Home Video: A Tool for Promoting Environmental Activism
by
Paula Dohnal
The Mousam River in Maine.
November 17, 2009
One Brownfields attendee is demonstrating how Web 2.0 technology can be used to engage communities in environmental stewardship. Lee Burnett, a journalist for more than 20 years, has begun using video to document brownfields redevelopment projects, convince people to vote for grant applications online, and rally people around a cause.
Burnett's short film
Learning to Love the Mousam features him canoeing down the Mousam River in Maine while discussing the environmental threats to the waterway.
“What drew me to the story was
how little was known about a river that was in our backyards,” he said.
When the cellar of his Maine home flooded for the first time in 25 years, he
wanted to find out why. What he learned was that people knew about certain
sections of the river but were unaware of threats to its overall health.
The film is self-produced and is distributed through YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW9j88v-Cmo -- or search for
Learning to Love the Mousam). Thus, it represents a call for community action that is within the budget of most grassroots organizations and many impassioned individuals.
Burnett hopes his film inspires disparate environmental advocates in the area to form a Mousam River alliance to protect the waterway.
“What I hope more people realize
is the health of the river depends on what happens throughout the watershed,” he said. “Each new parking lot, road, and backyard contributes storm water
runoff that cumulatively degrades the quality of the Mousam.”
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