“We often ask kids, ’Can you imagine working with your sister?’ and they say, ‘Ew!’“ Ann Love says with a laugh. She’s been writing environmental children’s literature with her sister, Jane Drake, for over 25 years, and the duo have no plans to stop. Why would they? They’ve written almost 30 books, won three awards and still enjoy writing together. Well, most of the time. “If something is missing, like information from a map, Ann goes bonkers!” Drake says.

Plenty of street cred here—Love was a founder of Pollution Probe, and Drake is known in her neighbourhood for bringing her own bags to the grocery store (though she stops short of her mother’s method of rinsing out milk bags to replace zip-locks). Aimed at the eight-and-up set, their latest book is Trash Action: A Fresh Look at Garbage, which tells the history of waste disposal throughout history and Canada, using facts, personal anecdotes and illustrated stories. The goal is to get kids thinking about garbage at the cash register, not at the recycling bin.

For their inaugural read at the Milk International Children’s Festival, the sisters (along with illustrator Mark Thurman) have designed a Snakes and Ladders–style game, available at www.tundrabooks.com (click on “Teacher Resources”). Land on a square that says “pick a card” and you’ll have to answer a question about the environment. Of course, all the answers can be found in Trash Action.

What was your inspiration for this book?
Jane Drake: Garbage has always been an interest of ours. Our parents grew up during the Depression, and there was a waste-not-want-not mentality.
Ann Love: We’ve been wanting to write a book on garbage for 10 to 15 years. Jane and I were travelling in Budapest, where there were these beautiful medieval sculptures that had been found in a trash pile! We had the idea of treasure in trash. However, there was a multitude of recycling and environmental books at that time, and we were looking for a fresh angle.

What’s the writing process like?
AL: We usually draw up an outline, and divide the work according to interest. Because we’re sisters, we can say anything to each other! Whereas if our editor said it, we’d just get snippy. At the end of the process, the editors can’t tell who wrote which section.
JD: Ann is much more the “red pen” kind of person. My term is “woolly”; I’ll circle a paragraph and say, “This is woolly.”

How does your book compare to other current books about the environment?
AL: We do it a little differently. There are lots of books on animals, baby animals. But there aren’t many books for children with a focus on the environment and economics.
JD: We really hope kids will educate their parents. The “precycling” notion never really comes up. Precycling—asking “do I need this?”—and reusing are more important than recycling.

How does your book compare to environmental books of the past?
AL: There used to be huge lists of dos and don’ts, but our book focuses on things kids can do: turn off light bulbs, buy products made of recycled materials. Kids know this; it’s part of their thinking, it’s the way we live.

Do you have any new books coming out?
JD: Our editor said, “I’ll let you do the one on trash if you do the one on candy!”
AL: We have a new book called Sweet: The Delicious Story of Candy, which is the history of the world—ancient Egypt, Papua New Guinea —through candy. We’re also working on a book about invasive species, called Alien Invaders. I’m writing a chapter right now about purple loosestrife.
JD: I gained 10 pounds and got a cavity during the writing of Sweet.

Drake and Love read from Trash Action in the ALOUD Tent on Sunday, May 21 at 11:00 a.m. ALOUD: A Celebration for Young Readers takes place as part of the Milk International Children's Festival of the Arts from May 21–28 at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, 416-973-4000. A full schedule of events is at www.harbourfrontcentre.com

Read more about ALOUD and an interview with Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser, authors of All Q, No A: More Tales of a 10th-Grade Social Climber