The Live Lightly Podcast

Jessica Franklin (00:00)
Hello and welcome to the Live Lightly podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Franklin. And today I'm joined by Lotus Kay, author of the children's books, More Beautiful Than Heaven, Billy the Octopus, A Thanksgiving for the Turkeys, Jenny the Chimpanzee, and Friends Lift You Up, all in collaboration with Bears for Cares to educate kids on the importance and beauty of nature and to inspire them to help.

protect the earth and create a kinder, more compassionate world. Welcome, Lotus. Thank you. it's really great to have you here today. The way that I found your books, I have to just start by telling a little bit of a story because it wasn't on my radar. I read books to my son who's now 13 and a half years old. I every single night.

before bed and always chose books that were having to do with something that I wanted him to learn about the world. And I wish that these books had been available at that time, but I think that they had not been created yet. But when I was writing my, guide for sustainability.

I have a children's chapter and I wanted to include books. And so I stumbled upon Bears for Cares and your books and also the publishing company I saw was publishing with sustainable materials and. Eifrig So I just thought that was so cool. Not only your books, but also that the publishing company was doing that as well. So I included.

that in my guide and your books, because I just love that they are they have a theme that helps to teach kids about, how to treat the planet and how to treat others and how to, treat animals with love, kindness, respect, compassion and reverence, the same as we would treat our own family, right?

So yeah, I really, and I've read a couple of them. I haven't read them all, but I know a little bit about each of them. And I would love for you to tell me a little bit about the earliest and most vivid or impactful memory that you would say initially sparked your interest in caring for the environment and for animals.

I don't know if there's just one. think first, my first influence was my dad actually did something similar or still does, but that even you, how you found the books, what you do, trying to give resources for the environment. So in the really early days of the internet, you know, way back in the nineties, he was just like finding different names of different like websites back when like everything was available because it was a new thing. And

the idea for a place called Eco Mall. And so it's a very old website now called the Eco Mall, which is an online website that would have, you know, environmental resources on everything from cleaning products to baby stuff. Like when I was a baby, all my probably like clothes and diapers and everything was environmental. So that's just being born into that.

My parents had already had that website and my dad's also does solar energy stuff. He has some patents in solar energy. So straight off the bat, I was born into that. So that alone. But then I think I became more aware of having like a personal feeling for it was well, also again, I also well, I was born in New York City, but then it was around

A few months after I was born, 9 -11 happened. And so my parents decided to raise me in upstate New York in Woodstock, about like an hour and a half away. And Woodstock is a very, you know, peace and love place, but also very about sustainability and the environment and the earth and mother earth. again, so I just was like, it was just common sense, just.

to be this way. then I think when I became a teenager, especially because I was homeschooled when I was a teenager. I really, what I decided to learn about in school was a lot of also self -driven as well. And so I kind of took it among myself to watch some documentaries and become aware of a lot of things. watched Plastic Paradise, Mission Blue,

unity, a lot. the true cost about fashion, like all sorts of documentaries. And so I was, so at around like 14, 15, you know, it was like a big thing on my mind. and I was once just hanging out one night with my sister who watched a lot of these documentaries with me. She had just went to college. She's a few years older. And when she would come back from college, I feel like we would like watch these documentaries together.

And we had the idea for Bears for Cares. We just slept in the living room on our couch that turns into a bed. And it became our little sleepover. literally, just on our little sleepover, we came up with the idea for, let me see here, these stuffed animal bears. And that they would somehow get connected with teaching kids about the environment and everything. And then we

submitted the project through, sorry, am I getting ahead? I not going to other questions? You know, just tell the story. I love it. And yeah. I go through the whole thing. I love it. No, this is great because I want you to tell about how you, you know, connected Bears for Cares for the group. Yeah. So go for it. One thing led to another. then, you know, you know, well, also because my family like did, you know, my dad has eco mall, but my mom has like,

feminist .com and I feel like just like creating ideas and stuff was very also in my family. So we created our own idea. We were like teenagers at the time. And I knew about Jane Goodall has something called Roots and Shoots, which encourages young people to create projects that are, you know, about the environment or helping their community or whatever. And so we connected with Roots and Shoots, submitted our project idea, got

approved and a tiny little grant. And also while we were writing up the idea for it, at first it was just stuffed animals. then while we were writing it was like, stuffed animal, they don't know what that symbolizes. So we need something that teaches them about it. And so that's when the idea for me to write children's books came in. So yeah.

so the Bears for Cares idea came first, then you got a little bit of grant money to help fund the project. I think that this is a really cool story for anybody who has children and their children have something that they're passionate about, just to kind of outline how this process goes.

