Green Kids Club

Welcome to the Green Kids Club Newsletter where you can keep up with the Green Kids Club happenings each month, learn some new things, and challenge yourself as a true Green Kid ambassador for the planet.

What's New at the Green Kids Club

We'll have a new book coming out soon. It's called Belize Trash Monster, and it focuses on the beautiful beaches and wildlife in Belize. The story shows some of the effects of tourism and pollution on oceans and helps a seaside community to become a better steward of their beautiful backyard.

With the holidays coming up, our gift sets make an earth-friendly, fun choice easy. Every purchase on our site sends some funds to a good cause. And when you are holiday shopping on Amazon, did you know that they'll do the same? When you shop for the holidays at smile.amazon.com/ch/82-2387386, AmazonSmile donates to Love the Wild Foundation, our sister non-profit, which seeks to spread environmental education.

December Observances

December is Animal Sanctuary Appreciation Month and also has these specific observations:

• Dec 4 - International Cheetah Day
• Dec 4 - World Wildlife Conservation Day
• Dec 9 - National Llama Day
• Dec 10 - International Animal Rights Day
• Dec 11 - International Mountain Day
• Dec 13 - National Day of the Horse
• Dec 14 - Monkey Day
• Dec 27 - Visit an Animal Sanctuary Day

Monthly Challenge

Holidays, annual celebrations, and end-of-year festivities make this time of year hectic and entertaining. Nothing says "party!" like balloons. You may have seen articles and pictures of the devastation that released balloons can cause on wildlife when they come back down to earth. Balloon releases may seem beautiful and innocent, but they don't just rise up into space and disappear. They end up being snagged, deflating, or popping and sinking back to the ground, trees, or oceans. The problems arise because balloons are rarely biodegradable, are mistaken for jellyfish and ingested by marine animals, and leave strings or ribbons that can entangle wildlife. There are even estimates that balloons cause nearly 20% of power outages when they interfere with transmission lines! So at your next celebration, please consider releasing bubbles instead of balloons!

Animal Facts

Recent news out of Vietnam has resurrected the mouse deer. This chihuahua-sized, deer-like mammal was thought to be extinct, since it hadn't been seen for nearly 30 years. However, a team of scientists placed cameras in a remote forest and got lots of pictures of them! These mouse deer have two sharp fangs to fight, eat fruit that has fallen to the forest floor, and are naturally elusive to stay hidden from predators. No wonder we haven't seen them in so long. Now that we know where to look, there will be even more to learn about these mouse deer.

Non-Profit Highlight

My Conscience, My Choice is based on the idea that if given a choice the average consumer wants to make purchases with a good conscience. It is also based on the idea that the average consumer likes their purchasing experience to be quick and easy. My Conscience, My Choice helps to join those two goals by researching and recommending eco-friendly, clean-ingredient or cruelty-free product alternatives to those items that you normally purchase. These product recommendations can be found on their CHOICE app for iOS and featured products can be found on the website. You can download the app here.

Giveaways

If you haven't done so already, check out our Instagram page, @greenkidsclub. We will be featuring several giveaways there this month.