“What’s Your Story?” is a guest post feature on BCBA’s blog. Indie/Self-Published authors are invited to write about their books, writing journey, creative process, inspiration, rewards and challenges of publishing, etc. They can go in whatever direction they choose. We are excited and grateful for their willingness to share, and we hope you enjoy Sian Cuffy-Young’s story. Go here for more WYS? Posts.
I have always had a special relationship with waste. When I was ten years old, while swimming with my dad one day at home in Trinidad and Tobago, a loaded pamper struck me in my face. Let’s just say that that experience changed my life forever. Two things happened. First, I told my dad never to take my brother and me there again (which he didn’t), and second, I wondered why people were so nasty? Even though I couldn’t comprehend it, I decided then and there to one day do something about it.
You see, my father, a man in Scouting taught me that you always leave a place cleaner than you’ve met it. It’s the mission I still live by to this day. Fast forward to my twenties in 2006, where I worked for a waste management company, and waste education became my responsibility. I loved it so much that I even wrote the company’s first children’s book on waste. Unfortunately, it never saw the light of day. I made a promise to myself that given a chance, I would do it again, and it would be bigger and better!
Fast forward to 2020, and I have presented my first book to the world, Ky’s Magical Adventures: Where the Garbage Goes.
I wrote this book for my children to teach and show them that they can be and do better to protect the environment and learn more about waste management. It is my mission with all our nation’s children.
My daughter was a huge inspiration to me. She is now seven years old, and I wanted to capture her interaction with the environment and how she feels about protecting it. I wanted to show her curiosity, enthusiasm, and excitement about doing things that help the environment and her utter dismay when people do the opposite. I also wanted her to see herself represented in books as an Afro-Caribbean child.
Educating our children is very important to me. School presentations are a large part of what I do because, to change the mindset of a society, you must educate the children. So, I wanted to create something tangible to leave behind so that the lessons and the story continue even after my presentation is over. A book is great for this purpose, as it is a great interactive teaching tool that is different from presentation slides, which we have become accustomed to.
Ky’s Magical Adventures: Where the Garbage Goes is about a little girl’s adventure to find out where her garbage ends up after she throws it away. My hope is that this book will help children realize that they can be just like Ky. They have an Eco-Hero within themselves, and they have the power to make a difference by doing something as simple as putting their garbage in the right place.
Ky’s Magical Adventures: Where the Garbage Goes
Sian Cuffy-Young | Daniel Aiers | Siel Environmental | January 4, 2021 | 37 Pages
Sian Cuffy-Young is a Waste Management Educator, Consultant, and Social Entrepreneur. She holds a master’s in environmental engineering and a diploma in environmental management. She is a Fulbright Hubert Humphrey fellow from Cornell University, where she specializes in Natural Resource Management and Policy. Sian is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant of Siel Environmental Services Limited. With over 15 years’ experience in the field, Sian is an author, works with schools through her waste literacy program and with small and large businesses to become waste efficient. She is also the winner of the Lawrence Placide Services Go Global award and the Kenneth Valley Foundation Progress award for her work in environmentalism and advocacy.
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