Because I think process is, just intimidating sometimes.

so did you find somebody locally or did you seek outside of your local community to find somebody to make the bears. Okay, so the bears I feel that was probably one of the first partnerships we had

was, and maybe it was again through Eco Mall, the having that we had had that by then for like 20 years or something close to that. We were connected with a lot of things. All we had to do was talk about our project and people probably like be like interested in it or helping in some way. And that was kind of what it was like with this. had at the Eco Mall known about a place called Hug a Planet. It's like hug with two G's and they make these stuffed earths.

And yeah, and so we had these stuffed earths. I grew up with them. But they also made bears. And these bears made from like organic cotton materials. I love that. Yeah. I love it when you actually touch it, it feels like it's made from good stuff. Yeah.

Instead of like now all of this stuff toys are made of synthetic fabrics and which is basically plastic, micro plastics. Yeah, so much better to be giving your child something that's made of actual real materials, kind of getting back to the roots of coming from the earth, right. So I love that there's that connection as well that your toy is actually made of something that and and the books.

are made from recycled paper and acid -free paper. it's nice when you get to actually walk the talk a little bit, like if you're talking about the environment, but it's a book, you're using paper. So at least try to make it recycled paper, it doesn't have at least have to do your best on that. Yeah, totally. I love that too. That's why I decided to put all of that into my guide because it was the whole package.

It wasn't just books about, but it was books about, environment and caring for nature, but also like walking the talk, like you said, printed on books that have paper that's, you know, sustainable and done in the right way, in a way that is honoring the planet, right? Yeah. Sometimes it's hard to do that like a hundred percent, but even just trying to do it a little bit, like don't get discouraged because like, you're not able to completely do that, but at least try your best. Just do it a little.

Yeah, I love that message because sometimes if you try all or nothing, then you just end up with nothing, right? Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So you just have to kind of start with what you can and do the best and then move from there. And, you know, over time, you find something that would be better and then you go for that. But, at least starting out with something that begins with a foundation of sustainability is a good place to start.

I would love to talk about the book that made me look at your books a little bit more. The one that stood out to me the most was Billy the Octopus

Yeah, so that book was inspired by a few different directions. one is there's a character in my first book, More Beautiful Than Heaven that is an octopus.

And I wanted that to, you know, represent the ocean and everything. As the first book talks about the beauty of the earth, but also these specific issues like they're being plastic in the sea or the ice where bear the polar bear lives is melting or the trees being cut down , we're damaging sea life. So one of that was the little octopus. And I like I saw Mission Blue and learned about Sylvia Earle during, you know,

my teenage years during this time and I just have to interject and say she's my hero. Same, same, same. I absolutely just she is such a national treasure. I mean to the planet. Yeah. Yeah. And to the ocean. She's just an amazing woman. I just love her. So anyways, go on. We talk about like, you know, people have walked on the moon and stuff. I'm pretty sure she's the she's like

touch the ocean floor, whatever. Like she's done like historic things like a lot of people, especially in our environmental space know about her, but like she should be even more like, yeah, seriously. Yeah, she should be like, you know, Neil Armstrong or exactly. Yeah. So anyway, I wanted to like connect with Mission Blue and do something in that region because also I even think

in the environmental, even in the animal rights space, I feel like sometimes the ocean, like sea life isn't even talked about enough in the animal rights space. And considering fish to even be animals, like some people it's as if they're not even. And so I want to do something - like vegetarians Exactly. like, know, land animals That's called a pescatarian, but they still say vegetarian because they literally don't even like realize that that is an animal,

yeah, and I also became vegan then. that was very much in that space and everything. And I was noticing even within the vegan space, you know, we talk all cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, but not talking about fish that much. So I wanted to do something and I connected with Mission Blue and I think I was going to write something for them or they have these hope spots where they like have certain, yeah, parts of the ocean that they're trying to.

either they already have them created them to be like safe zones or they're trying to for like not having litter and bad stuff in that area. So that's a really cool thing. yeah, anyways, when it came to spaces that are really important to marine life and it goes, is that it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. Yes. Yeah. So you wanted to write something kind of geared towards telling the story for the ocean and for marine life.

