Award Ceremony for the “Zero Waste” Public Service Video Contest Celebrated
CAPA-MC Growing and Giving Club, Eunia Zhang reported (3/23/2025)
Ms. Lily Qi, Maryland delegate of District 15, also took time out of her busy schedule to attend the award ceremony and deliver a speech. She praised the participants for their concern for the community, introduced Maryland's efforts in environmental protection policies and projects, and called for more young people to engage in environmental protection actions. In addition, Montgomery County Community Project Manager Jake Adler, senior TV producer and host Ms. Li Feng, Chief Correspondent of Yuan Media Ms. Yin Pingping, CEO of Belem Therapeutics Dr. Frank Zhang, CAPA-MC President Ms. Xu Peng attended the ceremony and presented awards to the winners. The club's current president, Nathan Tian, and the founder of the "Zero Waste" project, Kenneth Shue, hosted the ceremony.
The entire award ceremony process went smoothly. After the winners of each age group were announced, their winning works were played on site, earning rounds of laughter and applause. The First Prize winner in the adult group was Ms. Ma Jihong. She wrote lyrics about plastic recycling to the tune of an old song and performed the song in the video, telling everyone types of plastic bags and films can or cannot be recycled. The First Prize winner in the middle school group was Alice Zhao. Her video, filmed in beautiful nature, features her dressed as a white-bearded zoologist. She educates the audience not to litter plastic trash by showing discarded plastic bags found in the woods and streams can harm birds and small animals. The First Prize winner in the high school group was Aidan Jones. His video, titled “Recycle Plastic Films in Montgomery County” uses rich data and interesting animations to show how to properly recycle plastic bags and films at home. Other award-winning works also had unique features, with the Second Prize winner in the high school group, Eunia Zhong, using purely handmade animation to present the theme, while another group used a humorous little skit. All the entries were very creative, with unique and diverse ways of presentation.
After the award ceremony, the winners posed for photos with their certificates and prizes, along with the award presenters. The prizes for this competition included environmentally-themed items such as home hydroponic growing systems, vegetable planting beds, compost bins, outdoor water filters, and more. Finally, the members of the club gave a detailed introduction to the “Be a Zero Hero” project. Many attendees expressed their intention to take immediate action and start recycling plastic bags and plastic films at home. Let’s work together to protect the environment we live in and make Montgomery County and Maryland’s water clearer and the skies bluer!
HEADLINE NEWS!
On March 16th, the Growing and Giving Club under CAPA-MC held the award ceremony for the Plastic “Zero Waste” PSA Video Contest at the multifunctional hall of Winston Churchill High School. Many of the award-winning students, along with their family and friends, attended the event. The ceremony was also attended by guests from various fields and representatives of the contest's judges.
At the beginning of the award ceremony, the student leaders of the club played video messages from Ms. Julie Yang, President of the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education, and Ms. Kate Stewart, President of the Montgomery County Council. Both of them highly praised the contestants for their attention to the plastic bag pollution issue in Montgomery County and their enthusiasm for protecting the community environment. Ms. Julie Yang also prepared certificates awarded by the Montgomery County Board of Education for each of the winning students.