The Green Life

Movie Review Friday: Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home (2007)

Available on DVD; watch the first 20 minutes here

Garbage! is an in-depth look at the typical family's environmental impact. Living in a consumer-driven, pollution-oriented society, filmmaker Andrew Nisker became concerned for the type of environment his young son would grow up in. Interested in analyzing households' waste output, Nisker asked the McDonald family to hold onto every single piece of trash for three months.

As the McDonalds (Glen, Michele, and their three children) begin to save paper plates, candy wrappers, Christmas packaging, and everything else, Nisker traces the family’s eco-footprint to find out where their stuff comes from and ends up. To avoid health violations, the family disposed of “wet garbage” (compost materials such as food scraps, cat litter, and diapers) once a week but kept track of the weight thrown out. Nisker also examined the family's habits involving recycling, transportation, water, and energy.

Nisker’s journey from the McDonalds' home in Toronto took him to local supermarkets, rivers, and recycling plants, but also to landfills in Michigan and topless mountains in West Virginia. He interviewed community members about the impacts of detrimental production practices on the environment and people’s health, doing an excellent job of revealing an out-of-sight-out-of-mind disconnect that exists between consumers and their environmental footprints.

The film is informative and easy to follow without being overwhelming. Nisker’s passion for change is refreshing and original. His commitment to the cause is demonstrated in part by his emotional struggle to part ways with his precious, albeit polluting, Jeep. Garbage! presents a fantastic experiment about household waste paths and is a must-see for anyone interested in environmental issues; Nisker really does prove that “the revolution starts at home.” 

--Michael Mullaley

Movie Review Friday: Searching for Michael Peterson

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

Searching for Michael Peterson (2009)
Available on DVD

This surfing documentary plunges below the surface to find out what happened to 1970s legend Michael Peterson, whose incredible talent and supreme confidence in the water was rivaled only by his extreme shyness on dry land. Director Jolyon Hoff takes us back almost four decades, when Australia was in the midst of turmoil much like that in the United States. What with Vietnam War protests, drugs, and a back-to-the-land movement, surfing was an outsider sport that drew those searching for a simper life.

Things didn’t turn out the way the everyone had hoped, though. Despite the spirit of the time, consumerism continued and surfing turned mainstream. Michael Peterson, it turns out, was schizophrenic, and his condition might well serve as a metaphor for the era.

This film will be of most interest to those passionate about surfing and its history. But it'll also draw in viewers who are interested in counterculture, the ocean, and mental illness. The environmental themes are subtle, but it's hard to resist the call of the crashing ocean.

--Kyle Boelte

Movie Review Friday: The End of Poverty?

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

The End of Poverty? (2008)

Coming to theaters in November or sign up for information about the DVD release

The End of Poverty?, directed by Philippe Diaz and narrated by Martin Sheen, is an eye-opening look at the history of capitalism, an economic system that the film claims has created a shocking imbalance of wealth and poverty worldwide.

The documentary posits that global poverty has been a result of military conquests and slavery and colonization movements dating back to 1492 that saw the seizure of land, forced labor, and extraction of natural resources. Problems persist today because of a one-sided relationship between rich and poor nations, with the latter suffering from unfair debt, taxes, and trade.

There is no denying such a large problem that continues to spiral downward. Only 25 percent of the world consumes more than 80 percent of the planet’s resources and creates 70 percent of the pollution. If everyone lived like Americans, we'd six planets, whereas if everyone lived like they do in Burkina Faso, then only a tenth of a planet would be enough.

The film does an excellent job of illustrating an economic system that perpetuates growth of the north at the south’s expense by way of interviews with economists, activists, and poor people around the world. While watching, we get reminded that though we have glaring environmental problems to worry about because of overconsumption, many in this world are struggling just to feed their families. It's a must-see for anyone curious about how this current, unsteady economic climate arose.

--Michael Mullaley

Treehuggers Have More Fun

More people would develop ecofriendly habits if the environmental movement were more playful. Or at least that's the premise of the above video, which turns recycling into an arcade-style game, reminding us that even the most routine green chores can be fun. 

Inspiring good behavior through creative approaches is the focus of Volkswagen's new initiative the Fun Theory. Another video in the series shows an ordinary subway staircase being transformed into a working "piano." As people climb the "keys," tones are produced. The result: 66 percent more people than usual opted to take the stairs instead of the escalator.

While neither of these videos will negate the CO2 emissions produced by Volkswagen's vehicles, we're pleased to see that the car company is encouraging people to make the world a better place through the cultivation of fun. Being green shouldn't be a chore, so if you have ideas about how to enliven your green routine, tell us how in the comments section below or compete for the Fun Theory Award by submitting a video of your own.

--Della Watson

Movie Review Friday: The Great Squeeze

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

The Great Squeeze: Surviving the Human Project (2008)

Available on DVD

The Great Squeeze is a documentary about how our reliance on fossil fuels has created endless consumerism with dramatic social and environmental consequences. Through anthropologists, economists, and biologists, we hear a message that isn’t exactly new: If we continue down this path, we'll ultimately change Earth's makeup, and humans will go extinct.

