller carnival takes place at the same time.

Carnival is an annual celebration held between the Friday and Ash Wednesday. Originally carnival was a food festival where people could eat and drink in as much as they liked before the start of Lent. It is still celebrated today along with much music, dancing and bright costumes.

My family and I were in Colombia to volunteer at a foundation called Tiempo De Juego (Time to Play), which was set up to help empower children in poorer areas. They offer many different activities like football, dancing, crafts, music, homework help and English.

The TDJ Dance team were participating in the opening street parade for this year’s carnival. On carnival morning we went to TDJ to help out with make-up and hair.

A bus picked us up and took us to where the parade started. Here, all the participants had to perform in front of two judges. I thought that our dancers were the best.

When the parade started, all the dancers lined up behind the van which was decorated and playing very loud the music.

The line of cars and dancers slowly moved along the carnival route along in Santa Marta. I joined in with the dancers and spent the whole afternoon dancing with them in the parade.

Slowly the sun set and the parade came to an end. We were soaking wet and white - because the spectators sprayed us with foam and threw flour at us, all part of carnival tradition.

Our ears were ringing from the non-stop loud music, and our legs were aching from the dancing. We fell straight into bed once we got back to our guesthouse.

A week later we got the results  - Tempo De Juego came 3rd!!

Enjoyed reading Rico's story? Read more travel writing by children:

Postcard from... Croatia

Postcard from... North Wales

Postcard from... Thailand

Wannabe travel writer? Aged 5-16? If you’d like to write for the Lonely Planet Kids blog, we’d love to hear from you! Check out our LP Kids contributor guidelines to find out more.

Postcard from... carnival in Colombia

This month our family travel snap is from Halkidiki, Greece, with family travel blogger Emily from My Petit Canard and her family.

What’s the story behind this photo?

My husband Christopher and our children Ella and Louis are whizzing around our beautiful hotel resort in Halkidiki in Greece on the scooters that we had just hired for the day. I'm behind them holding up the rear and trying to multi-task by taking this picture whilst on my own electric scooter.

I love photos that capture a moment. This is a natural snapshot that perfectly encapsulates the essence of our holiday in Greece, which was fun and carefree.

After lots of scooting around in 30+ degrees, we all went for a very long and well-deserved dip in the pool followed by the children's favourite milkshake ice creams.

Kids’ perspective

Ella, 6, says; 'I remember how much fun it was to ride around the hotel on our scooters. I really enjoyed trying Mummy and Daddy's electric scooters which went really, really fast.'

Emily's tips for exploring Halkidiki with Kids

1) If you're visiting in the summer take lots of sun protection for little ones and yourself as it gets very hot very early in the day, and stays hot for most of it.

2) Halkidiki has such a beautiful and varied landscape, from beaches to forest trails, so make sure you explore as much as you can.

And was there anywhere you'd approach differently if you went back to Halkidiki?

During our stay, we got hit by Halkidiki's first ever (I believe) tornado. It was completely unexpected and took everyone by surprise including our resort. We were on the beach when it happened and had a close escape with a number of other guests. We were a little bit shell-shocked the next day and, as a result, cancelled a private boat we had hired out of precaution. Even though it felt like absolutely the right thing to do for our family at the time, I do wish we had gone on our trip so that we could experience Halkidiki by sea.

Where’s next on your family travel bucket list?

We are in holiday planning mode in our house at the moment. We've got lots of places we'd like to visit this year with Copenhagen, Lisbon, Dubai and Mauritius at the top of the list.

Lastly, complete the sentence:

When we shut the front door ready to go and travel as a family, we always make sure we have... ... our camera/iPhones. I take a million holiday photos when we travel and love to make a little video of every trip we take to document it. iPhones are also incredibly useful for so many other things when travelling. I'd be absolutely lost on holiday without it!

You can follow Emily on Twitter and get more advice and recommendations for taking your family to Greece from LonelyPlanet.com.

Family travel snap: hanging out in Halkidiki, Greece

We love finding out about all the interesting jobs there are in the world for our Planet's Coolest Jobs series and this month we are especially excited as we got to interview the creative brain behind one of our very own books, Myths and Legends of the World. Alli Brydon is a children's book author and had the important job of retelling the 21 dazzling stories of daring, deceit, reward and punishment which are contained within our book, which was beautifully-illustrated by Julia Iredale.