Yes. And so I wanted to write something. And then I realized that one of my favorite ways to write was like, like, I'm like, I'm a poet, I'm a songwriter. I love when I can make it rhyme. I love when I can and so instead of just writing something just like anyone could write, I was like, what if the thing I wrote was like,

And that's when I thought there's Billy the Octopus in my first book. at this point, I only had one book and I only planned on writing like one book. And then I was like, what if Billy the Octopus gets her own book and it's about the ocean? And so then I got to writing that. And yeah. And at that point, I already had like, Where Beautiful in Heaven was like, I don't know if it was like almost finished or whatever.

But I thought I was gonna even finish that book before thinking about doing another book. the illustrator I was working with, by the way, actually, I found partners. literally, we found, I think it was a Facebook group of illustrators and reached out to certain people and we literally found her on Facebook. wow. Yeah. was really just like picture yourself and look places and it's really, yeah, that's really how it happens. And she was young too. She was in her 20s as well.

This was her first time illustrating a book, but she's so good. The pictures are amazing. Yeah, I did not illustrate myself, but my illustrator, Shay Deal, is so amazing. So the pictures are amazing. But so when my mom mentioned, she also has this like, Billy Lou octopus, like ocean book idea. She was like, send it to me. And she later they got to illustrating it at the same time as the other books so that I actually wound up putting out More Beautiful Than Heaven and Billy the Octopus at the same time.

they have the same day that I put them both out like they wound up being worked on simultaneously. then my next two books, Jenny and the Chimpanzee and Thanksgiving for the Turkeys were also put out at the same time. So I kept on doing this like put out two books at a time and work on two books at a time. my gosh. And how long did it take you to write the books?

I know sometimes books can take a long time, but it sounded like this wasn't a lengthy process for you. Yeah, it's pretty like, it's interesting to me now because I feel like my creative process has changed over time and everyone is different. So like when it comes to the next books I'm working on, I feel like I may be spending like years trying to like write my next book and figure out the best version of it. But

I don't know what it was about just like the, just going with the moment, just going with the flow that I literally, like More Beautiful Than Heaven I wrote just one night and I don't know, 30 minutes, the hour and like it was done. Octopus was again like, I think the first four books were literally like I just sat down and wrote them and they were done. So I like to ask my past self how I did that honestly.

But me at at 17, which was like, well, I was 16 more beautiful than heaven. The others I was 17. I'm like, want to go back and ask myself honestly how I did that. But that's how it happened. Yeah. It's like the it just came through you. And I think it's because you're writing about something you're so inspired by and passionate about that could be part of it, too. You just had so much excitement about it that you didn't have to overthink it. And maybe two now that you've done it.

maybe you're just overthinking it a little bit. Yeah, at some things shift. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what, but yeah. Yeah, sometimes we get in our own way. Yeah. Yeah. Just have to let that creative energy flow through us. And yeah, I guess sometimes that's part of the process too is figuring out what the, the blocks are and just growing, Yeah. And so as for like other people, whether it comes easily or not, like it's different.

for everyone and it depends. Sometimes I'll spend a long time or years on a certain project or anything and it sounds like it's been worked on for years and that's a good thing. And then other things you do quickly, neither one is better than the other. I'm just saying that to any other creative, it doesn't matter if you write books or what you do.

One way isn't better than the other like it's if you spend a lot of time dedicated to something That's a good thing if you are able to sometimes it's better in the with the moment not overthinking it and the things that you run from it are the best but neither is better than the other it just depends I don't know. Yeah. No, I love that I love that because you don't want to overthink it or judge yourself or you know Think you're not doing it, right? Just because it's not coming fast or because it's taking too long. Yeah

You're right. It's all good. It's all what it needs to be exactly to get what you have at the end of the day.

