7 Environmental Documentaries that will Educate and Inspire
Climate change is one of the most pressing matters of today’s society, and with plastic pollution and carbon emissions and everything in between, it is very easy to become overwhelmed by the scale of it all. It’s hard to know where to begin. That’s why Keep Knoxville Beautiful has compiled this list of environmental documentaries to help educate and inspire. These documentaries cover topics from the basics of climate change to practical solutions to help slow the effects. We’ve also organized the documentaries by subject, so that you can hopefully find a documentary that piques your interest! As with any cause, find the subject you are most interested in, and use that as your foothold into the conversation.
If you are interested in climate change basics, watch:
1. Before the Flood (2016)
Before the Flood is an excellent entry point for viewers who want to learn more about what climate change is. The documentary follows actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio as he travels around the world seeking the causes and solutions to climate change. DiCaprio seeks answers from a range of experts and world leaders such as former President Barack Obama and Pope Francis, but he also shows us places already impacted by climate change, whether that be islands in the South Pacific or Miami Beach, Florida, right here in the US. The documentary asks and answers many questions, ultimately giving a balanced look at climate change.
Watch on Disney Plus
If you are interested in the natural world, watch:
2. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020)
Sir David Attenborough does not mince words in his most recent documentary. A Life on Our Planet is Attenborough’s “witness statement,” tracking the drastic changes to the planet since his childhood in the 1920s and 30s. With stunning cinematography that highlights the most beautiful aspects of our planet, Attenborough urges us against the destruction and endangerment of our wildlife. He focuses on the sustaining balance of the world’s ecosystems and humanity’s interruptions into this balance. However, he has a plan, and Attenborough is insistent on how to help save our planet, it is difficult to not feel motivated to join him in the effort.
Watch on Netflix
If you are interested in activism, watch:
3. I Am Greta (2020)
Greta Thunberg has become one of the most recognizable activists in the fight against climate change. I Am Greta tells the story of how the young Swedish student progressed from her solitary weekly protests outside the Swedish Parliament to traveling across the Atlantic Ocean in a carbon neutral boat to speak at the United Nations. The documentary focuses more on Greta herself than on climate change, but by amplifying her story, the climate crisis is intrinsically also amplified.
Watch on Hulu
If you are interested in food, watch:
4. Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story (2014)
Billions of pounds of food are wasted each year, and that is exactly the problem two Canadian filmmakers try to solve. For six months, Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin challenged themselves to only eat food that has been discarded. That means buying culled (blemished) food from supermarkets or searching through dumpsters behind supermarkets. Without giving away any spoilers, what they find in the dumpsters is truly remarkable and a stark reminder of how much food is wasted before it even reaches the kitchen table.
Watch on Hulu
If you are interested in farming, watch:
5. Kiss The Ground (2020)
For Kiss the Ground, the solution to climate change is simple: the soil. Narrated by Woody Harrleson, this documentary examines the current farming techniques that have depleted our planet’s soil and the regenerative farming methods that will revive it. With many celebrity cameos, this documentary is overly simplistic at times but ultimately hopeful. Moving forward, our society will have to make sustainable changes, and Kiss the Ground believes there is no better place to start than the ground beneath our feet.
Watch on Netflix
If you are interested in marine animals, watch:
6. My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Winner of Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Academy Awards, My Octopus Teacher tells the captivating story of the relationship formed between a South African diver and a wild octopus. Visually stunning and emotionally wrenching, the film shows the fragile yet indispensable relationship between humans and the natural world. The viewer becomes part of the octopus’s world – watching it hunt, sleep, play, avoid predators, heal, mate, and ultimately, die.
Watch on Netflix
If you are interested in plastic pollution, watch:
7. A Plastic Ocean (2016)
Where does all our trash go? Often, it goes to the oceans. A Plastic Ocean shows how an almost immeasurable amount of plastic has found its way into our oceans and the devastating effects it has on the animals who call the oceans home. The documentary does not shy away from showing the harsh and upsetting reality of animals consuming plastic – more than one aquatic bird is dissected to reveal all the plastic in their stomachs. The documentary also reminds us that much of this plastic did not begin in our oceans, but by being washed into our local waterways and then traveling to the oceans. We must all claim responsibility for the plastic pollution in the oceans, but the documentary also shows how we can all be responsible for preventing anymore plastic from entering the oceans.
Watch on Netflix