Describe your job in 5 words

Exciting, humbling, worthwhile, influential, creative

What does your job involve?

A lot of reading, thinking, plotting, and researching. Then...writing! My job – to the outside world – might look like daydreaming, then lots of fast scribbling, and then careful and slow typing. I tend to draft original ideas in a notebook with a pen, then transcribe them to my computer. After the first draft is miraculously on the screen, I then let it sit and marinate as long as I can before going back to revise the manuscript somewhere between 2 and 47 times! Sometimes I start off with an original story idea for a children’s book, and sometimes a publisher will come to me with a specific request. I like both, as they challenge my creativity in different ways.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

It has to be when I get to meet young readers. When I have an event at a bookstore, or receive letters from readers, it’s like fuel for my own creative spark. Kids are so enthusiastic about stories and are filled with oodles of imagination. It’s amazing to be able to absorb that excitement and spirit.

What advice would you give someone who dreams of having a job like yours?

Be a reader: it’s the first step to becoming a writer. Then, to become a writer...just do it. The more you write, the better you’ll get.

Tell us a story from your job

When I was writing Myths and Legends of the World for Lonely Planet Kids, I was able to tap into some amazing, well-done research that the publishing team had sent to get me started. Building from that, I spent many hours reading different versions of these myths and legends from all over the globe, to embed myself in these enduring stories from other cultures. From my little home office in rural England, I felt like I was travelling through time, and from place to place...only leaving my desk for a cup of tea!

You can follow Alli on Twitter and learn more about her work on her website.

And if your children want to take a journey from ancient to modern times, hot climates to freezing temperatures, mountaintops to seafloors, and more, then head over to our Shop to get your own copy of Myths and Legends of the World.

Planet's coolest jobs: children's book author

The stage when your baby starts to walk, talk and generally introduce themselves as a proper human being is an incredible moment in your parenting journey. It's also a much more challenging one when it comes to travel. No longer fully portable but unable to walk for long, able to communicate loudly yet with a limited attention span, full of beans until they're suddenly not - any of this sound familiar? Managing your toddler on a busy flight, train or bus, or just in your own car, takes some preparation and a not an inconsiderable amount of patience. We asked our well-travelled community how they handle long-haul travel with their little people.

The expert view

The first thing that comes to mind is always snacks! But even more important would be to reduce your travel speed. When visiting a new destination it is hard not to have a list of all the things you want to experience and it can get very overwhelming especially with a toddler in tow. Change your expectations. We find that it’s best to slow down and balance out the day with small adventurers like visiting a temple or a garden then having some pool/beach/rest time before heading out again for an early dinner. Most special is that if you go at a toddler pace you are able to slow down and see things you might have missed and also connect with locals as your toddler creates connections with people just by being a kid!

- Bronwyn Leeks, from Smiths Holiday Road

Our Twitter community says

Our Facebook fans say:

The above comments and more family travel tips can be found on our Facebook feed.

Want to investigate further? Try these helpful extra resources:

1) Trips with Tykes have advice if you are thinking about travelling on a plane with your child as a lap traveller.

2) Lonely Planet has suggestions for destinations to travel to with your toddler.

3) If you are looking for inspiration and practical advice for travelling with your family, Smiths Holiday Road is a great place to start. They travel the world with three kids, one of whom uses a wheelchair.

If you want to get more family travel inspiration, sign up to our monthly newsletter.

Ask Lonely Planet Kids: how can we survive a long-haul trip with a toddler? 

With our new Wild in the City book you can discover the secret lives of more than 30 extraordinary creatures that share our cities around the world. We were intrigued by how the editorial team found all the amazing animals which they included in the final book so we spoke to author Kate Baker, designer Tina Garcia and zoologist consultant Ricardo Rocha. Here they share some of their favourite urban animal adventurers:

One of the things we enjoyed most about making this book was discovering all the unusual stories about animals in towns and cities around the world from wild leopards prowling the backstreets of Mumbai to hungry hippos grazing on front lawns in St Lucia.  Here are just a few whose stories we loved:

Red Foxes in London, United Kingdom

This was one of the first animals we chose for the book. Some people think foxes are a nuisance because they sometimes rummage in bins and dig up worms in back gardens, but we're based in London and we think it’s amazing that we share our city with these bushy-tailed animals. If you live in London, you stand a really good chance of seeing one trotting down the road or looking for snacks in rubbish bins. They’ve been spotted riding an escalator on the London Underground and one even joined a group of sightseers on an open-top bus tour. Another, nicknamed Romeo, climbed 71 sets of stairs and a wooden ladder to make its home at the top of the Shard building, a huge glass skyscraper!

