Covering a bit of history: Before engineering structures, each person was responsible for their own water, including its collection, disposal after use, and so on. Needless to say, health issues were common. With the intervention of governments and the development of engineering, sanitation structures began to be implemented in order to engineer away the problem (wastewater). Therefore, healthier environments were stablished, and, throughout time, water and wastewater treatment plants would ground the provision of clean water and sanitation for society. The first water treatment plant was built in 1804 in Scotland, and the concept was further improved in the 1890s in America [1]. Much has been accomplished to provide healthy environments and the basic right of clean water and sanitation. Nevertheless, all of this is centralized, and, unfortunately, there are still countries and societies who endure hardships to this day just to have water.

Brave Blue World also touches on the topic of inequalities. When in Zambia, Matt Damon (co-founder of Water.org) spoke to a local 14-year-old kid who has to walk miles to get water for her family from a bore-well. She told him she wants to go to the big city and become a nurse when she grows up. These circumstances affect the lives of people in underdeveloped countries, preventing them to have education, achieve their dreams and improve their lives. Currently, there are organizations, such as Matt Damon’s, who provide microloans to people from the global south to help them buy their own filters and technologies to have access to clean water. They can pay back 6 dollars a month, and their overall feedback is that 99% of the loans are duly paid. Simple initiatives can create massive impact on people’s lives and the planet.

Today the largest water treatment plant of the world is located in Chicago, which is home to around 3 million people. This means that not only there is an immense water supply demand, but also that an average of 750 million gallons of wastewater are discharged every day. Due to the high amount of organic matter and nutrients present in wastewater, it can cause eutrophication in rivers and lakes. Besides touching the water crisis, the documentary also brings to attention that, although present in wastewater, phosphorus is a finite resource, essential to living beings, which might be in shortage by 2035. From that, Brave Blue World presents a technology that harvests nutrients from wastewater to produce an agricultural fertilizer, showing that turning “waste” into resource is the best way to sustainability.

Spain, Denmark, USA, Mexico, and India are some of the countries showing examples of innovation to mitigate the water crisis. These span from simple solutions, such as reuse, water recycling and a “water box”, to outstanding ideas, like aquaporin proteins and biofuel from wastewater to drive your car. The water crisis is a global one, which is also accentuated by climate change, pollution, and infrastructure failure. Poor sanitation is the cause of death of more than 1,200 children under 5 years old every day- that is more than tuberculosis, measles, and AIDS altogether. Everyone is responsible for this. It is crucial to rethink our water demand and uses. Environmental topics, such as climate change and water crises, should be covered by the school curriculum. Brands and industries should also re-assess their ways of production, and governments should support both nature and society with policies and finance in order to revert this scenario. “Brave Blue World: Racing to solve our water crisis” is an alert, food for thought, a cry, a bust of inspiration and a must-watch. You can stream it on Netflix.

References:

1. Lenntech – History of water treatment

The post A Movement for Water: Brave Blue World Review appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

“A Life on Our Planet” is a 2020 documentary where David Attenborough talks about ecosystem restoration, ecology, climate change, and evolutionary history by recounting some of his adventures world-wide during his 93 years of life. The film starts in the ruins of the Ukranian city where nuclear power station of Chernobyl exploded in 1986. As it presents that tragedy as the biggest environmental catastrophe in the history of mankind, resulting from bad planning and human errors, Attenborough connects this to a currently unfolding tragedy: the loss of Earth’s wild places and their biodiversity.

After the audience receives this context for the film, we are taken on a historical trip starting in 1937. David explains about extinction events, the Holocene (our time), and how biodiversity is key to the stability of the planet. To me, it is wonderful how the various organisms from different ecosystems across the world are contributing to the functioning of the Earth, just by developing their “instinctive” function/activity. How marvelous is that?

As the historical trip continues through a catalogue of years, we are introduced to data about that year’s population, atmospheric CO2, and the percentage of the remaining wilderness in the planet. In 1937, human population included 2.3 billion people. In the Earth´s atmosphere, CO2 levels were at 280 ppm. On the ground, there were still 66% of natural places, i.e., land without human interference. 83 years later, in 2020, we find 7.8 billion inhabitants of the Earth, 415 ppm of atmospheric CO2, and only 35% of remaining wilderness.

Contrasting technological advancement and the records of his previous documentaries, such as “The Blue Planet” and “Frozen Place”, David shows how nature was back then and how humans transformed the environment, leading up to the consequences we face today: temperature rise, pollution and biodiversity loss. We are presented to dual future scenarios. In one, we could use our intellectual power to revert the damaging trend that we see now. In the other, we see the consequences that could happen if we don´t start acting now in favor of nature. Which should we choose?

