823F08001
Youth Lead Community
Efforts Toward a Cleaner,
Greener Anacostia
Watershed
June 2008
CONSERVATION
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A federal agency partners with a community-based
organization to promote shared environmental objectives, and
to support young people in their personal growth for leading
environmental education and service to their community.
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' TV "T2004, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff from the Office of Water reached out to
\ community leaders in southeast Washington, D.C.—a community a stone's throw from EPA's headquarters
JL JL 1 location—to support the Earth Conservation Corps (Corps). The Corps is a non-profit youth development
and environmental service organization. It engages disadvantaged youth in workforce development focusing on
restoring the heavily polluted Anacostia River and preparing them for jobs in environmental fields.
Program Goals
The Corps and EPA created this partnership to:
• provide young people training to further encourage their stewardship of the river and their
community,
• expose Corps members to diverse environmental careers or "green collar jobs" that benefit our natural
environment (installing solar panels, rain gardens, etc.), and
• support the educational development of Corps members.
Highlights
Training on Water Quality and Citizen Involvement
The Corps and EPA held workshops in 2005 and 2006 focused on the
basics of water pollution, the Clean Water Act, citizen involvement
and participation, the Anacostia watershed and its pollution sources,
and tools that citizens and governments can use to reduce pollution
in the Anacostia watershed.
The workshops included a water quality monitoring component,
enabling Corps members to go out on the Anacostia River and test
water samples for pH, turbidity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen.
Corps members "got their feet wet" by wearing waders and using dip
nets to collect samples of macroinvertebrates (animals without back-
bones like worms, clams, crustaceans, and insects) from the riverbank
to evaluate the habitat quality of the river.
Through these experiences, Corps members gained a better understanding of their role as advocates for a
cleaner and more vibrant Anacostia River. The experiences and knowledge gained from these workshops are
enabling Corps members to more effectively share their knowledge with citizens in their community.
Community Campaign to Prevent and Clean Up Litter
Every year, volunteers led by Corps members remove more
than 70 tons of trash from the Anacostia River through clean-
up events. In 2006, the Corps and EPA developed an anti-litter
campaign to focus citizen attention to the litter problem on
the Anacostia River and to do their part and put trash in trash
cans where it belongs. The campaign kick-off included a poster
contest. Corps members worked in teams to brainstorm catchy
slogans for their creative posters designed to motivate the local
community to get involved in these efforts.
The winning poster was titled, "An Anacostia River That's
Clean, Doesn't Have to Be A Dream." Throughout 2006, Corps
members and staff used this poster during training sessions for
school-aged children and citizens in the Anacostia community. Presentations were designed to raise public
awareness of the condition of the Anacostia River and steps that citizens can take to protect it. The poster
helped change community behavior—if citizens don't put trash and litter in places where it can get into the
river, annual clean-up events won't be needed.
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An Anacotfia River That $ (lean
Doesn't Have to be a Dream
When litter's on the ground, and the rain falls down, it ends up in the Anacostia River.
So when you take your last drag, or you just have a bag, please do your part and don't litter.
In April 2007, the local transit
authority—Washington Metro-
politan Area Transit Authority
(WMATA or Metro)—provided
advertising space to help the
campaign. Metro displayed the
winning poster in prominent
locations in Metro properties
along the Anacostia River wa-
tershed. The poster's message
graphically demonstrated the
condition of the Anacostia River
for millions of people traveling
within the watershed and rein-
forced the importance of simple
steps individuals can take to
protect the river.
Earth Conservation (orps • youth development through environmental service
First Street and Potomac Ave. SE • Washington, DC 20003 • 202-554-1960 • www.ecd.org
I
Imet
Volunteer Events
The Corps has sponsored several volunteer days in the community,
including tree plantings and stream clean-ups, and welcomed the
participation of EPA staff and commu-
nity members. Special service days have
included the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Arbor Day, and Earth Day.
These events have helped raise community awareness of the Anacostia River and
have helped to promote community stewardship.
Environmental Mentoring and Professional Development
Throughout this partnership. Corps members and EPA have provided community
youth with educational enrichment opportunities, including tutoring, assisting
Corps members to prepare for their General Educational Development (GED)
testing, and serving as role models and mentors.
Several former Corps members have been hired by EPA and are continuing to focus on environmental issues
such as pollution prevention and lead-based paint awareness. The real-world experiences and training they
received as Corps members provided a solid foundation that enables them to perform their jobs at EPA, as
well as work toward life-long goals.
Sharing Successes with Other Community-Based Groups
In June 2007, we conducted a session during EPA's Annual Community Involvement Conference in Jackson-
ville, Florida. The focus of the session was to:
• present our model for creating community environmental awareness, and for engaging residents of the
Anacostia community in environmental activities;
• provide an opportunity for young Corps members to share their real-world experience and views; and
• learn from other community-based efforts addressing similar environmental objectives.
The session was widely attended, and participants made suggestions for promoting the anti-litter campaign
in the watershed. Conference participants selected the poster "An Anacostia River That's Clean Doesn't Have
to be a Dream" for their People's Choice Award, in recognition of its effective message and eye-catching
graphic.
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Lessons Learned in Establishing a Community-Based Partnership
• Choose a geographic area. Start by focusing on a limited geographical area where new work can reinforce
current efforts. We felt a local partnership would be ideal. EPA headquarters is close to the communities the
Corps serves. Staff and youth all live, work, and play within the watershed.
• Find a partnering organization by researching, asking other staff, or engaging local com-
munity leaders. EPA's Office of Water enlisted the help of the agency's Office of Environmental Justice in
finding a local partner.
• Develop a common understanding of the issues by discussing shared goals. In 2004, EPA staff
met with the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Corps. Both organizations wanted to enhance the wa-
ter quality of the river and improve the lives of the disadvantaged youth that live in the community. The Corps
was also interested in training and tools that members could use in their on-the-ground community outreach
efforts.
• Develop and implement your outreach plan but be flexible. Our initial plan was to provide sup-
port and to further encourage stewardship of the river by Corps members and the community, to host a series
of water quality trainings for Corps members, and to work on environmental projects of mutual interest. The
anti-litter campaign was developed to sustain the momentum created by the trainings and give students a
creative and fun way to apply their knowledge. Understand that an outreach plan does not have to be static-
some of our best ideas for initiatives came from unplanned brainstorms!
• Evaluate the program. We provided evaluation forms at our water quality workshops to help us improve
future workshops and determine what impact the training had on the youth. However, with the anti-litter cam-
paign, accomplishments can be challenging to evaluate. It might take years before environmental improve-
ments can be seen in improved water quality. Other aspects of the program evaluation included:
• How many activities did we conduct?
• How well did we do them?
• How many people in the community participated?
• Did participants show a change in attitude, behavior, or skill?
• Overall, how many positive outcomes can we identify?
What's Next?
• Phase 2 of the anti-litter campaign
• More clean-up and restoration along the Anacostia River.
• More educational and enrichment opportunities for Corps members.
Who Do I Contact For More Information?
Frances A. Desselle
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water (Mail Code 4305T)
Standards and Health Protection Division
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
desselle.frances@epa.gov or 202-566-0375
Glen O'Gilvie
President and CEO
Earth Conservation Corps
2000 Half Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024
glen@ecc1.org or 202-479-6710
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EPA 823-F-08-001
Office of Water, Office of Science & Technology, SHPD
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
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