Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, & Waterways [Paperback]

I think that you can count on Gulf Shores/Orange Beach students taking action! This is a great book that will have kids and adults rethinking how we effect our water planet. This book is so well written! You can read it cover to cover or just pick it up and read a page at a time. The graphics are outstanding! This book will be used a lot in my 7th grade science class this year! Go Blue! -Wil Tuggle Gulf Shores Middle School

Cathryn Berger Kaye is a service-learning expert (The Complete Guide to Service Learning). She puts this expertise to good use in Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands. The focus of this book is to 1) educate the reader about water-related conservation issues, and 2) inspire the reader to actively participate in water conservation projects.

I've recently finished the books Hold Your Water: 68 Things You Need to Know to Keep Our Planet Blue and 50 Ways to Save the Ocean (Inner Ocean Action Guide). There is considerable overlap in all three on human impacts to our oceans (climate change and ocean acidification, overfishing, pollution), but if I had to recommend only one, I'd choose Going Blue, with one caveat. Kaye's book does focus on teens in school, keeping with her interest in service-learning. However, it was well written and inspiring to me, and I am well past the teenage years!

Coauthor Philippe Cousteau wrote, "Daily, I consider the choices I make and the influence I can have by sharing information and ideas with others" (p. 3). In many ways, this is the theme of the book. Don't just read about water issues. Do something. Do something now. Going Blue is full of ideas on how to get started.

Kaye begins by discussing her five stages of service-learning: investigation, preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration. She organizes the book around these stages. Investigation? "As you investigate and research the issues and facts surrounding oceans and waterways, be aware that not everything you read or hear is accurate. It is up to you to try to separate the fact from the fiction...For example, the majority of scientific opinion supports the theory that human industry plays key role in global warming and climate change, which is potentially devastating for our planet, and yet the theory still has its detractors. Always validate your sources of information and be prepared to use this information to defend your statements and actions if needed" (p. 21). I agree.

For example, what do you know about bottled water? Did you watch Tapped, get angry, and now consider yourself an expert? You better do some additional research (there is some great information in this book on pages 37-40). Investigate the problem. You'll probably learn some new things in the process. Did you decide to forgo bottled water, but drink soda instead? "Remember that soda, sports drinks, and juices are also bottled 'water'" (p. 39). Stage two: prepare. Go deep into the topic. You can't just have passion about a topic, you have to be able to defend your point of view. Well, I guess you can just have passion, but passion alone doesn't sway decision-makers. Greg Craven discusses a system for wading through the technical arguments for climate change in What's the Worst That Could Happen?: A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate. Have a basis for your opinions. Do your homework. Understand what you are taking about.

Then it is time to act. Monitor the water quality of the stream near your home. Encourage family and friends to avoid all seafoods that are unsustainable or that involving the capture of large amounts of by-catch. Develop an "elevator speech," the pitch you can make to anyone in a 30 second elevator ride (before they can escape, and leading to them wanting to hear more). Throughout this process, reflect on what you are learning, how you are connecting to a larger community, and whether you are learning anything. Has your behavior changed? Is the community different today? Are you still on track? And finally, can you demonstrate the effectiveness of your actions, of your work?

Overall, author Cathryn Berger Kaye has put together a well-organized, thoughtful, enlightening, and effective guide on becoming an active participant in protecting and conserving our world's water resources. From the very beginning, she makes it clear that this book is designed for teens. However, I believe most readers will find it interesting and, most importantly, motivating. I believe Kaye would be very satisfied with that result.

"Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands" is a manual stuffed with helpful information to help teens and tweens to organize to help save our oceans, lakes, rivers and wetlands. Geared for readers age 11 and up, "Going Blue" is an exciting challenge to kids to analyze the issues about water purity, investigate our dependency on clean water supplies, prepare with further understanding of the immensity of the issues and problems, suggested ways to take effective action, a chance to step back and reflect, and finally a chapter on publicity, or demonstration by sharing your stories of going blue. "Going Blue" is a mini treasure trove of information and well documented research and action stories about communities which have made positive choices to help clean up water resources. An example of some of the sound bytes embedded in "Going Blue" is Philippe Cousteau's elevator speech on page 113, highlighted with a gold background: "Did you know that water is the single most important substance on the planet (1st floor)? Water connects every being to one another - from drinking to energy production (2nd floor). Water is quickly becoming the cause of the greatest crises of our century (3rd floor). I run a nonprofit called EarthEcho International, and we just launched the Water Planet Challenge (4th floor). This Challenge empowers teens to bring about global change in our oceans and waterways (5th floor). With cutting-edge technology, we can reach more than 25 million teens and keep track of the collective impact of all of their environmental projects (6th floor). Are you ready to help? Her's what you can do... (Hint: Always have an idea about how the person you're talking to can get involved) (7th floor)." Further suggestions and information about possible initiatives and actions teens and others can take follow in colorful, varied, photo-illustrated profusion. Lists of blue books and web sites plus suggested techniques to use "Going Blue" in educational or private settings follow, along with a list of Sources for Blue Facts. To close, here is the definition on page 136 of the mission of "Going Blue:" "Earth Echo International's Water Planet Challenge is a call-to-action that engages young people to protect and restores our water planet through service learning. Joining the Water Planet Challenge will help you go blue and stay blue! (p.136)."

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