However, the film does a great job of crystallizing this message, explaining exactly what we've been doing wrong and how it's affected the planet, laying out the problems that threaten our survival. These include India's and China’s growing industrial economies, the freshwater shortage, and overfishing. These aren't just regional difficulties, the film argues; if one nation fails, it'll affect the rest of the world.

Thankfully, the filmmakers leave viewers with hopeful thoughts about how to redesign communities and downgrade our consumerism to adopt a more sustainable economic model. However, there is an overwhelming element to the documentary, since it's so wide-reaching and covers multiple dimensions of climate change. However, it's definitely worth watching and sharing with others, and its message should not go ignored.

--Julie Littman

Movie Review Friday: Sprawling from Grace

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

Sprawling from Grace (2008)

Available on DVD

Sprawling from Grace, directed by David M. Edwards, is a documentary about American suburban sprawl and how it created an undying and dangerous love affair with the automobile. With fears of peak oil and expensive gas, the movie investigates American city planning and examines methods to eliminate our dependence on cars and foreign oil.

Cheap fuel and the desire for freedom have heavily contributed to the creation and expansion of suburbs, says the film. Winning World War II created a booming economy, and the wealthier people sought to escape congested cities. The discovery of large oil reserves sped this process up and today, thousands of miles of roads accommodate America's 250 million cars.

Edwards interviews city planners and energy experts who discuss how we're addicted to oil and cars. With our need for foreign oil leading to overseas conflicts, plus developing countries like China and India vying for their share of petroleum, it becomes clear that America can't continue down its same consumptive path.

Planet Hollywood

A common theme runs through several films slated to hit theaters soon: the earth and its fate. "Take heed," the filmmakers seem to be saying, "or these will be our struggles."

James Cameron’s much-hyped Avatar (Dec. 18) has a future-set plot that unfolds in 3-D on an exotic planet called Pandora and that revolves around the human urge to mine pristine newfound lands and exploit native beings.

Though the animated Planet 51 (Nov. 20) takes a more lighthearted look at people as aliens, it also throws darts at the blundering presumptiveness of our species.

2012 (Nov. 13) from disaster master Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow), is a visually arresting "what if?" about the Mayan end-of-the-world prophecy.

And The Road (Oct. 16), based on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, is a devastating father-son journey through a landscape ravaged by nuclear winter and populated by scavenging cannibals. In the words of McCarthy's nameless protagonist: "Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it."

--Avital Binshtock

Movie Review Friday: Coal Country

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

Coal Country (2009)

Coming soon

Coal Country is a brave film. A riveting exploration of the environmental, political, and societal impacts of coal mining in Appalachia, the film focuses on mountaintop removal, a process by which mountains are leveled by explosives so that corporations can scoop up the exposed coal.

Though the film does have an environmental message and isn't afraid to strongly state that this type of mining should not exist, it doesn't shy away from opposing viewpoints. The filmmakers interviewed industry insiders and coal miners, and allowed them to speak for themselves.

The documentary also shows how coal mining harms local communities, as economic development is stunted to keep locals dependent on coal for their livelihoods. The result: The area stays poor, its environment ruined, and more carbon dioxide is emitted. Coal Country also gives voice to activists who have stood up against mountaintop-removal mining even though their stand has made them outcasts in their communities.

The dramatic footage of whole mountains being blown up is as heartbreaking. And the outstanding soundtrack, including the works of musicians Gillian Welch and John Prine, complements the images. This is a must-see for anyone concerned about healthy ecosystems, economic justice, and climate change.

--Kyle Boelte

NYT Shines the Spotlight on Eco-Movies

Ken Burns's documentary, airing all this week on PBS, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, is the latest in a recent spate of environmental movies and programs. Some, like the New York Times, are citing this as a new age of cinema. The truth is that environmental films, fiction and non, have been around for a while.

While the Times is a little late jumping on the environmental-movie bandwagon, it's good that they are; influential films like The Cove and Food Inc. are getting considerable attention. Besides being highly engaging movies that reveal important issues, they act as a call to action, inspiring viewers to help induce change.

However, this isn't to forget or discount pre-Inconvenient Truth movies like Earthlings, The End of Suburbia, The Corporation, or  Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price.

Whether you're an avid documentary fan or have never even seen an environmental film, you can glean your way through the Sierra Club's own hefty list of past and current eco-films from here (the Green Life reviews a different eco-movie every Friday), as well as join the Green Films Fan Club on Climate Crossroads.

--Michael Mullaley

Tour de Fine Art

So you’ve known for a long time that bikes are great. They’re fun, easy to use, and get you to your destination without spewing carbon dioxide.

But bikes are much more than that. There’s a whole cultural movement being built alongside these two-wheeled beauties. You can see it at bike coops, like BICAS in Tucson, Arizona, where all types of people come together to work on their bikes. And then there are “bike-in” movie nights in cities like Austin, Texas, where a new spin is put on date night. 

Bike art has also gained prominence in recent years, and with it art auctions to benefit local bicycle coalitions. But now it's hitting the big time with a new exhibit at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, in Ridgefield, Connecticut. "Bike Rides: The Exhibition" is being put on with help from former Talking Heads front man and bicycle advocate David Byrne, and features works of bicycle-related art as well as bikes from cyclists like Lance Armstrong. (David Byrne also has a new book out, Bicycle Diaries.)