Documentaries

Here are some of the best documentaries I have seen about sustainability, most of them are available on Netflix.

Taste the waste

Taste the waste is a German documentary available on Netflix. I highly recommend watching it, as it reveals a lot of interesting (and shocking) backgrounds about the food industry (and supermarkets).

At the beginning they broach the issue of “containern/dumpster diving” (short explanation: this means people taking food out of waste containers, e.g. when supermarkets throw away goods with a short expiration date; this is still illegal in Germany). During the documentary food waste around the world is shown. Starting with a supermarket in France which throws away yoghurt 6 (!) days before its expiration date; continuing with a farmer who has to waste 40-50 % of the whole potato harvest. Due to European (/or US) standards only vegetables and fruits with a certain form, size and color can be sold on the market; the EU throws away 90 million tons of food EVERY YEAR.

I was really sad about the facts shown in the documentary. In my opinion everybody should rethink their purchase behavior to prevent wasting goods plus the energy and resources that are connected to it.

Cowspiracy

A guy named Kip Andersen does some research on how he could arrange his life in a more sustainable way. He finds out about a report stating that livestock breeding causes an incredibly high pollution and is the most destructive industry on the planet (deforestation, water consumption, species extinction, ocean “dead zones”, …). He tries to get more information about why the popular NGO´s and Departments of the environment don´t broach this issue.

Did you know that the animal agriculture generates more greenhouse gases than the whole transportation industry?

All the interviews and his proceedings are documented very well and reveal important information. After watching “Cowspiracy” I was shocked by how such a huge issue like this could be “hidden” by the industry and didn´t want to support this anymore.

Click here for the infographic.

Tomorrow

This movie is highly recommendable because it differs a little from other documentaries. The focus is drawn to solutions rather than to problems. It is divided into 5 topics/chapters (agriculture, energy, economy, democracy, education). A french actress and an activist travel around the world to show the many different approaches people developed to be much more sustainable. The thing I liked best is that these solutions already function on a local basis, they are not just theories. “Tomorrow” motivates to work together with others to achieve something great and is filled with positive vibes.

Bottled life

Bottled life is a documentary about bottled water and their biggest provider, Nestlé. It shows the way Nestlé operates and how much money they make. The company simply withdraws  groundwater (and doesn’t pay much for it) from all over the world and sells the same water for much money.

Example: one tanker load of water costs them 10 $; with selling it they make 50.000 $!

They own more than 70 water brands, e.g. Vittel, San pellegrino, Arrowhead, Pure life, Montclair, Perrier, etc.. Nestle does´t care about the impact they have on the environment or on the people living next to factories, not having any clean water to drink.

Thank you for reading my post, I hope you are motivated to watch some of these documentaries! Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below.

Trailer:

Taste the waste

Cowspiracy

Tomorrow

Bottled life

Picture Source: Cowspiracy

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