Being ocean-friendly starts at home and in school. Follow the following simple rules and help make our oceans clean, blue and healthy again.

Don't teach your trash to swim



1. Instead of plastic, tin foil or styrofoam, use banana leaves, wax paper or a reusable lunch box to pack your lunch.

2. Don't throw candy wrappers and other trash anywhere -- they'll eventually end up in rivers and seas! If you can't find a trash can, put your trash in a paper bag or keep inside your school bag or pocket until you can dispose of it properly.

3. Help clean your school yard. Be sure to put any garbage you collect in its proper place -- the trash can!

4. Write on both sides of paper and use all pages of notebooks. Use paper scraps for notes and drafts.

5. Follow a regular schedule for cleaning your own room. Help clean your backyard, making sure that all trash goes into a garbage receptable.

6. Buy products packaged in glass, paper or metal containers, which you can reuse or sell to junk shops for recycling.

7. Reuse glass containers for storing sugar, coffee, nuts, grains, holders for pens and pencils, clips, push pins, screws and other household, school and office items.

8. Compost organic wastes (leaves, grass clippings, kitchen wastes) for your garden.

9. Give away your extra clothes and toys to your relatives or to the poor.

10. Bring a tote or shopping bag with you at all times.

11. Organize a recycling or clean-up program in your community. Generally, you can recycle or sell for recycling the following common household waste products:
     a. bottles (all types -- colored, broken, medicine, wine, liquor, etc.)
     b. paper, cardboard, newspapers (glossy paper is usually not accepted)
     c. styrofoam (all types)
     d. rubber (all types, including old rubber slippers)
     e. plastics and tin cans (including paint cans and rusty GI sheets)

12. Share your recycling experience with your family, classmates, neighbors and friends.

What is a Sea Squirt?

Sea squirts are marine organisms belonging to the family Ascidiaceae. Though seldom noticed or distinguished by casual divers and snorkelers, they are highly interesting and important. They are diverse and colorful, and inhabit all types of marine habitats. They filter bacteria from seawater and can store heavy metals in their tunic (a flexible external covering or 'exoskeleton'). A number of important products have been identified in sea squirts, making these organisms a good candidate for discovery of potential medicinal compounds from the sea.

Children Speak!

This page is for you. If you have any poetry, artwork, photos, comments, experiences about the sea, news, suggestions, questions -- anything at all that you would like to say about our ocean -- send it to

and we'll post them on this page. Don't forget to tell us a bit about yourself (your name, age, the name of your town or city and the name of your country).

Adults who write for children are most welcome too!