Justine McKeen, Queen of Green

by Sigmund Brouwer

  “I told him most of what we were going to do,” Justine said.

  “Most?” Michael asked.

  “Most,” she said. “Some things you can’t spring on people all at once. That’s what my grammy says. This was partly her idea, you know.”

  “To build a—,” said Michael.

  “No,” Justine said, “not to build our project. But to find a way to get Mr. Tait to be more green. My grammy said when you criticize people, it only makes them defend what they are doing, so it’s harder to change their habits. She said it’s much easier to get people on your side by asking them for help. So instead of a petition and marching back and forth with signs in protest, I thought we should let Mr. Tait help us build a wonderful green project in his parking lot.”

  “Great,” Michael said. “And in case you are wondering, by great, I mean not so great.”

  “It will be fine,” Justine said. “There’s only one thing we need to do. Over the next three weeks, we need our class to help us collect fifteen hundred empty plastic soda bottles.”

  “Fifteen hundred?” Safdar said. “Like one thousand five hundred?”

  “Sure,” Justine said. “Great ideas take work, you know.”

  “I have only one word for this,” Michael said.

  Safdar and Justine looked at him.

  “Arrgg,” he said.

  Chapter Seven

  Two weeks later, Michael and Safdar followed Justine home after school. She lived with her grandmother.

  “Hi, Grammy,” Justine said. “These are my friends, Michael and Safdar. They are going to help me make posters.”

  Grammy smiled. Judging from the wrinkles on her face, the boys could tell she smiled a lot.

  “Hello, boys,” she said. “I’m glad you are helping Justine with her green project. I hear your class has collected almost fifteen hundred plastic bottles.”

  “Yes, we have,” Michael said. “Helping to make posters didn’t sound all that fun, but Justine promised we could use power tools.”

  “Yeah,” Safdar said, “power tools. Boys LIKE power tools.”

  “What I said about the power tools is mostly true,” said Justine.

  “Mostly?” Safdar said.

  “Yes,” Justine said. “Remember what I told you before. Some things you can’t spring on people all at once. You are here now, so even if we don’t need to use power tools, there’s no point going home. Right?”

  “Arrgg,” Michael said. He was beginning to think arrgg was a good word.

  “Don’t worry,” Justine said. “When I said power tools, I was talking about a paper shredder, a blender and a hair dryer.”

  “Cool,” Safdar said. “I LIKE power tools. Any kind of power tools.”

  “But first,” Grammy said, “Justine needs to do something about our maggots.”

  “Maggots?” Michael said.

  “Little white worms that turn into flies,” Justine said. “They are really good for wounds that are infected. You put maggots on a wound and they eat all the decaying flesh.”

  “Nice,” Michael said. “And by nice, I mean not so nice.”

  “Follow me,” Justine said.

  She took Michael and Safdar into the garage. There was a big plastic bucket on the floor. It had lots of holes drilled into it. It was filled with brown stuff. It wasn’t smelly. But it had lots of little white things crawling around the top.

  “This is our compost bin,” Justine said. “Grammy and I throw our soft garbage into it. Things like vegetable peels and eggshells, coffee grounds and tea bags, scrapings from our plates and—”

  “Getting the picture,” Michael said.

  “Later,” she said, “we can use the compost as fertilizer. For the project at Ice-Cream Heaven.”

  Safdar leaned over and watched all the maggots squirming on top. “Cool! When do they turn into flies and fly away?”

  “Oh, they will fly away.” Justine laughed. “But they will have help.”

  She dragged the compost bin out of the garage and away from the house. She led Michael and Safdar back into the house where they could watch the bin from the front window.

  “It should only take a minute,” she said.

  She was right. About a minute later, several birds swooped down and began pecking at the compost.

  “See,” she said. “The maggots are flying away. It’s the natural way to get rid of pests.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Are you ready to use the power tools now?” Justine asked. Safdar and Michael nodded. They were gathered around Justine’s kitchen table.