So it sounds like the books came from a passionate place, topics that you not only were kind of born into and exposed to your whole life, being in the family in the community that you lived in. Could you tell us a little bit about some of those so that people kind of know a little bit about the premise of the books and where that passion came from? Okay, so the first book, More Beautiful Than Heaven,

It's basically saying like, our earth is like a heaven. And I think sometimes like we don't treat the planet as like, we're always thinking of, someplace else or let's go to Mars. And that's really cool. But we're like taking for granted the planet we actually live on and what a heaven and what a great place it really is.

so I feel like I just wanted to talk about the earth and and almost seeing it through fresh eyes where it says in the book, like, you know, then there's an angel that comes every night, you can call her the moon or whatever feels right. It's not that I don't think you know the name for the moon. It's I'm trying to almost have you look at everything through like brand new eyes as if like, you know, we just call things label things, but just to see them as

beautiful and a miracle. And then so I talked about beautiful the earth is and then it comes in with all the threats to the ocean, to the forest, to the whatever. And then it encourages the reader you were the one I've been waiting to find you have such a kind heart and such a smart mind, you to do something and to, protect the earth. And a message from Barry the bear is a polar bear.

And yeah, and also my writing style is very much like it's not like a bunch of words on a page or you know, very much it's it's it's just very it's poet it's just like poetry. And so it's pretty simple and I think pretty simple to understand. that and then Billy the octopus I think we already talked about a little but it's Yeah, go a little bit deeper into that. I think you will when I read it, it was talking about

plastic pollution in the ocean and other types of things that are happening that I think people aren't always aware of So yeah,

tell us a little bit about what spark actually inspired you to write such, I wanna say deep because that's just how I felt when I was reading it to my nephew. It was really deep for coming from someone who's, you you were a teenager when you wrote it. Yeah. Well, it's to even conceptualize, I think the ocean because we don't live in the ocean. just,

So it starts with like, you're at a beach because that's the closest we usually see the ocean unless we are like scuba divers or, you know, like we don't usually see it. So it's to imagine the whole world and about again, like how beautiful the ocean is that we don't really often get to see in the whole world that lives there. But then, yeah, it talks about the things that we do, whether it's, you know, the overfishing.

or it's the plastic, or even the fact that a lot of these fish would like to roam free and swim miles a day, not be put in a tank in an aquarium. So these things that we do that are not the best for the ocean, so to become aware of that. And now when you go to the beach and you see the ocean, you're like, wow, this is just the surface. To think of how deep and how much goes on in the ocean. And again, why we should.

take good care of it. like, like, against the lungs of the planet, if we don't treat the ocean well, the entire planet won't be able to sustain itself if our ocean is not surviving. yeah, yeah, you're so right. also, at the end of the book, I have some plastic facts and ocean facts and stuff you can do to take it even deeper dive into no pun intended deeper dive into all that the facts.

that are going on, the threats to the ocean and as well as yeah, like tips on things. Yeah, I really like that. so it's good because as children grow a little bit older, I think, you can incorporate those things. And so yeah, it's great for any ages. My nephew is like, you know, he's not even one yet. Exactly. So when they're little, you can just read the story. And then maybe when they're like a little older, depending how old they are, they're like, here are the hard facts. Yeah. At the end of the book.

Yes, exactly. You can get to that a little later. Yeah, because they're there there there's it's quite a lot. Yeah, it is a lot. Yeah, my son actually loves the ocean and he films great white sharks. And he started doing that at 10 years old with a drone. And yeah, it's just beautiful to see I think when children and you know, just young adults get passionate about

something he learned about sharks and how like I think we watch mission blue and yeah, a lot of different documentaries about the ocean and ocean life. Racing Extinction is another great one. Racing Extinction. You got it. It's so good. It's so good. I've watched it like five times. Okay. Yeah. Is that about the ocean or? It's about like, I mean, like Racing Extinction. So yeah, it talks about the ocean. It talks about sharks, but it talks about the

it's environmental, whole planet, Jane Goodall's in it. A lot of really great environmentalists are in it. There's really good filmmaker behind it. You check it out. I've not seen that, not at all. But yeah, I just, I've kind of seen the passion that gets ignited when you expose young kids at whatever age to this information.