Common pipistrelle bats in Coimbra, Portugal

We think it’s time someone stood up for bats! These furry flying mammals live in lots of cities around the world, yet many of us know very little about them. Some people are scared of them, but they’re actually gentle, clever creatures. They help pollinate flowers, their droppings make a great fertiliser and they’re very good at gobbling up insect pests. In Biblioteca Joanina – a grand 18th-century library in Portugal – common pipistrelle bats have been helping to protect the library’s ancient manuscripts and books from book-eating insects for more than 200 years. They sleep behind the bookshelves during the day, then swoop through the rooms at night to feast on bugs!

Water monitors in Bangkok, Thailand

These giant lizards can grow to 2 m (6.5 ft) long and look like mini dragons – the last thing you’d expect to see in a busy city of more than 8 million people! Their favourite hangout is Lumphini Park in the middle of Bangkok. The park is popular with people as well, so the water monitors can often be seen swimming in the lake, sleeping in trees or sunbathing on the grass right next to picnickers. They don’t just stick to the city’s parks either. They use the underground sewers to get around and sometimes walk into people’s homes or into shops to look for food.

Peregrine falcons in Barcelona, Spain

These incredible birds have been spotted nesting near some of the world’s most famous landmarks, from Brooklyn Bridge in New York to the Houses of Parliament in London and the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. Cities reminds them of their natural habitat where they build their nests on clifftops. Tall buildings are perfect perches for scanning the local hunting area and for raising their young. There are also loads of smaller birds for them to eat, including lots of pigeons! Peregrine falcons were actually once in danger of extinction due to the use of a pesticide called DDT. The banning of DDT pesticides allowed peregrine populations to recover and they now live in many cities around the world. This conservation success story shows that we can make a difference and help make our cities a safe place for people and animals too!

Rhesus macaques in Dhaka

We love these mischievous monkeys! They have settled into city life amazingly well. They get around town much like they would in their jungle homes – jumping from roof to roof, sliding down telephone poles, swinging from clothes lines and diving into water fountains. Some people think the monkeys are like hooligans, breaking into houses, stealing food from market stalls, taking things from people’s pockets and making lots of noise as they zoom around the neighbourhoods. Others see the monkeys as part of the community and enjoy watching them play. In some cities, such as Jaipur and Kathmandu, monkeys live in the local temples, where they are honoured like gods and fed every day.

Bees in Buenos Aires

Billions of insects and other bugs share our cities. They’re all around us – scurrying along pavements, crawling on plants and zooming through the sky. They may be small, but they have important jobs to do – like pollinating plants. Bees are one of the best-known insect pollinators but they’re in trouble. Around the world, their forest homes are being cut down to make way for farmland and buildings. In Rio de Janeiro, urban beekeepers are helping their local bees by hanging up homemade hives in homes and schools in the middle of the city. You can help save your local bees by planting bee-friendly flowers in your garden. Or you can make your own bee hotel using an old plastic bottle and some hollow sticks to give them a safe place to lay their eggs.

Spotting challenge!

Have you ever spotted a fox walking down your street? Or a falcon perched on a skyscraper? Maybe you’ve heard an owl hooting late at night or discovered animal tracks in the mud or snow? We want to hear about your amazing urban wildlife encounters. It might be something you’ve seen, or something you’ve heard. Something big or something tiny... send your spottings via email to lonelyplanet.kids@lonelyplanet.com and we will share the best on social media.

Trending Posts

Spotlight on: The Plastic Problem

Escaping Planet Earth: how to build a space rocket

Family travel snap: adventures in Abu Dhabi

Ask Lonely Planet Kids: how can families travel more sustainably?

Postcard from... carnival in Colombia

Family travel snap: hanging out in Halkidiki, Greece

Planet's coolest jobs: children's book author

Ask Lonely Planet Kids: how can we survive a long-haul trip with a toddler?

Behind the scenes with Wild In the City

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