  “Exactly how does a blender and a hair dryer help us make a poster?” Safdar asked.

  “Don’t forget the paper shredder,” Michael said.

  “Easy,” Justine said. “Maybe I should have mentioned all the shredding has been done.”

  “Let me guess,” Michael said. “Some things you can’t spring on people all at once.”

  “Wow,” Justine said. “You ARE smart.”

  “Arrgg,” Michael said.

  Justine smiled. She opened the closet and pulled out a bag of shredded paper. “First,” she said, “we scoop shredded paper into a blender. Then we add warm water and put the lid on.”

  “Let’s call it a POWER blender,” Safdar said. “That will make me feel more grown-up.”

  Justine smiled again. “Safdar, can you hit the button on the POWER blender?”

  When he did, the blender made a lot of loud, satisfying noises.

  The three of them filled the blender ten times with shredded paper and water. They poured the mixture into a large plastic tub.

  “Now what?” Michael asked.

  “We pour it into a mold and deckle,” Justine said. She pointed at something that looked like an old window frame with a metal screen. “Then we drain the water off into the tub.”

  When she had finished, she lifted the mold off and f lipped the deckle over onto the old sheet that covered the kitchen table. Then she lifted the deckle off.

  “Now we sponge off any extra water,” she said. There was a large square piece of mushy paper on the table. “Finally, we use the hair dryer.”

  “That would be the POWER hair dryer,” Safdar said.

  “Of course,” she said.

  Safdar dried the paper with the hair dryer. Altogether, they made eight sheets of recycled paper.

  “Excellent,” she said. “Now we have paper for our posters and compost to fertilize the soil for the Ice-Cream Heaven project. This way we can tell the woman from the newspaper the entire project is green.”

  “Newspaper?” Michael said. “I don’t remember hearing anything about a newspaper reporter.”

  “I thought you had learned,” Justine said. “Some things you can’t spring on people all at once.”

  Chapter Nine

  The Saturday morning they had been waiting for finally arrived. It was sunny and warm. Most of their class had showed up at the Ice-Cream Heaven parking lot to help.

  Several parents had delivered the materials. They brought lumber, thin wooden poles and bags and bags of empty plastic bottles. They also had buckets with warm water and wheelbarrows of dirt.

  “Where is Mr. Tait, the owner?” Mrs. Howie asked.

  “He usually gets here in the afternoon,” Justine said. “It would be great to have our project set up before he arrives. It will be a big surprise!”

  Safdar whispered to Michael, “Yes, some things you can’t spring on people all at once.”

  “That’s not our biggest problem,” Michael said. “Look who is watching us.”

  Jimmy Blatzo stood at the corner of the parking lot.

  “Let me guess,” Safdar said. “Better not call him Fatso Blazto.”

  “Exactly,” Michael said.

  Justine saw Jimmy Blatzo too. “Remember, when you criticize people they get defensive, it’s better to ask them for their help.”

  She waved at Jimmy Blatzo. “Hey, Blatzo,” she shouted, “get your butt over he
re.”

  Jimmy Blatzo stomped toward Justine.

  “Don’t just stand there looking angry,” she said. “You are strong and smart. We need you to help Michael and Safdar nail the frame together.”

  “Why should I help you, Miss Queen of Green?”

  “Because we can’t do it without you. We need your strength.”

  Jimmy Blatzo was so surprised, he picked up a hammer and started nailing lumber planks together with Safdar.

  “This would be much easier,” Jimmy Blatzo said, “if we had power tools.”

  “Ooooh,” Safdar said, “power tools.” He gave Jimmy a high five. They laughed and started back to work.

  At school the day before, Justine had explained to her classmates what everyone’s jobs were.

  Some students nailed boards together in the shape of a giant sandbox.

  Some soaked bottles in water to remove the labels.

  Some filled the giant sandbox with dirt and mixed in the compost for fertilizer.

  Some planted vegetable seeds.

  Some cut the bottoms off the plastic bottles.

