Couch Potato Film Festival

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Looking for something to do while at home? Join our Couch Potato Film Festival! Watch our list of recommended sustainability films and documentaries and learn something new!)

This compiled list of our favorite sustainability focused films and documentaries are available to watch now through Netflix, Hulu, and with BC credentials, for free through The BC Library Media Center, Kanopy and Films on Demand. * Film availability may change depending on the service used*

Earth Week Special

Inhabitants: Indigenous Perspectives on Restoring our World

Link will be posted on April 18th and streaming will be available April 18th through May 2nd.

What it’s about: This film follows five Native American communities as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate. For millennia Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain these processes. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities across the US are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. The five stories include sustaining traditions of Hopi dryland farming in Arizona; restoring buffalo to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana; maintaining sustainable forestry on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin; reviving native food forests in Hawaii; and returning prescribed fire to the landscape by the Karuk Tribe of California. As the climate crisis escalates, these time-tested practices of North America’s original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.

Netflix

  • Kiss the Ground
    • Activists, scientists, farmers and politicians turn to regenerative agriculture to save the planet’s topsoil.
  • Down to Earth with Zac Efron
    • Actor Zac Efron travels around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien to find healthy, sustainable ways to live.
  • Brave Blue World
    • Brave Blue World is a documentary that paints an optimistic picture of how humanity is adopting new technologies and innovations to re-think how water is managed.
  • Seaspiracy
    • Seaspiracy is a 2021 documentary about the environmental impact of fishing directed by and starring Ali Tabrizi, a British filmmaker. The film follows the filmmakers Ali and Lucy Tabrizi as they explore the impacts of the global commercial fishing industry on the marine ecosystems and local communities in the developing countries. (Warning- may show graphic content).
  • Game Changers
    • James Wilks travels the world on a quest for the truth about meat, protein, and strength. Showcasing elite athletes, special ops soldiers, and visionary scientists to change the way people eat and live.
  • Rotten
    • Rotten is an American television show produced by Zero Point Zero. It focuses on problems in the process of supplying food.
  • Mission Blue
    • The life and work of oceanographer, marine biologist, and environmentalist Sylvia Earle.
  • Cowspiracy
    • Follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability.
  • Minimalism
    • Examining the many levels of minimalism by looking inside the lives of minimalists from various walks of life.
  • A Plastic Ocean
    • Craig Leeson discovers a startling amount of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.
  • Chasing Coral 
    • Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. Divers, photographers and scientists set out on an ocean adventure to discover why the reefs are disappearing and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
  • Our Planet
    • Experiencing the planet’s natural beauty through an examination of how climate change impacts all living creatures in this ambitious documentary of spectacular scope.
  • Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet
    • David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockström examine Earth’s biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.
  • Fantastic Fungi
    • Fantastic Fungi is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion years ago.
  • Broken
    • Influencer hype and marketing create conditions where counterfeit makeup thrives, teens become addicted to vaping, disposable furniture kills, and corporations use of single use plastics are the stories told in this 4 part series.

Hulu

  • Climate Crisis: Saving Tomorrow
    • ABC’s Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee and team of correspondents report on impact of rising seas, battling increased emissions and the innovative solutions to help save the planet.
  • Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
    • Filmmakers and food lovers, Jen and Grant dive into the issue of food waste from farm and retail, right to the back of their own fridge. In a deliciously entertaining challenge, they pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive only on discarded food.
  • The Biggest Little Farm
    • The Biggest Little Farm follows two dreamers and their beloved dog when they make a choice that takes them from their tiny L.A. apartment and into the countryside to build one of the most diverse farms of its kind in complete coexistence with nature.
  • I Am Greta
    • The documentary follows Greta Thunberg, a teenage climate activist from Sweden, on her international crusade to get people to listen to scientists about the world’s environmental problems.
  • Dr Seuss: The Lorax
    • A ruined industrialist tells his tale of his environmentally self-destructive greed despite the warnings of an old forest creature.