it's really cool. Like he got super passionate about sharks and we're so lucky to live in Southern California where we could, we're able to go in and swim with leopard sharks and, he got a drone so that he could see them from above. And now he's finding great white sharks know, and he's making little documentaries and his message is like, we need to protect sharks. Like sharks are so important for the ocean and for the planet, you know, roots and shoots project.

He could I guess yeah, I know about more about what that is. Yeah, sounds like he already is I guess he kind of is Yeah, so I just love your story about all of these different things that inspired you and how I came into fruition with books and what advice would you give to young listeners? Who are passionate about caring for the environment?

and who have ideas of how to share their passion with others in a meaningful way, but just aren't sure, where to begin.

I don't know if it matters where you begin, just that you begin anywhere. think, you know, as long as you put yourself out there some way and reach out to people, whether in person or online, you know, the odds are even if you don't get responses from like, some people are gonna be interested, some people are gonna want to help or partner with you or just encourage you. So just like, just go for it. I think people just need to be told to like,

Go for it because the answer will always be no if you don't even try. at least there's a chance at a yes and a chance at it actually doing something about something if you actually go for it. yeah. Yeah. So just start. Just start. Yeah. Go for it. And don't let fear hold you back. Don't let doubt hold you back. Like, who am I to do this? Right? think a lot of people kind of get that imposter syndrome going on.

Who am I? Me and my sister were really shocked when Bears for Cares actually was turning into a real thing. We were really like, we couldn't believe that it was actually being a thing, you know, because it was just an idea we had, just like any idea. And then we're like, my gosh, remember the idea we had on that little sleepover? It's actually like, wow, now Jane Goodall knows about it. So it could really start like that. And then you're like, my god, it became a real thing. Yeah.

It's a, it's an idea you had and then you acted on it. So, and I think sometimes also, you know, not to just start, and then get, stopped by one roadblock, right? Like if you have one roadblock or one, no, don't let that stop you, right? It just teaches you, you know, and gives you information for what we're going to do next. I think.

I don't know if you had any experiences like that on your journey where maybe you had a roadblock or a no, and then you just gathered information from that to move in a different direction. Did you have anything happen like that during this process? Yeah, I've had certain things like that, but, you know I kind of tried to,

You know, it's always just like what's meant to be. So if something didn't work out there, it wasn't meant to be, but maybe it inspired something else. And then, it's not for you to go to a different direction that winds up being the right direction. yeah. That's right. Yeah. Sometimes no is just like a redirection. Yeah. Or closed door is just, you know, not this door. Doesn't mean, yeah, that there isn't a right door. So yeah. So tell us a little bit about what you're up to these days because you're no longer a teenager in high school.

How old are you now? I'm 23 now. Okay, so you're now 23 and you're still kind of on this journey of being a children's book author and you've got a lot of other things also that you're doing, projects. So yeah, tell us a little bit about what your life looks like these days.

yeah, there's a lot going on. I, I'm a singer songwriter. So now I put out some music and music videos. I continue to write and speak and, I heard that I heard a little rumor that you're going to be in a play that's coming up soon. Yes. Yeah.

I am in a play happening at Climate Week in New York City. Wow. But it's going to be live streamed. So you could still maybe watch it. There's a place called the Earth Law Center. And what they do is they represent the Earth or animals legally being their voice. And they have partnered with, there's this

kind of ancient book that was written called "The Animal's Lawsuit Against Humanity," they are now making it into a play. And I got connected with them and I'm getting casted as the donkey that has the idea to go to court and speak for the animals as they're being mistreated. And I was

So, so, so, so excited about being a part of this because I care about this stuff so much. And so I was really excited that this was even happening and then to be a part of it and see it also maybe get even more developed over time or be a part of it getting even more developed. And but yeah, so it's happening September 23rd and you could definitely.

follow Earthlaw Center or go to their website like earthlawcenter .org or follow me. I'm @lotusrkay letter "R" Kay. And to find out if you want to see the live stream of that. Or if you happen to be in New York, it's that like, yeah. Is it just a one time performance?