  Some slid the bottles onto thin wooden poles.

  A few hours later, the project was almost finished, except for one thing. They needed someone big to put the roof on.

  “Hey, Blatzo,” Justine said. “Get your butt over here.”

  “What is it now?” he asked.

  “You are strong and smart,” she said. “We need to put you in charge of the roof.”

  Jimmy Blatzo did all the heavy lifting. A couple of minutes later, the roof was finished.

  “Ta-da!” Justine said. “A greenhouse!”

  Mr. Tait pulled into Ice-Cream Heaven’s parking lot. He parked his car and stomped toward Justine. “What is this?” he said. “You told me you were having a vegetable sale.”

  “We are,” she said. “It just might take awhile for the vegetables to grow. They are inside the greenhouse right now. As seeds.”

  “A plastic-bottle greenhouse?” he said.

  “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle,” she said. “That’s only one of the reasons they call me the Queen of Green.”

  “That’s where you are wrong,” he said. “Your name has been changed to the Queen of Take It Down Right Now.”

  Chapter Ten

  A woman rushed up to Justine and Mr. Tait. She had a small tape recorder in one hand and a camera in her other hand.

  “Hello, Mr. Tait,” the woman said. “My name is Lily Kempler. I’m from the newspaper. I’m glad you are here. I wanted to talk to you about all this.”

  “This? This ?” Mr. Tait said. “Did someone complain about it already?” Mr. Tait leaned over and whispered in Justine’s ear so only she could hear. “You will pull it down immediately!”

  “This is an amazing project. Who would complain?” Lily Kempler said. “It’s wonderful that you would encourage kids to make a greenhouse out of empty soda bottles. And it’s great advertising, don’t you think?”

  “Well…,” Mr. Tait said.

  “Yes, it’s great advertising,” Justine said. “And it’s important to be green. I’m glad Mr. Tait is green, aren’t you Mr. Tait?”

  “Well…” Mr. Tait rubbed his forehead.

  “I want to take a photo of you with the kids,” Lily Kempler said. “For the newspaper. I think this should be on the front page. Would that be okay with you, Mr. Tait?”

  Mr. Tait sighed. “Well…”

  “Maybe we could stand over there beside one of the posters about the project,” Justine said. “The posters are made from recycled paper. The fertilizer for the greenhouse is made from a home composter. No chemicals. This is as green as green can be. And when we sell the vegetables, we can use the money toward another green project. Right, Mr. Tait?”

  “Well…,” Mr. Tait said.

  Justine took his hand and dragged him toward the greenhouse. She pulled so hard that he leaned forward. “Mr. Tait,” Justine whispered in his ear. “If we stand over there, the Ice-Cream Heaven sign will be in the photo. Free advertising. On the front page.”

  Mr. Tait looked at the sign. “Well…”

  “Safdar!” Justine called. “Michael! Over here.”

  She looked at Lily Kempler. “It’s only fair if my friends are in the photo too. They did a lot of work.” Justine stood on one side of Mr. Tait. Michael and Safdar stood on the other side.

  “Ready?” Lily Kempler asked. She pointed her camera at them.

  “Almost,” Justine said. She shouted again. “Hey, Blatzo, get your butt over here.”

  Jimmy Blatzo lumbered over. “What?”

  “Come stand beside me,” she said.

  “Are you always going to order me around?” he said.

  “I am the Queen of Green,” she said. “Besides, I’ll bring more cricket brownies to school on Monday for you.”

  “Say cheese!” Lily Kempler said.

  “No,” Mr. Tait said. “Say ice cream!”

  Everyone grinned. There was a f lash as Lily Kempler snapped the photo.

  “So, Mr. Tait,” she said and held out her tape recorder. “How long will the greenhouse be here? I’m sure folks are going to be talking about it. They will be very proud of your community spirit.”

  “I don’t know how long it will be up,” Mr. Tait said. “Why don’t we let this girl tell you? In fact, she can answer all your questions about the project, right?”

  “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 the
re 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.