Sonia Boal graduated from Coventry University with a BSc in Environmental Science in 1992.

She returned to her native Northern Ireland, and volunteered for a number of environmental organisations before taking a job with NI2000, an environmental NGO, as their Education Officer.

Here Sonia was responsible for a range of projects including organising NI’s first Green Christmas fair which allowed visitors to buy everything from the Christmas tree to the turkey from local sustainable suppliers.

She currently works for Belfast City Council as a recycling officer, where amongst other things, she commissioned local artist Terry Bradley to create a designer reusable shopping bag for Belfast.

Her life changed beyond recognition in 2008 with the birth of her first son. Now, as a mother of two and a Stepmum of two more, Sonia looks for ways to teach her own children about what is important, and how they fit into the world we live in.

Stories, more than anything else capture the imagination; so she wrote a story for her boys to help them understand some of the issues that they will have to deal with as they grow up.

When telling the story to her own boys, Sonia noticed that they became most engaged if the letter was “addressed” to them, that’s why it’s been left blank, so that you can do the same.

Of course it also led to a few extra trips to the local recycling centre that she hadn’t planned, but that’s no bad thing.