Dear Dartmoor Community,
Dartmoor School is proud to announce that we will be participating in the #TeamSeas global fundraising campaign. The school’s participation will be twofold:
1) We will be promoting #TeamSeas within our community and encouraging donations
2) We will match our community contribution with a donation of up to $500. We are excited to be part of the effort to clean up our oceans.
What is #TeamSeas?
“#TeamSeas is a global campaign to raise $30M to remove 30M pounds of plastic and trash from our ocean, rivers, and beaches. Every single dollar #TeamSeas raises toward the $30M will go to independently verified pounds of trash that have been removed from beaches, rivers, or the ocean. When you donate, the funds go directly to the two not-for-profit organizations, Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup. They split the funds 50/50 and the money will be released when the trash is removed and verified: $1, one pound.”
~From TeamSeas FAQ Page
Will Dartmoor be collecting the money?
No, Dartmoor will not be collecting funds for this campaign. Dartmoor is creating an awareness campaign for the #TeamSeas Fundraiser and the broader issue of plastics in the world’s creeks, rivers, and oceans. Instead, Dartmoor is encouraging the members of its community to donate and see how much good our community can do.
Instead, please email the amount that you donated to nmontana@dartmoorschool.org (receipts are encouraged but not required) so that we can keep track of our donations and fundraising goals.
Where do I donate?
You can donate directly to #TeamSeas which will split your contribution between Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup. If you feel more comfortable donating directly to the two organizations, you can do that here:
After you are done, please email the amount that you donated to nmontana@dartmoorschool.org (receipts are encouraged but not required) so that we can keep track of our donations and fundraising goal.
Are these charities transparent and trusted?
Yes! Both orgs are accredited non-profits. Ocean Conservancy has received a score of 94% from Charity Navigator and The Ocean Cleanup has received a Gold rating from GuideStar. Donating directly to #TeamSeas will split your donation to both and they both have acknowledged their partnership with #TeamSeas.
Why ocean plastic and not another charity?
Dartmoor is involved with a number of charities focused on children and education, ranging from school foundations to social services. However, the reason we are raising awareness of the #TeamSeas fundraiser is that our students have shown such an interest in it. Many of their favorite YouTubers such as Mark Rober and Mr. Beast have helped to create #TeamSeas. We have also found that the issue of ocean plastic has great interdisciplinary potential and can create valuable lessons in the classroom.
What can I do to help?
All community members are encouraged to engage meaningfully with this initiative. Anyone can donate to the above charities. Moreover, all of us can reflect on our own consumption habits and how we might make our lifestyle more sustainable. To this end, you might consider setting concrete goals regarding your own consumption habits. You still might be wondering how else to contribute. Here are some ideas but additional creative approaches and thoughts are welcome.
Students: share information about #TeamSeas with your friends and family, create an artistic or scientific project that engages with conservancy or stewardship or ask your Instructors how their disciplines approach environmental issues.
Staff: introduce discipline-specific ideas of conservancy or stewardship into class discussion and explore how the subject (e.g., Math or Humanities) might help resolve or at least address some of the issues more effectively. Also, ask questions about how these problems developed and challenge students to come up with creative solutions.
Families: have age-appropriate discussions with your children about the issues and discuss ways as a family that you might support solutions.
In conclusion, we would like to encourage all of our community members to support #TeamSeas and by doing so make a tangible difference toward cleaner oceans. Thank you for your participation and thank you to the students and staff who have organized the school’s campaign to promote #TeamSeas.
