France Télévisions has ordered 2D-animated comedy Me and My Compost from French prodcos Superprod and Vivement Lundi! to teach kids about ecology.

The 52 x 11-minute series shares ideas about protecting the environment with five- to eight-year-olds, as a compost creature and his human friends learn about activities such as recycling and gardening. The project is still in development, and the studios predict it will be about 18 months until it premieres on the pubcaster’s linear channels, according to a Superprod spokesperson.

France TV has also ordered a 52 x three-minute same-name short series that will live online. It mixes live action and 2D-animated segments highlighting real-world programs and kids making a difference.

Me and My Compost was first pitched at Cartoon Forum last year, and it has since secured backing from France Télévisions, Rennes Métropole, Créative Europe, CNC, Procirep, Angoa and Cinécap 3. The web and linear series are both adapted from The Zero Waste Family book by Jérémie Pichon and illustrator Bénédicte Moret.

More than 90% of kids in the EMEA region are concerned about climate change, and 83% want to do more to protect the planet and environment, according to a 2021 survey from Cartoon Network. Other broadcasters are joining France Télévisions in answering this call—last November, Canada’s TVOKids, SRC Radio-Canada, Knowledge Kids and TFO greenlit Vancouver-based Big Bad Boo Studio’s Galapagos X, a series about kids who travel through time to prevent eco-disasters.