A stable planet is a livable planet. To safeguard our current levels of stability, we need to protect and restore biodiversity. A term used in the film that I personally liked was to “rewild the world”. Protecting species, restoring ecosystems, using renewable energy, sustainable farming and much more! These things are already happening. For instance, Morocco has today the largest solar farm in the world and supplies 40% of their energy demand from the Sun. We can also look to the Netherlands, which has been successfully applying technologies to produce food vertically, reducing demand for land, water and pesticides, as well as lowering carbon emissions. These incredible practices show that sustainability is possible. The conflicting dichotomy between technology and nature can, in fact, become an extraordinary partnership instead.

By the end of the movie, we go back to the city where the Chernobyl disaster occurred. An area now without human interference whatsoever has been taken back by forest trees and wildlife. Nature has the power reestablish itself, when it is not being constantly destroyed. To reverse the ecological damages the planet has been going through, we must act now, with wisdom and willpower.

I will not give any more details about this film here. What I will say is… go and watch it ASAP! “A Life on Our Planet” is one of those precious films that, in a simple structure, brings a lot of understanding about global change to anyone who watches it. Inspirational and at the same time heartbreaking, it serves as a wake-up call for all of us, inhabitants of this land.

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“Kiss the ground” is a documentary that was released last year (2020). It was directed by Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell, with a duration of 1 hour and 24 minutes. The introduction of the film gives an overview about the greatness of planet Earth, but also quickly presents news about climate change and natural disasters, sort of justifying humans’ current “state of paralysis.” Right after declaring that the human race gave up on Earth, the narrator (Woody Harrelson), suggests a revolutionary path, a solution deemed simple: SOIL!

Stating that that soil might save us (the whole planet), the film presents some soil functions: greenhouse gas sequestration rebalancing our climate, replenishing freshwater supplies, and food production. By advocating for the soil’s well-being, “Kiss the Ground” also takes us back in time to show the audience that tilling and chemical fertilizers are not allies for sustainable production and are actually degrading the soil. The film explains how plowing caused the loss of 200 million acres of cropland in the U.S. Midwestern Plains in the 1930s, and how agricultural pesticides started being used after US chemical companies imported the creation of German scientist Fritz Harber. Harber intended to make synthetic nitrogen fertilizer to increase food production, but also created poisons which were first used as chemical weapons during the war and the Holocaust.

The documentary gathers scientists, researchers, and environmental activists. While presenting how the Earth system works and the consequences of the current, unsustainable soil management and agricultural practices, it urges for a more regenerative approach in order to heal our soil and our climate. The film’s arguments are easy for everyone to follow and it is a lecture we should not skip. As mentioned in the film, in general, the producers don’t understand how soil works, and as they are benefitted by subsidies, and the hope of high profit from promised crop prices by companies, they just follow procedures to deliver the products demanded. This way, they perpetuate a broken system without knowing they have been damaging their own world and way of living.

The conclusion is not surprising, as pointed out by conservation agronomist Ray Archuleta (U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service): Education is an ecological issue. Archuleta hosts workshops to farmers on how to develop better agricultural practices in hope to plant a seed that will bring change. The film does a good job by presenting the action of people that are really engaged to work for the well-being of the planet and its living beings. I felt very inspired by the projects showcased in the documentary about biosequestration, including the “4 per 1000: Soils for food security and climate,” created by French Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll; farmers testimonies about developing economically viable and low-impact permaculture and agroforestry systems; NASA models now able to compare tilling periods and plant growth seasons influence on CO2 emissions. It gives the viewer a sense of hope, considering all the knowledge and technology that has developed.

Through science, “Kiss the Ground” brings to light contrasting realities and proposes ways that we can still make a big, positive impact for the sake of our Earth. It discusses politics, ecology, regenerative solutions, composting, diet, supporting sustainable farming systems, and coming together as one for the planet. Four words come to my mind: love, education, hope and regeneration. Those are within the essence presented in this documentary. It covers a lot more than I can possibly tell you in this short post. I will say this: go watch it right now, share it with someone, and join the movement, because, quoting ecologist John D. Liu, (Commonland Foundation), “To see a stream return and flow, to bring back fertile soils, to see biodiversity return to a place that was completely devastated, this is where everyone can find tremendous satisfaction and the meaning of our lives.”

