Video contest helps with message: keep the James clean

As societal ills go, littering might not be up there with violent crime, political corruption or purse snatching, but there is something particularly galling about it.

Really, how hard is it not to litter? Don't flick your cigarette butt out the car window. Is that too much to ask? At least actuarial tables suggest smokers won't be around as long to cover the streets with their refuse.

What about the guy I saw the other day who threw an entire McDonald's bag of trash on the street? The pessimist in me worries he'll live to 95, and most of his garbage will never see the bottom of a trash can.

As someone who spends a lot of time outdoors, I find it especially frustrating to see junk strewn about parks and green spaces. Without getting overly maudlin or dramatic here, it makes me weep a little bit for humanity when I walk around Belle Isle downtown and see dirty diapers on the rocks by the river. What connection are people forming with the James River, the outdoors in general, if they can't be bothered to put their waste where it belongs?

That's why it was refreshing to talk with 16-year-old John Nestler earlier this week. The junior at Maggie Walker Governor's School recently submitted a 20-second clip to the James River Association's "The James and Me" video contest. Divided into three youth categories -- middle school, high school and college -- and a professional one (three minutes), the contest aims to showcase the filmmakers' personal connection with the river.

Nestler's relationship comes through whitewater kayaking, having learned the skills and worked as a counselor at Passages Adventure Camp the past four summers. The idea he focused on was litter.

"The whole message I wanted to get across was just to keep the river clean," he said. "We take it for granted. You never know what could happen. You know, people, just take care of your trash."

Nestler, who in recent years has kayaked all over the Mid-Atlantic, said the challenge was to get the message across in such a short period of time.

"There's only so much you can put in 20 seconds," he said. "It has an environmental message, but let's say there's some chemical imbalance in the river. You can't explain that in 20 seconds and get your point across. You just want something that's really brief. Trash: That's a pretty general problem. Put your trash in a trash can. Let's go."

Short. To the point. Powerful. That's what JRA Executive Director Bill Street was looking for when he came up with the contest idea.

Last year his organization hosted the national Wild and Scenic Film Festival, and "it was fairly successful and it really struck me how powerful film is to communicate messages," he said. "At the same time, the films weren't directly relevant to the James River and I thought, 'Wouldn't it be neat if we had some films specifically on the James?'"

A team of judges will choose winners in each category. The youth winners will receive $750, the pros $1,000. Even more cool is that the overall youth winner will have his or her video played during FOX Richmond's airing of the Thanksgiving Day NFL game.

Street said he's particularly excited at the prospect of using video to get kids involved with the river.

"We didn't go into it with that particular motive in mind, but it seems to be something that will really be effective in cultivating the next generation of James River stewards," he said.

From all appearances, Nestler has the makings of one of those stewards. Even if he doesn't win the contest, it's people like him that make you hopeful for the future of the James.

"I wouldn't say I'm a conservationist, per se, but I love the river," he said. "Through kayaking, I'm on it every day during the summer. When I want to hang out with friends, we'll go to the river and go swimming, go on the rope swing. It's like my summer home. Some people go to the pool. I go to the river."