July’s Green Screen: Garbage!

When throwing your trash into a bin, have you ever stopped to wonder where it goes? North Americans and Europeans are lucky to live in places where garbage seems to magically disappear. But we are unlucky to know the consequences of convenience.

In Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home, filmmaker Andrew Nisker takes you on what he calls a “trash odyssey”. He asked an average North American family of four – the McDonalds – to keep their garbage for three months. Dry, wet, organic, inorganic, everything was kept in their garage.

Predictably, the experiment ends up smelly and difficult for the McDonald family. Unpredictably, you begin to understand the impact of waste. Nisker investigate where it goes, from sewage systems to landfills, and how it gets there.

This is an excellent movie for the family or a classroom, as it prompts discussion and creates a desire to take action against bad trash. A bonus is that the filmmakers encourage participation and change with the film’s website, www.garbagerevolution.com, where you can go to learn new methods for living green.