“Kiss the Ground” is available to stream on Netflix, on Vimeo (rent $1), or you can also watch the 45 minute educational version for free on the official website (for schools):

https://kissthegroundmovie.com/

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Some of you may know that I am from Brazil and I have a Bachelor of Science in Sanitation and Environmental Engineering. Among the subjects I studied was waste management. Considering we are constantly generating waste on this planet, it struck me that only in 2010 a law that concerns waste management was enacted in my home country, the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill n. 12.305/2010. Even though it was considered a revolution at the time and perhaps even now still is—I think it shows how much we are neglecting the crucial waste management agenda.

Don’t get me wrong, this was not the first bill of its kind in Brazil. However, the absence of clear goals, instruments, principles and rules can cause the accumulation and repetition of automatic actions that may lead to substantial issues in the future. Thus, the bill 12.305/2010 was created with the goal to protect public health and environmental quality; promote non-generation, reduction, reuse, recycling, and treatment of the solid waste; and to ensure the adequately environmental final disposal of the rejects (the waste that could not be recycled, reused or recovered). One important target defined by the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill was the eradication of dumpsters in the entire country by 2014—a goal that was not achieved and postponed to 2021. Sadly, according to the Cleaning and Special Waste Companies Brazilian Association (Abrelpe), in 2017 dumpsters increased by 1% in the country, while the volume of waste destined to such places also rose in 4%. ¹ Irony can be ironic sometimes… Even with the bill, the waste management issue is not improving in Brazil.

This was supposed to be a short introduction to my review of the documentary “A Plastic Ocean”, but here I am… And indeed, there is a lot to say regarding this “waste disease”. Nevertheless, being now in Germany, I feel impressed, happy and excited when I see how well this country manages its waste. I don’t know what your opinions are if you were born and grew up in Germany. Still, compared to my upbringing in Brazil, Germany sets a great example to several governments in how to successfully implement domestic waste separation and recycling, ultimately supporting an improved quality of life, environment, and a better tomorrow for all. Now, without further ado, I will begin my documentary review, I hope you are still with me.

The documentary “A Plastic Ocean” impacted me in so many different ways. From the start of its first frame which quoted Helman Melville’s Moby-Dick until the end of the movie, it is an honest, heart-breaking, apologizing letter to the planet and to the biota present in it. This documentary was directed by journalist, filmmaker and adventurer Craig Leeson and begins with him talking about his astonishment as an 8-year-old kid when he saw a whale for the first time in a National Geographic magazine. As we are led to the ocean by the coast of Sri Lanka, diving alongside the British diver Rich Horner, the viewer is shocked as plastic and other kinds of waste are found in that area, especially because the beaches in that region have been closed for up to 30 years.

The film continues its trajectory in the ocean presenting several different locations and the environmental problems caused by plastic—up to this point, especially on the marine fauna. It is devastating as the viewer sees footage of a dying Bryde whale that had its digestive system blocked by a 6 square meter plastic sheet. Animals including dolphins, seals and sealions are physically harmed because they had some kind of plastic wrapped around their necks. It is not possible to live having this general thinking that when we throw something away, we are free of it. As some of the interviewers stressed, which is a 100% true, there is no “away.” We live in a closed system, one planet, and at this point we are well aware that nothing simply disappears. How outrageous is it to think that in some places in the ocean there is more plastic than plankton?

“A Plastic Ocean” exhibits didactically the ocean’s function and importance for the planet, as well as how it is possible for plastic to be transported from anywhere to the ocean. With an assembly of doctors and researchers, the viewer is guided through the documentary to understand the role of the currents, the existence of gyres, what is bioaccumulation, toxicity of plastic components and effects of plastic pollution on our health. There is not a moment when the viewer is left hanging. It is an essential documentary for every human inhabitant of this Earth. It emphasizes that we live in an interconnected world; it makes us travel to different corners of the planet and reminds us of social inequalities, sustainable alternatives, technological advancements and essential, immediate action. Besides counting statistical plastic production within the time frame we are watching the movie, as production never stops.

I would say find time and watch “A Plastic Ocean” today. It is a movie that challenges and confronts us. It opens our eyes to spheres of our planet and the current reality that we either sometimes neglect or are unaware of. We are active agents of change and it is a fact that we can help planet Earth. Bit by bit. One by one. The sum of everyone’s good actions can make a huge impact. And share this documentary or suggest to friends and family because, quoting Craig Leeson, “From knowing comes caring, and from caring comes change.”

Sincerely,

Éverton Souza da Silva

P.S.: “A Plastic Ocean” is available on Netflix.

1 https://ecocircuito.com.br/legislacao/

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