Start A Blue Team

We make it easy for you to take action! Use this outline to create a Blue Team at your school, in your neighborhood, or community.

If you already have a Green Team at school, encourage them to GO BLUE. If you want to start a club from scratch, be sure to have an adult sponsor it and help you create it. Use our Mission, Goals, and Activity Ideas to get started!

Blue Team Mission:

Our Blue Team is committed to being a voice for the ocean. We understand that the ocean is what makes Earth unique because it covers 70% of the planet. It provides us with the air we breathe, the food we eat, regulates temperature, and so much more. We could not live without the ocean, so we need to protect it. We work to educate the community about the importance of the ocean and take action to protect it.

Blue Team Goals:

Be inclusive and friendly to everyone
Reduce our waste in our homes and at school
Be considerate of plastic, carbon, noise, and chemical pollution
Talk about the ocean at least once a day
Have fun!

Blue Team Activities:

Here are some ideas to get you started. Add your own!

Take our 30 Day Plastic Challenge. View the activity calendar here. Single-use plastics are used one time and then disposed of. Take the 30 Day Challenge and REFUSE single-use plastic for 30 days. It is empowering when you take action in refusing these destructive materials that cause so much harm to our environment. We encourage you to Rethink your relationship with plastic, Refuse single-use plastic, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Trash-free lunches. How much trash do you throw away at lunch? Encourage your families and friends to rethink how we pack lunches. Refuse single-use plastic like disposable water bottles or Ziploc baggies. Instead, use sturdy reusable water bottles and silicon snack bags. Pack bamboo utensils in your backpack to eat with. Use metal straws, not plastic.

Beach clean up or park clean up: All of our trash must go somewhere, but everything leads to the ocean. Rather than letting trash float around beaches and parks, make sure it ends up in the recycling or landfill, not in the stomachs of animals. This is an easy and rewarding project anyone can take part in. Be sure to equip your group with safety precautions, including gloves and trash bags. See our organizing a clean up guide for helpful tips.

Trash art projects: Reuse and recycle discarded waste into art! Plan for this project by collecting clean trash/recycling objects a few weeks in advance to receive a nice array of pieces. Then, create masterpieces using what you have collected. Check out what other Blue Teams are doing below. Your art could be featured around the school to raise awareness about trash pollution in the ocean and how it impacts animals.

Candy sushi making: A fun and tasty event to talk about the problem of overfishing and the importance of sustainable practices. Check out Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch List to learn about what fish should be avoided. To make candy sushi, you can use Fruit Roll Ups, Rice Krispy Treats, and various gummies such as Swedish Fish to roll together. Consider the plastic wrapping required to make this sushi: are there any other options? Making homemade Rice Krispy Treats and buying in bulk can help eliminate waste. Fun, yummy, and educational!

Weekly fliers: Your team could create weekly fliers that discuss cool ocean creatures or important ocean problems. You can post these fliers around school or give them to neighbors, or send them over email or a social media page. Be sure to include fun and catchy photos or drawings! Check out our Educator Guides for inspiration and material. For social media posts, be sure to tag #OurOceanAndYou #PlanetOcean

Attend Annie Crawley Dive Team Meetings. By joining Annie Crawley’s Dive Team, you become part of a community of kids, teens, and adults all passionate about protecting the ocean. You will also gain access to our monthly Dive Team meetings where we speak with inspiring ocean creators such as scientists and artists. Plan on attending these Annie Crawley Dive Team meetings with your Blue Team! All you need to do is sign up to receive our newsletter and information about our meetings.

Project AWARE class: Join a global movement to spread awareness about our changing ocean. Whether or not you’re a diver, you can get this certification to show you care about the ocean. Learn skills to offset your carbon footprint, make sustainable food choices, how to reduce and remove litter in the environment, and how to be a role model for others. This is a fun class for anyone, and we can teach it! Just contact us to learn more.