I could see future developments of it possibly happening. As of right now, it's all that's happening right now. Okay, so yeah, think because when I think of play, I think of like multiple nights in a row or something like that. you mean like, no, it's just happening on the one day. Just the one day, okay. But if you can't be there live, you can be there live stream. Yes.

And connect with that website you said earthlaw .org would be how to... Law Center. earthlawcenter .org. Yeah. Is that right? Okay. And that's maybe how you would be able to tap into watching it live stream. Is that where you would do that? Yes. If you want to see the animals go to court against humans and how that plays out, that would be interesting.

interesting thing to watch. Okay, that sounds really great. I'm going to watch that for sure with my son. And I guess at this point, can you give some sustainable living tips that you live by for some for our listeners? What are your top things that you really incorporate into your daily life that, embody sustainability in your perspective?

Okay, there's a lot. That's great. I know there's a lot to tackle. so I do try to, you know, the products that I get and everything be as sustainable as possible.

even clothes, like if it's like shopping vintage or things like that or. Yeah. I love shopping. just secondhand stores. there's so that's available and it's mostly new and it's a quarter of the price. So that's definitely a great tip. one of my favorites as well. Yeah.

I'm just being aware of where your clothes comes from and stuff and how far it had to go and all that went into it. I'm still like, you know, it can, can be hard to like always be on top of that. I'm also interested in like fashion design. And I know if I ever do do like a fashion line someday or whatever, like I'm trying to make sure everything would be like super sustainable. So I've been looking into sustainable fashion a lot. okay. Yes, please do that. And keep me in the loop when you someday are fashion designer for sustainable.

Fashion wear. It's definitely not an easy thing to find. Yeah. that you can find somebody who companies that are doing it in all the different layers. Yeah, totally. Because you know, there's one layer might be sustainable material. Yeah. But then, the next part of that is like, well, how did you source it? And how are you processing it? Because bamboo.

is a sustainable material, but it's not necessarily always processed in a way that's sustainable because there's a lot of, you know, just stuff going on in that process that can create a lot of wastewater and so on and so forth. So you have to find somebody that's doing the actual, you know, turning the bamboo into fabric in a sustainable way. So yeah, it's definitely a journey for people who are looking for new clothing.

And so I do, that was kind of one of the hardest chapters that I wrote for my sustainable living guide was the clothing chapter, because I'm not big into clothes myself. And when I do buy clothes, like I will go, you know, and look at the secondhand stores first. But my size is a little bit tricky. So, you know, I don't always find something that works for me. And so then I have to buy new and yeah.

it was just pretty eye opening to start looking into sustainable fashion. And it took me a very long time to find the companies that I found to put into the guide. So that would be a really great place for you to dive in with all the knowledge that you have. I think, that would be a beautiful thing to see come. let us know how that goes.

Yeah, totally can do a whole like info dump on that. But I think you said it well and yeah, totally. Yeah. I mean, it's just yeah, fashion. Yeah, it's a very long topic. We could probably talk about that. All by itself. And you also mentioned being vegan so that. Yes, that was the next thing I was going to say. Yeah. I mean, animal agriculture is like the leading the second leading cause of climate change.

So yeah, being vegan is definitely a thing that I do and whether that being aware of how, where our food comes from is definitely a helpful thing, whether for someone else, it just means, you know, cutting back on eating animal products or going completely vegan. Whatever feels daunting to you as a place to start. I've been vegan now for

eight years, it's gonna be nine years in November. And I love being vegan and I still eat all my favorite foods. I don't feel like I'm missing anything. And I love going to sanctuaries. I even read my books, especially, Thanksgiving for the Turkeys at the sanctuaries. And it's just so nice to actually connect with farm animals and see how loving they are and just connect with them and stuff. So yeah.

