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Alaska video contestants win cash and prizes
March 2, 2011
Contact: Sharon Wills
Rural Community Assistance Corporation
PR Communications Coordinator
916/447-2854 or swills@rcac.org
Anchorage, Alaska –John Whissel from the Native Village of Eyak and Nick Barshay from Cordova won first prize in the “Unraveling the story of trash in rural Alaska” video contest for their individual entries. Winners were announced and their videos were presented at the 2011 Alaska Forum on the Environment Film Festival in Anchorage on February 10.
Whissel received a $100 gift certificate and a Flip video camera and Barshay received a $250 gift certificate. Prizes were of equal value. Contestants were asked to submit a video that demonstrated his/her experiences and bring awareness to the realities of dealing with trash in rural communities.
“We started our recycling program in order to demonstrate to other rural communities recycling is possible on a small scale,” said Whissel. “We hope our video gets leaders in other communities thinking about how they can improve their solid waste programs, and we are ready to help.”
“Solid waste is problematic in rural communities. There are limited ways to remove it in a village such as Barrow Alaska,” said Barshay. “I was encouraged by the community project to beautify and raise awareness of solid waste, and with the imagination of the community, to transform dumpsters into works of art. It is an inspired project by the people of the far north.”
The winning entries are posted on YouTube at:
For the 7th Generation, Recycling in Rural Alaska by Whissel
Barrow Dumpsters by Barshay
This contest was sponsored by Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) with support from U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, and in cooperation with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. and Solid Waste Association of North America - Alaska Chapter.
The Alaska Forum on the Environment (AFE) is a statewide gathering of more than 1,700 environmental professionals from government agencies, non-profit and for-profit businesses, community leaders, Alaskan youth, conservationists, biologists and community elders.
Founded in 1978, RCAC provides a wide range of community development services for rural and Native American communities, agricultural workers and community-based organizations in 13 western states. RCAC’s core services and expertise are in housing, environmental infrastructure (water, wastewater and solid waste), leadership training, economic development and financing.
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