If you're stepping up your effort to help the environment by eliminating waste, you might want to pick up a copy of "Uncle John's Certified Organic Bathroom Reader: An Entertaining Look at the Green Movement."

This offering from the Bathroom Reader's Institute looks at the environmental movement from various perspectives as it explores history, debunks myths, looks at pop culture and offers tips in snippets that might be a few paragraphs or a few pages long. In one sitting, you might be able to find out what you can recycle, learn how to make green cleaning products and discover "the power of poo."

The book, printed on 100 percent recycled paper, is available at www.bathroomreader.com.

AUTHORS ON HAND FOR BOOK SIGNINGS

The public can have some of the most acclaimed books published in 2008 signed by their authors and illustrators after the 16th annual Ka Palapala Po'okela awards on Saturday.

This year, some of the winners have been announced in advance so they and other nominees will be prepared for the public book sale and signing that will follow the invitation-only awards show. The sale will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Bishop Museum's Hawai'i Hall Atrium and Courtyard.

Authors expected at the signing include chef Chai Chaowasaree, Caren Loebel-Fried, Jon Van Dyke, Joe Tsujimoto, MacKinnon Simpson, John Wythe White, Lurline McGregor, Matthew Kaopio and Bill Riddle.

"Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai'i?" by Van Dyke, and the late Nona Beamer's "Naupaka," illustrated by Loebel-Fried, are among the titles to win in multiple categories. The awards for book of the year and lifetime achievement will be announced at the ceremony.

Proceeds from the book sales will benefit Read to Me International, Hawaii Literacy and Bishop Museum. For more information, call 848-4135.

— Treena Shapiro