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The book publishing world discovered the intersection of Green & Sports this spring, with two new books targeting two different audiences from two Canadian authors hitting the shelves.
“Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sport,” the deeply researched and illuminating new book by Dr. Madeleine Orr, assistant professor of sport ecology at the University of Toronto, came out last month (Bloombsury). Click here for our podcast interview with Dr. Orr.
And at around the same time, Erin Silver, who specializes in books for young readers (tweens and early teens), came out with “In It to Win It: Sports and the Climate Crisis,” published by Orca.
GSB spoke with Silver about her writing career and her motivation for writing a book about sports and climate change.
GreenSportsBlog: Erin, before we get in to “In It to Win It: Sports and the Climate Crisis,” I’d like to learn a bit about your background, and what led you to write about climate and sports for young readers.
Erin Silver: Well Lew, I grew up in Toronto, and always wanted to be a writer. So, I went to journalism school, worked as a magazine editor and as a freelance writer. But my overarching goal was always to write books.
GSB: What kind of books did you write?
Erin: I wrote romance novellas, I wrote about raising kids, and being divorced. But, with two kids, what I really wanted to do was write about what they wanted to read. So, I decided to write children’s books.
GSB: How did you go about it?
Erin: I joined a writer’s group and anything else I could to become comfortable writing for young readers. And, after few years I had my first children’s novel published, “Just Watch Me,” about a boy whose parents divorced and who found happiness in video games. I followed that up with “Proud to Play,” featuring Canadian LGBTQ+ athletes and “What Kids Did,” about the powerful ways kids made positive differences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Erin Silver (Photo credit: Erin Silver)
GSB: Those all sound like important and interesting reads, books I can imagine that the 13-year-old me would have enjoyed diving into. What inspired you to write a book for young readers about climate?
Erin: One day I was driving my son to baseball practice and we got stuck in an awful traffic jam. I thought, ‘Aha, I should write a book about traffic!’ My publisher asked, ‘what about a book about traffic’s impacts on climate change.’ And so, in 2022 “Rush Hour” was published by Orca.
That led me to look at the world through a climate lens. I bought an EV, walked more and drove less. And then I peered inside my refrigerator. It was full of food, and I realized, sadly, that too much might go to waste. Food waste is of course massive problem. That led me to write “Good Food, Bad Waste…Let’s Eat for the Planet.”
GSB: I love the idea for that book; to get young readers to think about the connection between food waste, the food they waste, and the climate crisis. How did that book go over?
Erin: It was very well reviewed. And I felt like I was on a roll. I love to write, to be creative, and to think of story ideas that no one else ever thought of. And yet…my kids still asked me, ‘why can’t you write about something we’d be interest in’?!?!
That’s when I thought, ‘sports and climate’.
Both of my kids LOVE sports and are very athletic. Ari, 15, is a serious baseball player. And Josh, 14, is really into basketball. I thought they would become more interested in climate change if I paired it with sports.
And, oh yeah, no one had written about it for young readers…
GSB: …Not yet, anyway. So, what did you find when you started digging into the Green-Sports world for the book? And full disclosure, I spoke with Erin as she researched what would become “In It to Win It” and am honored to be featured in the book.
Erin: I was surprised that there are so many climate challenges and problems in the sports world. And the more I researched it, the more I became excited to see that there is so much going on in the Green-Sports world! So, I pitched it to Orca, and they bought it!
GSB: Great news! What was your main goal with “In It to Win It”?
Erin: I’d like the book to get kids interested in talking about climate change. The scale of the climate crisis is so vast that it gets me depressed. Imagine how tweens and early teens feel? The book offers them a measure of hope. It shows them how the sports world is making progress — often in small ways, sometimes bigger — on reducing its climate impacts and introduces them to the people who are helping to make it happen.
GSB: What are some examples?
Erin: I interviewed a who’s who of Green-Sports leaders, including retired big league outfielder Chris Dickerson who founded Players for the Planet. It brings major league baseball players and other athletes to incredible high profile beach cleanup events in the baseball-mad Dominican Republic and other places.
Scott Welch, the director of the Loopt Foundation, shared how the apparel industry, including athletic apparel, is a big driver of greenhouse emissions…and how the industry is beginning to change for the better.
I was given a sustainability-oriented tour of Oracle Park, the beautiful home of the San Francisco Giants. There I saw the on-site garden that produces fruits and vegetables for use at concession stands, as well as the energy efficient appliances in the kitchen.
And I featured Protect Our Winters ambassadors about how athlete voices really matter in getting their fans and followers to vote as well as influencing climate policy at all levels of government.
Erin Silver’s son Ari (with the pizza) tours the kitchen at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants (Photo credit: Erin Silver)
GSB: You really delivered a representative cross section of the Green-Sports movement. How did “In It to Win It” go over with readers?
Erin: The book is getting a lot of great attention and reviews. I’ve been doing presentations at schools and was interviewed on CBC radio shows across Canada. I’m really proud of all the athletes in the book and hope it makes a difference to readers.
GSB: And here’s the big, final question — what did Ari and Josh think of it?
Erin: They think it’s cool…even if they don’t want to admit it!
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