Green Documentaries
No Impact Man
This documentary follows the life of Colin Beavan as he takes himself, his wife and two year old daughter on a journey to live a no impact life in New York City.
I like this documentary because it starts off as a idea just to live with as minimal impact as possible but it changes into full examination of the modern family and the lifestyle they live. He and his wife discover by the end of it that living with no electricity and eating only locally grown food while challenging at times comes with its own rewards as well. In my opinion this movie is a must see for those that want to live a no impact life and those that like a good story about a man, a women and a crazy idea. I will tell you right now though that this film is not primer on how to live a green, sustainable lifestyle. While you do see some of the techniques that Colin uses its more about the inter personal conflicts and overcoming the challenges of trying to do this in a modern day city. Garbage WarriorThis particular films follows the exploits of a oddball architect living in New Mexico as he strives to make homes out of garbage. Now it't not as disgusting as it may sound. He successfully builds homes that provide heating, cooling, water filtration, food and comfortable living all off the grid. Each home is built as it's own self supporting entity that can provide for a family.
Sounds like a great idea but the local building inspectors and State government do not agree. So our architect leaves the comfort of his unique life and goes to the state capitol to try and get permission for him to build these homes. I don't want to ruin the movie for you so I won't say what happens but it is easy to see the brilliance of this man and the validity of the arguments that he makes throughout the movie. I really love this film for its take on the housing issue that really needs to be addressed in this country. We build housing without regard for climate, sun orientation or environmental cost and that is something that we simply cannot afford to do anymore. If we even took some of the techniques used in the movie to heart we could significantly reduce the impact that our housing has on the planet. Food Inc.Food Inc is a riveting look at the dark and seedy underbelly of industrial agriculture. It immerses you in the real world of modern agriculture and rips away the fantasy of the family farm. The modern farm is more about making money than it is the quality of food produced. One of the most shocking things that I found in this film is the way that livestock it treated in modern agriculture. Cows forced to stand knee deep in there own feces and chickens trapped in cages much to small for them. Watching this documentary is a must for those of you that truly care about the welfare of animals and the well being of our planet.
Forks over KnivesThis documentary makes a powerful case for the idea that you can treat ailments of all types with food. It uses powerful first hand accounts and data from the China Study to make its case. The China Study was a massive long term look that the diet of the Chinese people and its effects of health and longevity. The study then compares those finding with statistics from here in the US and the results are not favorable to us. I really enjoyed this documentary because of its use of facts and personal stories to really get their message across.
However their is some controversy over the China Study and its results so the information contained withing this documentary should be taken with a grain of salt. Controversy aside their is no disagreement on one of the main points of this film in that a mostly vegetarian diet is better for you than one heavy in meat fat and salts. |
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