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Cathy Hopkins

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Going Green. It's a concern isn't it? We're all supposed to be doing something to help. But beyond the low energy light bulbs and recycling the rubbish, what else could I do?

Then I went to see the Al Gore film, An Inconvenient Truth, scary stuff, our planet is in trouble, we have to act, and we have to act now. How? I asked the screen as a feeling of gloom settled over me. Tell me what to do

When my publisher asked if I would do a teenage guide to going green, my first reaction was to panic, a whole book? How was I going to fill it? With the help of two great researchers, Kate Smith and Vic Parker, I got the facts. I discovered exactly what a carbon footprint is, what is meant by greenhouse gas and how to be carbon neutral. Now make it accessible to teenagers,' said my publisher. Now there was a challenge, I thought, because reading about landfills or global warming doesn't have the same allure as watching an episode of Skins or Gossip Girls or reading a good book for a lot of teens. Yes, there are some who are more than aware ? it's their future that is in jeopardy ? but reaching the others, who think that fossil fuels are a good way to describe their parents, now that was a task! With the help of my editor, Anne Clark, I think we've done a good job. It's been a team effort and Mates, Dates & Saving the Planet is focused on solutions rather than the problems. I have certainly learnt that there's loads of stuff I can do, easily and some of it can be even be fun! Here's a few of my favourites:

  • Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth (saves water)
  • Turn down the thermostat on the central heating (saves energy)
  • Start a magazine exchange rather than four people all buying the same one
  • Have a clothes swapping party
  • Don't leave the TV/computer on standby
  • Don't fill the kettle to the top, only fill it with water that you're going to use
Simple things like that. 'Obvious,' some of the veteran greens might say, but if we all started doing 'the obvious', it could make a difference and all can be incorporated into one's lifestyle so that they become a habit. As Nesta from the Mates, Dates books would say, 'Compost on, dudes. It's not too late!'

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About the Author

Cathy Hopkins lives in North London with her husband and three mad cats. Cathy has had a varied career from teaching in secondary schools to joining the rock & roll band, Driving Rock and the Rockettes, as one of the Rockettes. She has also worked as an occupational therapist, a newspaper reviewer on Sky news, a comedy script reader for the BBC and an aromatherapist. The Mates, Dates series was Cathy's first go at fiction writing. She says that writing for teenagers is easily the most enjoyable work she's ever done as it gives her the chance to do all sorts of things in the name of research - like reading all the great teenage fiction there is today, watching Buffy and reading serious magazines like Bliss and Cosmo Girl!

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