Bet Blue: Turning Plastic into Purpose

This blog post was written by Sabine Castro, a 2025 Marine Plastics Ambassador.

Bet Blue is flipping the script on plastic waste: turning discarded materials into sleek, 3D-printed poker chips that bet on a circular future. Founded by Sabine Castro, the venture fuses ESG, design, and youth innovation to prove that sustainability isn’t charity, it’s strategy.

It started with a dare. During a Marine Plastics Ambassador session, Marine Plastics Program Manager, Sam Athey, asked us to look around our rooms and count how many plastic items surrounded us. I stopped counting at a hundred—pens, clips, useless trinkets. The same material I’d spent years campaigning against was staring right back at me. And when Sam challenged us to build a venture around plastic pollution, I realized the answer was sitting in plain sight.

A stack of poker chips.

I’ve grown up around games: Bridge with my friends, Mahjong with my grandparents. I’ve always loved the thrill of betting, not the gamble itself, but the discipline behind it. After reading The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova, poker became my quiet reminder to take calculated risks. Those chips on my desk weren’t just toys—they were symbols of strategy.

So when the idea hit, it hit hard. What if the chips themselves were the bet?

There was just one problem: I had no idea how to make them.

Then I remembered the MakerBot my elementary school once bought—a 3D printer that turned wild ideas into tangible objects. I tracked down a more advanced printer, the Bambu P1S, and within weeks, it became the most popular thing in the middle school tech room. Sixth graders crowded around the black box as it printed the next prototype, each spin of the filament a lesson in the circular economy. We turned discarded bottles into poker chips, and curiosity into innovation.

The first chip wasn’t perfect. It had rough edges and an uneven texture, but it worked. More importantly, it proved something: purpose and profit can coexist, and sustainability can be thrilling, not theoretical.

Now, I’m experimenting with ways to weight the chips sustainably, testing everything from recycled metal inserts to what I call the “common cents” prototype, embedding real pennies inside. The project’s far from over, but Bet Blue has already become what I wanted it to be: a tangible argument that young people can build the next economy from the waste of the old one.

Bet Blue is a youth-led circular economy venture transforming discarded plastic into 3D-printed poker chips, merging sustainability, innovation, and education. Inspired by my personal observation of plastic waste around me and a challenge from the Marine Plastics Ambassador Program, I sought to create a project that would turn a persistent environmental problem into a tangible solution. Bet Blue aligns with the EarthEcho Marine Plastics Ambassador Program’s goals by addressing marine plastic pollution through awareness, youth engagement, and sustainable innovation, while providing hands-on educational opportunities for younger students.

Project Details and Activities

• Project Launch: The idea began when Program Manager Sam Athey challenged participants to consider how everyday plastic contributes to pollution. I combined this insight with my passion for games and risk-taking, inspired by my experience playing Bridge, Mahjong, and reading The Biggest Bluff.
• Product Development: Using a Bambu P1S 3D printer, I designed and prototyped poker chips made entirely from recycled plastic bottles. The process included filament creation, iterative testing, and educating middle school students on circular economy principles during printing demonstrations.
• Youth Engagement: I led workshops at my high school, guiding students through the printing process and teaching them about the lifecycle of recycled plastics. Students were encouraged to design their own chips while learning about ESG principles and sustainable production.
• Partnerships and Collaborations: Bet Blue collaborated with SEA Blue Labs and other youth-led organizations to expand impact, creating a bridge between entrepreneurship education and environmental action.
• Community Outreach: The project leveraged social media and school networks to raise awareness about plastic pollution and demonstrate how small, tangible actions can contribute to larger sustainability goals.

Impact and Metrics

• Plastic Waste Diverted: Repurposed over 120lbs of plastic bottles into poker chips.
• Youth Engagement: Directly involved 30+ middle and high school students in hands-on workshops and 3D printing demonstrations.
• Awareness Raised: Estimated 500+ individuals reached through school activities, social media campaigns, and local events.
• Behavioral Influence: Workshop participants reported increased understanding of the circular economy and committed to reducing single-use plastics in daily life.
• Educational Impact: Students gained practical skills in 3D printing, design thinking, and sustainable product development.

Reflection and Learning

This project taught me the value of merging innovation with purpose. Challenges included technical difficulties in printing uniform chips, weighting prototypes, and scaling production sustainably. Overcoming these hurdles reinforced my problem-solving skills, patience, and ability to translate ESG concepts into tangible action. Bet Blue also helped me grow as a Marine Plastics Ambassador by demonstrating that advocacy is most powerful when paired with creative, hands-on solutions.

Next Steps

Bet Blue will continue under SEA Blue Labs as a platform for youth-led circular economy projects. Future plans include:

• Expanding educational workshops to additional schools.
• Experimenting with sustainable chip weighting and materials innovation.
• Scaling outreach through social media, advisory councils, and public events.
• Providing resources for students and young entrepreneurs to create their own circular products.

For continued updates and engagement: @seabluelabs on Instagram