Through your BC Library

Thanks to the BC Library you have access to KCLS resources through BC.  That includes eComics (via Hoopla), eBooks, eMagazines, audiobooks, and streaming movies and TV shows. Here is a guide for students about how to access those resources. 

Kanopy (BC Access)

  • Growing People
    • MA’O Organic Farms, in the historical marginalized rural community of Wai’anae, O’ahu, is the site of a groundbreaking youth leadership program that has impacted the lives of hundreds of Hawaiian youth. This short documentary provides an intimate look at the MA’O program through the stories of three of these youth, sisters Miki, U’ilani and Sheila Arasato.
  • SEED: The Untold Story
    • This film follows passionate seed-keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. These farmers, scientists, lawyers and indigenous people are fighting a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds.
  • Sustainable Living
    • Become a more thoughtful consumer, save money, and reduce your ecological footprint with this course that teaches you how integrate sustainable practices into your everyday life. By learning specific knowledge and techniques on how to work more efficiently with the energy, water, and food you consume, you can live a more balanced and sustainable lifestyle that also positively impacts the world around you.
  • Fresh
    • Profiles the farmers, thinkers, and business people across the nation who are at the forefront of re-inventing food production in America. With a strong commitment to sustainability, they are changing how farms are run, how the land is cared for, and how food is distributed.

Films On Demand (BC Access)

BC CONTEST DETAIL FOR FILMS ON DEMAND: Videos and Clips under 30 minutes will count as 1/2. If you watch 2 short clips or videos, it counts as 1 full view for your film review, unless specified otherwise by your instructor.

  • Before the Flood
    • Fronted by Academy Award®-winning actor, environmental activist and UN Messenger of Peace, Leonard DiCaprio, this landmark new film presents an informative and engaging account of how society can prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems and native communities across the globe
  • Design and the Environment *26 minutes*
    • Taking viewers to the crossroads of aesthetic, functional, and sustainability issues, this program looks at aspects of design that can have negative ecological consequences. Students learn about eco-friendly design and the use of life-cycle assessments by architects and product designers to ensure that their work has minimal environmental impact.
  • Deepwater Horizon, An Ecological Disaster *26 minutes*
    • Rented by the BP oil company to drill an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes on April 20, 2010, before sinking into the ocean and causing a gigantic oil spill. This incident has generated the biggest marine oil disaster in history, tragically impacting the local ecosystems and economy.
  • Inside the Megafire
    • The California wildfires of 2018 took a worrisome trend to a new extreme, claiming lives and more than a million acres. Scientists investigate how forestry practices, climate change, and drought may contribute to the rise of deadly megafires.
  • Americans Waste Up to 40% of the Food They Produce * Short video*
    • If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China and the United States. NewsHour Weekend’s Megan Thompson sat down with Elizabeth Balkan, director of food waste for the Natural Resources Defense Council, to find out more.
  • Ice on Fire
    • Narrated by producer and Oscar®-winner Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Leila Conners, who first collaborated with DiCaprio eleven years ago on The 11th Hour, the feature-length documentary focuses on cutting-edge research behind today’s climate science – and the innovations aimed at reducing carbon in the atmosphere, which could pave the way for a reduction in the global temperature rises and a benefit to the planet’s life systems
  • Climate Activist Greta Thunberg on the Power of A Movement *Short video*
    • Although more Americans than ever are worried about climate change, less than 40 percent expect to make “major sacrifices” to tackle the problem. But according to Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager and climate activist, drastic action is exactly what’s needed to address the problem. William Brangham sits down with Thunberg to discuss galvanizing young people across the globe to the climate cause.
  • Freighted: The Real Price of Shipping
    • This program is a thrilling investigation carried out around the globe. It takes us behind the scenes of the sea shipping business, revealing the mechanics and perils of a powerful, secret and highly unregulated industry that holds the key to our global economy, our environment and the very model of our civilization. 90% of everything we consume comes from overseas, which makes sea shipping the true backbone of today’s globalised economy. 

Last Updated March 30, 2022