earth day

It’s My Environment Video Project

Show that it’s your environment by submitting a video clip up to 10 seconds long of someone doing something for the environment, holding up and reading a sign that says "It's My Environment," and then passing it off screen.

We’ll pick several to include in a compilation video we’ll release on Earth Day (April 22). It’ll look like the sign is traveling from clip to clip, forming a human chain.

Check out the promo video below for an idea of what it’ll look like, read the instructions below that, and start filming!

Many thanks for participating in our video project!

How to Enter Videos

• Review the rules and eligibility requirements before you begin.
• Make a video clip up to 10 seconds long:
• Print out the "It's My Environment" sign in one of several languages
• Have someone from "off screen" hand you the sign from your right (so it'll come into the screen from the viewer's left)
• Hold up the sign and say "It's My Environment!" (or the equivalent in your language) while you perform a simple action to protect the environment. For example: recycling, riding a bike, turning your compost, or putting things into a recycle bin.
• After you say “It’s My Environment!” and complete your action, hand the sign off screen to your left
• Be creative and have fun!
• Try to use a good microphone or speak loudly enough to be heard on your video clip
• If you do not have a free YouTube account, create one .
• Submit your video on or before 11:59pm on April 15th, 2010 as a video response to our promotional video on EPA's YouTube Site .

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Signs in Various Languages

You will need the free Adobe Reader to print these signs. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

• English
• Spanish
• French
• Chinese simplified
• Chinese traditional
• Portugese
• Quechua
• Urdu
• Russian
• Albanian
• Croatian
• Slovenian
• German
• Vietnamese
• Hindi
• Japanese
• Irish

Don't see a sign for your language? Please make your own sign, translating "It's My Environment" into your language. The sign can be typed or hand-written, but please make the words thick and black and as large as possible on a piece of paper at least eight inces on a side.

If you'd like us to add your language to our list, please email a photo, word processing document, or PDF file of your sign to Suzanne Ackerman.

Rules and Eligibility

• You may live anywhere and be a citizen of any country.
• Videos should be up to 10 seconds long.
• Videos must not contain violence, profanity, sex, indecent remarks or direct attacks on individuals or organizations.
• The video must be your own original creation. No copyrighted music, video, or images may be used in submissions. If you display commercial products, obscure the label, logo, etc. so neither the manufacturer nor the specific product is recognizable. Videos containing links to commercial Web sites will not be accepted.
• Videos must not infringe on any third party rights.
• If we choose your clip, we will contact you through YouTube to provide the original video.
• By submitting a video to this project, you grant to EPA a royalty-free license to copy, distribute, modify, display and perform publicly and otherwise use, and authorize others to use, your video for any educational purpose throughout the world and in any media.
• EPA reserves the right to make your video available to the general public from its Web site and to distribute it to groups and any other organizations interested in showing it for educational purposes, including, but not limited to, on Internet sites, at conferences and events, on television, and other media outlets.
• Entries must be received by 11:59 pm April 15th, 2010.
• Please do not use the EPA seal or logo.
• By submitting a video for this project, entrants agree to these rules. EPA will disqualify any entries it deems to contain material in violation of these rules.
• EPA reserves the right to not create a compilation video if we receive an insufficient number of entries that comply with these rules.

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Frequent Questions

Are EPA employees, contractors, or grantees allowed to submit video clips?

Yes. Anyone can enter. However, EPA employees, contractors and grantees may only participate in their personal capacities on their own personal time, and they may not make reference to their EPA titles, positions or affiliations in their video clips.

What will happen if I miss the deadline?

Your clip will not be included in the initial compilation. If we keep getting submissions, we might create additional compilation videos beyond Earth Day.

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Privacy Policy

If we use your clip, we will request your consent to identify you in a list of contributors. We will not collect any other personal information for this project. Videos posted to YouTube will be subject to YouTube's privacy policy.

We will not identify people in video clips.

Still need help or have questions? Contact Suzanne Ackerman.