Sustainability documentaries are one of my favorite ways to gain information. They’re a powerful tool to get specific and detailed messages across to an audience, allow us to connect with other people’s stories (without ever meeting them), and help us understand concepts in a tangible way.
I grew up watching nature documentaries late at night when I couldn’t sleep. I was in awe of all the animals jumping, racing, and crawling across the screen. After watching countless eye-opening sustainability documentaries as well, here are seven I would recommend to a friend.
7 Must-Watch Sustainability Documentaries
1. Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret
Where to Watch: Netflix
Favorite Quote: “I decided instead of eating others, to eat for others.”
This was one of the first documentaries I had ever seen about sustainability and by far my favorite. It’s what finally convinced me to go vegetarian.
The documentary follows Kip Anderson, who’s on a mission to find out what industry or aspect of society is the largest polluter. The documentary breaks down how many politicians, individuals, and even some environmental groups are unwilling to discuss one of the biggest polluters: the agricultural industry.
What I love most about this is how it follows Kip in a story-telling manner and uses powerful visuals to get his point across. It’s an incredibly informative documentary and I’d recommend it to anyone.
2. Our Planet
Where to Watch: Netflix
Favorite Quote: “This glacial ice together with the sea ice protects our planet by reflecting solar radiation away from the surface and so preventing the earth from overheating.”
This is your state-of-the-art intro to environmental and sustainability documentaries. The series covers different landscapes around the globe. It speaks about the changing climate due to global warming and how it’s impacting various wild animals.
It’s both shocking and sublime; the shots are sharp, exciting, and epic. It’s narrated by David Attenborough, and he does a phenomenal job at capturing the beauty and grace of these fierce animals. The narration makes you feel immensely connected to the rest of the world without having been there.
Seeing fragile ecosystems around the globe negatively change due to human actions makes me want to take more action and motivates me to live more sustainably. This artwork beautifully balances the truth of climate change and the sheer power of these incredible animals.
3. Night On Earth
Where to Watch: Netflix
Favorite Quote: “Concrete jungles hostile to wildlife but at night it’s a different story.”
This is just a good ol’ nature documentary that I watched only a few months ago and completely fell in love with. It’s definitely the coolest one I’ve seen, as it’s all about a never-before-seen perspective on animals—their behavior at night!
Before now, we didn’t have high-quality enough cameras to capture these creatures’ movements at night. With the help of technology, it’s now possible to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural habitats.
This is totally a binge-worthy documentary series. The second to last episode, “Sleepless Cities,” is by far the most interesting and mind-boggling: It covers how wild animals are impacted by city lights, infrastructure, and the presence of humans. It also discusses how we need to protect these animals and ensure their safety.
4. Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
Where to Watch: Netflix
Favorite Quote: “We are still always scratching a coin for more.”
This is a very unique documentary that discusses how simplicity can make us happier. It goes into detail about how society has shaped our idea of success. Society views the perfect life as having as much money as possible and spending that money on any luxury item we can get our hands on. That is, however, not what is going to make us happy.
Minimalism had me hooked from the beginning. I love its simple message of less is more. I also appreciate that the documentary mentions the purpose is not to convert people to minimalism but to show that we have other options and a capacity to be happier in ways we might not have thought of prior to watching this documentary.
There’s really no other documentary I’ve seen on the internet that dives deeply into a topic such as minimalism and it really opened my eyes to the pressure of consumption that hovers over us all like a dark cloud.
It was so refreshing to watch this documentary. It reminded me of the things that really matter to me, like my friends and my health and well-being… and things that don’t, like buying a new t-shirt because I liked the print while ignoring the 15 other t-shirts that I already own.
5. Return of the River
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
Favorite Quote: “There’s a reason every river has its people. Life depends on water… In this way, people and fish are not so different.”
Return of the River explores an inspiring story of how the Klallam tribe restored the Elwha River and its ecosystem by breaking down the Glines Canyon Dam. The Klallam people relied heavily on the river for their main food source so when the dam was built it left them powerless and starving. Almost 100 years later, the Klallam people fought to get the dam removed and it was a success.
It was something that had never been done before—taking out a dam and restoring an ecosystem. It was both inspiring and thought-provoking as well as heart-warming. It helped me to take a step back and think about what these people must have been going through and see how beautiful their land is.
I sometimes forget how important a sense of place is to me and others. It reminded me that it’s important to sometimes slow down my life and appreciate the nature around me. By the end of this documentary, I was left with a sense of hope that we can restore our ecosystems if we put our minds and hearts to it. It’s rare to find such a success story—especially amongst removing dams.
6. Climate Warriors
Where to Watch: Hulu
Favorite Quote: “What we pour into the ground we pour into our food. Literally.”
This documentary is one of the most impactful and moving documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. It follows a handful of different stories of “climate warriors” globally who are standing up and fighting for climate-related issues in their communities.
They touch on issues regarding soil, oil, legislation, and much more. It jumps from story to story, each independent from the others yet completely connected and still informative and moving. I could feel the passion oozing out of the makers of this documentary and the individuals on the screen. Each and every one of them was very passionate about what they were doing and understood the urgency of climate change and the resistance from many politicians and companies. They took action!
This documentary instills urgency in those who watch it and made me want to organize my own climate strike. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to feel a bit more motivated and revitalized.
7. A Plastic Ocean
Where to Watch: Netflix
Favorite Quote: “Plastic is wonderful because it is durable, and plastic is terrible because it is durable.”
This scenic documentary explores how the ocean is being impacted by plastic through the lens of scientists and divers. One diver, in particular, discusses how she has used her national title as a record breaker for men’s free-diving to advocate for the issue of plastic in the ocean.
It includes many incredibly powerful images of different aquatic species that have been negatively impacted by plastic in the ocean. It’s moving and inspired me to continue to try and go plastic-free—or as plastic free as I can, because to be honest, being completely plastic-free is very difficult. There are close-up and slow-motion shots of common uses of plastic being used in everyday life and it makes you realize how much plastic we use. Even in just a day, we throw away so much.
A Plastic Ocean is a wonderful mix of impactful images and information. It hit a place in my heart where I care so much for the ocean and well-being of the species that live there and explored what they are going through in an effective way. The documentary is concluded with ways that people and companies have been tackling the issue of plastics in our world and leaves its audience with a sense of hope.