Environmental health is only possible when the community is educated and engaged. "Fresh Life" is an educational series about the impacts of waste on our communities and what everyday people can do about it.  Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM) is partnering with North Minneapolis high school students to create the pilot episode of "Fresh Life" during the summer of 2010.

University of Minnesota students will work with North Minneapolis high school students in a series of after-school programs to develop the film.  Students will explore:

• The impacts of waste on low-income communities, communities of color, and indigenous communities
• Traditional African, Asian, and Native American values about consumption, reciprocity, and shared responsibility for the land
• Ways of reducing waste and exposure to toxins through hands-on demonstrations, field trips, and group research

Students will use this knowledge to script, shoot, and edit a 30-minute pilot episode of "Fresh Life," a video that will express the traditional values identified by the students.  They will present the video at one of EJAM's Environmental Justice Community Gatherings and market it to local public television outlets and North Minneapolis schools.

Funding for this project is provided by a Community POWER grant from the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board of the Hennepin County Department of Environmental Services.