The Otesha Book: From Junk to Funk

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“Brilliant!  Fun, interactive, engaging, a great balance of information with personal stories, thought provoking questions and back pocket resources.  Every teacher, student, and parent needs to read this book...”.  

– Xodiz, Environmental Educator

Who: The Otesha book has been made for anyone that is interested in issues of sustainability and creating postiive change. It represents, in one snazzy little post-consumer waste package, the writing and editing of over 40 people! Written collectively by members of 2003 Otesha Team and individuals across the country; reviewed by young people, NGOs, teachers, and other eclectic folk; and constantly evolving with people just like you, it's a collective creation!

What: The Otesha book is a behind-the-scenes look at how our daily actions change the world! Packed with cool graphics and interesting and inspiring stories, it is designed to match the Otesha Morning Choices Play, with one phenomenal chapter for each scene of the play: 

1. Water
2. Clothing
3. Media
4. Coffee
5. Food
6. Transportation

These chapters are then sub-divided into four sections: "removing the blinders", "holding up the mirror", "empowerment", and "action". Please see our "Create positive change" page for more information on this approach.

How: We distribute The Otesha Book to individuals and to groups of individuals (order here).

In the latter case, Otesha audience members are invited to make their own covers using reused materials (aka from "Junk" to "Funk") - and obtaining an awesome follow-up tool! Click here to see how to make these funky post-consumer-waste packages. See our creative photoshoot for inspiration.  Entered into the book-crossing system (www.BookCrossing.com), each book will also be tracked, as it travels from reader to reader picking up better ideas and even more good karma as it travels!

Why: We want the Otesha message to travel even farther than we can, and we want to provide a follow-up tool with more information, more inspiration, and more fun (!) to the thousands of people who share our vision for a better future.

Walking the talk is KEY to Otesha, so creating a book was certainly a challenge, however we have researched a bunch of options and luckily have found a bunch of solutions (always there... just have to find where outside the box they lie)! First of all, the book covers are made out of old cereal boxes and scrap pieces of material. To stick all this together, we're using vegan Elmer's glue. The text is then printed on 100% post-consumer waste paper by a printer that specializes in environmentally sound waterless printing, with vegetable-based inks and processed chlorine free. Get this: the mill where the paper is made is even fueled by bio-gas from a nearby landfill! Then this lovely little package is bound together by binder rings (made of 25% recycled aluminium) and voila!!! You have it - the Otesha sustainable book recipe! (If you have any other ideas about how to print a book sustainably please send them to us !)

"I find this resource extremely useful for teaching ESD (Environmental Science). It is geared specifically to a teen audience. The aesthetic is 'urban-trendy' and funky. The language it uses is at the level of high school students. And it is written as though a narrator is speaking to the student directly. Therefore it engages students right away because it has a 'youth to youth' feeling. This resource also focuses on several relevant issues that can appeal to high school students – clothing, coffee, media, food, water and transport. Each issue is examined from the perspective of how this teen might interact with these things in 1 day. Therefore it transforms what could be seen as enormous, global catastrophes into a manageable size, a tangible scope – 1 day. The book weaves together social, environmental and economic issues seamlessly. In so doing, it doesn't ever set up the idea that these things are separate and maintains that you must view these factors as inextricably interconnected."

- High school teacher

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*Due to high demand, French softcover books have unfortunately sold out. However, those interested in the French version of the book can order French homemade books or view the French version here!

Teacher Insert

Written in collaboration with the formal education sector, teachers, workshop facilitators and students themselves can use the Teacher Insert addition to The Otesha Book to construct lesson plans and workshops according to their individual tastes – or, if you prefer, their own curriculum needs. 

The insert is divided into six topics that correspond to the six chapters that are featured in The Otesha Book. Within each section, educators will be able to select what type of lesson plan they want:

• Hors D’oeuvres: starters and icebreakers, including surveys, community mapping and investigative reports
• Entrées: in-class work and discussions, including stakeholder debates and creative ‘perspective’ assignments
• Desserts: assignments for full term papers and extra-credit assignments, including ‘Go Further!’ reports, and global research and presentation.

Filled with creative, insightful, and engaging activities, this latest resource will help bring The Otesha Book to life in classrooms across Canada.

The insert is available in print version which is easily added to homemade versions of The Otesha Book. The cost of the insert is an additional $10, or free-of-charge if you download it (click here to download). 

We hope you enjoy! Give us feedback on how you use it!

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