Q&A with Ruth Valerio & Paul Kerensa

July 7, 2021

We chat to Ruth Valerio and Paul Kerensa about their new book Planet Protectors: 52 Ways to Look After God's World.

Planet Protectors is a brand-new children's book from Ruth Valerio and Paul Kerensa. Jam-packed with interesting facts, Christian theology and practical tips, it's an informative and empowering guide for children on helping the environment by living sustainably!

Dr Ruth Valerio is an environmentalist, theologian and social activist. She is Canon Theologian at Rochester Cathedral and her home church is part of the 24/7 Prayer Network. She is the author of Saying Yes to Life, L is for Lifestyle and Just Living.

Paul Kerensa is a scriptwriter, stand-up comedy and author of several adults and children’s books including Noah’s Car Park Ark, Moses and the Exodus Express and Joe’s Bros and the Bus That Goes.

Ruth and Paul, this is your first children’s book together. Why did you two decide to write a book together?

RUTH: I’ve been writing and speaking on issues of poverty and environmental care for over twenty-five years and one of my best selling books is L is for Lifestyle: Christian living that doesn’t cost the earth, which is full of practical tips, information and biblical reflection to help Christians live more carefully. I’ve had quite a few people say to me over the years that something like that would make a great book for children so it’s been in my mind for a while. Then during the first lockdown I thought, ‘Right, come on, let’s actually do it’. I knew I would need help though as writing for children isn’t my expertise, and Paul came to mind as someone who I knew would be able to take my basic content and turn it into something fun and brilliant. And he’s done that!

PAUL: Ruth came to me keen to write a book for children that helps them look after the planet. She’s written so well for adults on this, and I’ve written for children, so it made a great fit. We’ve met at festivals before but never worked together till now – we just had to wait for the right project and this is definitely it! My green credentials aren’t as strong as Ruth’s, but I think that helps us as a writing duo. She knows what we should be doing (and is doing it!), while I’m a few steps behind on that journey, trying to change my lifestyle and how my family does things. We’re getting there – there’s less plastic in the house than last year, we’re walking more, buying less, connecting more with our local area. I think I’m partly writing the book for me to learn from! There you go, we’ve got a reader of one straight away.

There’s lots of great tips in the book on how to reduce our carbon footprint, have either of you got a favourite top tip?

PAUL: I can’t choose... so I’ll pick a few that all link up. One of our tips is called ‘Psst! Pass it on’ – encouraging us to pass on clothes we’ve grown out of, and maybe get some in return. It ties in with ‘Fast Fashion’, trying to stop the constant buy-and-sell of cheap clothing that uses up resources and under-pays poor workers. And it links with a nice tip on ‘Junk Modelling’ – which my kids love, but it’s only since speaking with Ruth that I realised that the glitter we use has got to go! My children might make a cardboard castle out of kitchen roll tubes, but then cover it with glitter, meaning it can’t be recycled. Little tips, baby steps. We’re on a journey.

RUTH: No I can’t choose either! What I love about the tips is that they’re so varied - and they’re not all about your individual ‘lifestyle’-type things either. Some of them go broader to helping children take leadership in their schools and churches, some tips are around finding out what the Bible says about caring for the world…. .some are simply about getting outside and enjoying our gardens and parks and waterways.

Why is it important to get young children involved with helping the environment/combating climate change?

PAUL: I’ve seen my children learning more about green issues in school, except they’re no longer seeing them as green issues, but the global issues that they are. It’s becoming more part of our daily routines and conversations, without being a separate issue, as it was for me growing up. The younger generation are living and breathing these questions, everything from how we slow down climate change to how we shop better to how we look after our local parks and ponds. My children are teaching me – I’m the one learning!

RUTH: I agree - I’ve also learnt lots from my children as they’ve learnt from me initially but then taken these things on for themselves and pushed me to go further. We all need to be involved in taking care of God’s world and children can be a huge force for good, bringing about change in their families, schools, churches and communities. Some of it is also about developing good habits early on that we continue for the rest of our lives, whether that’s about being generous with our money or eating in a more sustainable way or simply developing an ‘ethical instinct’ whereby we’re naturally looking to do things in less damaging ways. As well as the 52 tips, the book also has stories from real life Planet Protectors which we hope will inspire readers.

We know this book is for children, but how can parents, teachers, and youth workers support children on their journey to becoming a Planet Protector?

PAUL: Have open conversations about these things. An open mind means thoughts can come out as well as in. One of our chapters encourages children to think about what their school does well versus what their home does well. Maybe we’re good at turning off switches at home, while school leaves the lights and computers on all night? Maybe school has recycling bins in every room, while at home you’ve just got one in the kitchen, so a lot of things upstairs don’t get recycled? Maybe your church doesn’t have a recycling bin at all, or has the heating on all year with the doors open? I think if we get children thinking, but crucially then listen to what they have to say – they might have better ideas than we have (in fact I bet they will).

RUTH: I think one of the best things we can do is give children leadership and responsibility. So ask them to take the lead in your family in helping you get rid of single use plastics or revamping your food or monitoring your energy usage. I’ve seen churches ask their youth group to lead on helping the church gain an Eco Church award, and that has really inspired and motivated the young people there and helped drag the adults along too!

Since it’s Plastic Free July, do you either of you have a top tip or suggestion on how we can reduce our use of plastic?

RUTH: Do a bin audit. Make a note of everything that goes into your bin for a couple of weeks and see what it mostly consists of. Then work out how you can do things differently so you’re cutting that down. And a really basic thing is ditch the liquid soap - so buy bars of soap for the sink and the bath (not wrapped in plastic!), and shampoo and conditioner bars. And hopefully I don’t need to tell anyone to carry a water bottle with them and never buy a bottle of water!

PAUL: There are our homes of course – if we choose to avoid plastic, we will. But for next-level Planet Protectors, think about clubs and other extra-curricular activities, maybe Brownies, Cubs, Boys’ Brigade, Girls’ Brigade, youth groups... If arts and crafts are involved, try natural products – stones, fir cones, flowers – instead of shiny paper and glitter. It might mean some gentle encouragement of the leaders to think about these things. When it comes from the children asking the leaders, that’s a pretty powerful change. It’s still fun, only it now comes with added Planet-Protecting!

Watch the Planet Protectors book launch with special guest Joanna Adeyinka-Burford >>