Yeah, that's kind of a good tip is go visit animals. Yeah, so that you get that that they're, you know, friends, not food. Right. Yeah. And cutting back, I think, you know, some people are so all or nothing on that. Exactly. Which is why I said, even if it's just cutting back or whatever, so you don't get scared and be like, I can never do that. Like, well, because I'm gonna be like, I can never go vegan because I whatever food you don't want to give up. I'm like, OK, well, don't if you don't want to give up that food, can you give up?

other foods that you can imagine giving up or do it once or twice a week, like whatever it is, it does make a difference. So yeah, absolutely. Every step makes a difference for sure. Also, there's vegan alternatives to like there's vegan cheeses. They're vegan, but are also really good. So you might not have to give up that food because there are vegan alternatives that taste just as if not like even more delicious. Yeah. What's your favorite vegan cheese? I have one, but what's yours? There's so many.

I like like the follow your heart, like Parmesan cheeses. But there was just one I got, tree line cheese I just got introduced to. It's really good. Tree line. Tree line. It's like I have like a tree line cashew cheese. nice. My vegan friend just introduced me to it. Anyways, what are your favorite vegan? I like Mykonos Have you ever tried that? I think maybe, it's sounds familiar yeah.

I like it because it's organic. I'm a big like organic fan. Yes, I get everything organic too. Yeah, hasn't been sprayed and laden in pesticides I'm a fan of. So yeah, I like that one. I haven't tried a ton of them because I kind of felt like, you know, if I'm going to swap to something that is an alternative to something I'm trying to cut out, I don't want to sacrifice the organic.

part about it and there aren't a lot of them that are organic. I think of the name. I think there's one called bio life that I like. That's a vegan cheese. And there's one that's not my favorite night. Can't think of the name right now. Tofutti, Tofutti. That's the name. yeah. I've actually tried that one. That one's pretty good. It's made out of soy, right? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. All right.

I feel like you've given a lot of really good tips, but is there anything else that you would like to share or say about your books or sustainability or anything before we close our conversation?

No, I think that was good. And then my other books were, Jane the Chimpanzee . Just a short overview, we're connected with chimpanzees, we share a lot of DNA. So that book talks about our connection with chimpanzees as well the animal world that we are animals to and also gives, you know, a shout out to the work of Jane Goodall. And then Thanksgiving for the turkeys talks about, you know, maybe having a vegan Thanksgiving and the story of a turkey on Thanksgiving. And yeah, and then I have one more book that

doesn't have to do with the environment, but it's just sort of an anti -bullying book about the friends that lift you up about bullying that could happen between friends and school. And yeah, because mostly I just want these books to be about kindness and compassion and creating a compassionate world. So that's where they all kind of tie together. And yeah, be on the lookout for more books that I might write. And yeah, my website is lotuskay .com and

BearsForCares .com also has stuff about these books and everything. And there's stuffed animals to go with. Like there's a stuffed chimpanzee for Jane the Chimpanzee. There's a stuffed animal octopus to go with, Billy the Octopus. And there's a stuffed turkey to go with, Thanksgiving for the Turkeys. And also a portion of the proceeds of all the books go to the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots and Shoots program.

I try to advocate to always buy directly from the source. I think that's so much more sustainable for the creator of whatever product it is. So yes, definitely buy from the,

books and the stuffed animals that accompany them from Bears For Cares.com directly. It does ship within a week. you know, I think patience is a virtue and a week is worth the wait. That the extra money can go to a good cause. Well, thank you. I appreciate you coming and sharing all of your passion with our listeners and I hope that

Those of you who are listening share this episode with your young adult children because I think that they have a lot of, good, great ideas and, and if they're passionate about something, whether it be for the planet or something else, I think this is a really great episode for just being able to inspire.

people to take action now. you don't have to wait to take action on things that you're passionate about and things that you feel inspired to do. I think that our purpose is to be here and to follow our passion and that's, where we need to be.

I think if you're a teenager and you have something to share with the world, then share it. Not too young, not too old. Yeah, because if you had waited, maybe it wouldn't have ever come to manifestation. You would have gotten distracted maybe with something else. All right. Well, thanks, Lotus. It was great talking to you. Thank you. You too.