A Mr. Rubbish Mood It was still dark out when Judy woke up early the next morning. She found her flashlight and notebook. Then she tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen and started to save the world. She hoped she could save the world before breakfast. Judy wondered if other people making the world a better place had to do it quietly, and in the dark, so their parents would not wake up. She, Judy Moody, was in a Mr. Rubbish Mood. Mr. Rubbish was the Good Garbage Gremlin in Stink's comic book, who built his house out of French-fry cartons and pop bottles. He recycled everything, even lollipop sticks. And he never used anything from the rain forest. Hmm...things that came from the rain forest. That would be a good place to start. Rubber came from the rain forest. And chocolate and spices and things like perfume. Even chewing gum. Judy collected stuff from around the house and piled it on the kitchen table. Chocolate bars, brownie mix, vanilla ice cream. Her dad's coffee beans. The rubber toilet plunger. Gum from Stink's gumball machine. Her mom's lipstick from the bottom of her purse. She was so busy saving the rain forest that she didn't hear her family come into the kitchen. "What in the world...?" Mom said. "Judy, why are you in the dark?" Dad asked, turning on the lights. "Hey, my gumball machine!" Stink said. Judy held out her arms to block the way. "We're not going to use this stuff anymore. It's all from the rain forest," she told them. "Says who?" asked Stink. "Says Mr. Rubbish. And Mr. Todd. They cut down way too many trees to grow coffee and give us makeup and chewing gum. Mr. Todd says the earth is our home. We have to take action to save it. We don't need all this stuff." "I need gum!" yelled Stink. "Give me back my gum!" "Stink! Don't yell. Haven't you ever heard of noise pollution?" "Is my coffee in there?" Dad asked, rubbing his hair. "Judy? Is that ice cream? It's dripping all over the table!" Mom carried the leaky carton over to the sink. "ZZZZ-ZZZZZ!" Judy made the sound of a chain saw cutting down trees. "She's batty," Stink said. Dad put the brownie mix back in the cupboard. Mom took the toilet plunger off the kitchen table and headed for the bathroom. Time for Plan B. Project R.E.C.Y.C.L.E. She, Judy Moody, would show her family just how much they hurt the planet. Every time someone threw something away, she would write it down. She got her notebook and looked in the trash can. She wrote down: 1 orange juice can, 1 inside of peanut butter jar lid, 1 plastic bread bag, 4 broken egg shells, smelly yucky wet coffee grouns, 3 paper muffin holders, 2 smooshed Scarlett O'Cherry juice boxes (and straws!), 1/2 bowl of oatmeal. "Stink! You shouldn't throw gooey old oatmeal in the trash!" Judy said. "Dad! Tell her to quit spying on me!" "I'm a garbage detective!" said Judy. "Garbologist to you. Mr. Todd sais if you want to learn what to recycle, you have to get to know your garbage." "Here," said Stink, sticking something wet and mushy under Judy's nose. "Get to know my apple core." "Hardee har har," said Judy. "Hasn't anybody in this family ever heard of the Three R's?" "The Three R's?" asked Dad. "Re-use. Re-cycle." "What's the third one?" asked Stink. "Re-fuse to talk to little brothers until they quit throwing stuff away." "Mom! I'm not going to stop throwing stuff away just because Judy's having a trash attack." "Look at all this stuff we throw away!" Judy said. "Did you konw that one person throws away Excerpted from Judy Moody Saves the World! (Book #3) by Megan McDonald All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
