April 22 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Documentaries have always helped us understand what it means to live on earth and contribute to an ecologically sustainable planet. So what better way to celebrate Earth Day while sheltering in place than watching inspiring and educational environmental documentaries. Grab your favorite snacks and get comfy because here are my top 6 picks currently available on Netflix:
- National Parks Adventure: Narrated by Robert Redford, National Parks Adventure is a cozy nature doc that shares the incredible splendor of US national parks. Traveling around the country to some of the nation’s most stunning natural landmarks, National Parks Adventures highlights both the beauty of these protected areas and the importance of keeping them intact and protected. Connect with nature and discover what these great expanses of land have meant historically for the nation’s first people, or simply sit back and enjoy the beautiful broad-sweeping views of these incredible landscapes.
2. Our Planet: Experience Our Planet’s natural beauty and examine how climate change impacts all living creatures in this ambitious documentary of spectacular scope. Travel from the African planes and antelope to frozen mountains and Siberian tigers and experience the incredible diversity our planet has to offer. Narrated by everyone’s favorite voice of nature, David Attenborough.
3. A Plastic Ocean: A Plastic Ocean is a documentary uncovering the nasty truth about our disposable lifestyle. Single-use plastic and similar products are overrunning our oceans and waterways, wreaking havoc on the natural ecosystems and marine life therein. A Plastic Ocean explores the deep blue depths while showing the shocking quantity of plastic pollution present in our oceans. This documentary will help you feel more hopeful for the possibility of a greener planet.
4. Night on Earth: Night on Earth features never-before-seen behavior from animals all around the world. Discover the secret world of bats, see big cats hunting at night, and see how wildlife has adapted to live in cities and towns, even late at night. An inspiring documentary chock-full of stunning night-time images, Night on Earth is sure to leave you in awe of the many nighttime habits you never knew about. Narrated by award-winning actress Samira Wiley of Orange is the New Black.
5. Chasing Coral: Pollution is on the rise, and among the many ecosystems being negatively impacted by wasteful practices are coral reefs. Coral is now disappearing at an unprecedented rate, one not seen before in recorded human history. Chasing Coral is the exciting, and sometimes dangerous, journey of a number of marine researchers hunting down the last remaining patches of coral. . Chasing Coral is all about educating the public and making it known that it isn’t too late.
6. Sustainable: A seventh-generation family farmer works toward building a movement of his own in the city of Chicago, outlining not only small changes we can all make in our consumption choices, but also the negative effects of the major food industries. Sustainable covers the economic and environmental impacts of our current agricultural practices.
Have you watched any of these documentaries? Do you have other environmental documentary recommendations? ?