By Jay Flood
Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Graduate Jade Rush published a children’s book, Evelyn the Environmentalist Takes on Climate Change, July 18.
Rush participated in The Hatch, a program like Shark Tank at BGSU, in 2022 and received funding to launch her business idea. She pitched her book and her publishing company, Green Adventures Publishing, LLC.
She graduated from BGSU in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in marketing and minors in entrepreneurship and environmental science. She always wanted to write a children’s book and was able to use the knowledge she gained from her degree, specialization and both minors to publish her book.
Evelyn the Environmentalist Takes on Climate Change is a story about a girl noticing what’s happening in the environment and trying to make a change. Rush was inspired to write this book because kids are our future and will be most affected by the climate crisis, so she wanted to begin exposing them to it in a simple way.
“I wanted to introduce kids to what’s happening around them and encourage them to make a change,” said Rush. “I don’t want to sugarcoat it, but I also wanted to make it a positive introduction to the climate crisis.”
The illustrations show kids what might happen to the environment, but also shows them ways they can help like cleaning the beach or planting more trees. In the back of the book, there is a plantable wildflower seed that kids can plant to help bees and other pollinators.
“Kids are smarter than we make them out to be,” she said. “Climate change is something they’ll hear about on the news or in school and if they can recognize words they read in my book, they will pay attention and know it’s important.”
Rush wanted to make a broad and complex concept digestible for a kid to read. She read the book to several elementary school classes and asked for feedback.
“I asked if it was confusing to them and they said it wasn’t confusing and made sense,” Rush said. “Then they asked if Evelyn was a superhero and that inspired me to give her a cape and make her fly.”
Rush decided to create her own publishing company rather than self-publishing or trying to publish traditionally because she wanted to ensure her book was published as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. Her book is made from 100% post-consumer, recycled, unbleached paper.
She had to do a lot of research to find an environmentally friendly and sustainable printing company that could do what she wanted them to do.
“I was looking for a company that had 100% unbleached post-consumer recycled materials, plant-based inks and would accept the seed paper I supplied for them,” said Rush. “They said they could and also recommended more eco-friendly ways to do things which I appreciated.”
Rush wants to write and publish more children’s books about climate change and is open to publishing other people’s books if they also want to ensure they are published in the most environmentally friendly and sustainable way.
Evelyn the Environmentalist Takes on Climate Change can be purchased on her website.
You may also like this
