Solid Waste Solutions in Rural Alaska::
Participating in Community Education and Outreach Efforts and success stories from Newtok and Fort Yukon:

Participating in community education and outreach efforts will allow you to reduce the human and environmental health concerns from solid waste by providing enough information to engage community members and students in developing local solutions. Education will help generate an understanding and support for waste management issues in your community. There are many resources for getting started such as those located on the SWAN website at www.ccthita-swan.org/Educating/educating.cfm. This section has been included to reinforce the importance of education and outreach efforts in your efforts toward making local decisions of how best to allot your public health and solid waste management resources.

Appendix 2 of Alaska Native Health Board's Rural Alaska Integrated Waste Management Reference Manual & Planning Resource Guide provides guidelines for public education and community outreach. This resource is available at www.ccthita-swan.org/pdf/anhb_education.pdf.

WHY?
You can not solve the village's problems with solid waste on your own. It is a long-term process that will need many interested community members to find solutions. However, people need to be aware of the problems and perceive the risks before they will take action. How many people stand by and practice the same habits if they are completely aware of the negative impacts to their health?

Education can generate understanding and support for waste management issues, leading to community ownership. People will often take ownership if given a chance to help develop alternatives to existing practices. Many changes will require community cooperation to be economical and sustaining.

WHAT?
Community education and outreach is a method of providing information to people in your community on issues of particular concern and will depend on the goals of your solid waste management program and unique qualities of your village. Efforts should be consistent and ongoing.

Methods may include, but are not limited to workshops and trainings, door-to-door visits, school activities, special events, meetings, radio announcements, newspaper articles, presentations at community and council meetings, and creating newsletters, posters, and flyers.

The 7 Generations course, offered by Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, is designed to assist rural Alaskans who want to accomplish environmental planning and management using a community-based approach. The course manual contains valuable tools that enable a community to prioritize and identify its environmental issues. You can download this manual at www.7generations.us/page3.html.

Alaska Youth Reach Out and Recycle is a guide of educational activities and resources to help youth start recycling programs in their schools and communities. It was compiled by Alaska Youth for Environmental Action and available at www.ccthita-swan.org/pdf/AYEA.pdf.

Changing Waste in Changing Times: Solid Waste and Natural Resource Issues in Rural Alaska - A Teacher's Guide is a guide that was developed to present activities which inform the teacher and students of solid waste management problems that are becoming commonplace in villages. The lessons included present alternatives for taking care of the environment and contains methods to make not only school children more sensitive to environmental problems, but hopefully to inspire a grassroots program that will address local concerns. For more information or to order a copy of the curriculum, contact Northwest Renewable Resources Center at 1-206-269-2357.

Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum is a useful handbook for those interested in developing curriculum specific to their region. Since 1996, the Alaska Science Consortium has been working with the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI) and the Alaska Department of Education to help develop standards-based, culturally relevant curriculum that effectively integrates indigenous and Western knowledge around science topics. This work has involved teachers, Elders, Native community leaders, agency personnel, and educational consultants and has taken many forms. This handbook represents some of the thinking and products that have resulted from this slowly evolving and highly collaborative process. It is available online at www.ankn.uaf.edu/Publications/Handbook/.

WHO'S DOING IT?
Many villages in Alaska have established environmental education and outreach programs. The materials that individual Tribes develop may be one of the most important resources to share throughout the State since the issues in rural Alaska are unique and relevant educational materials are hard to find.

Newtok
Margaret Nickerson has been creating educational materials for her village and those in the Nelson Island region as she learns about the hazards of materials that are brought into her community. Below are some examples of how Ms. Nickerson shares information with her community and schools. You can access more education and outreach materials developed by Ms. Nickerson at www.zender-engr.net/margaret.pdf and contact her at 907-237-2314.



Fort Yukon
In December of 2003 students in grades K-9 designed posters in an effort to help educate the community of Fort Yukon on the importance of environmental stewardship and the cultural significance of keeping the land clean. The Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (CATG) Natural Resources Department in conjunction with the Fort Yukon School bi-lingual teacher introduced a challenging poster contest to the students. A full write-up of the poster project can be viewed at www.ccthita-swan.org/pdf/FtYukon.pdf.