So Right So Smart

So Right So Smart is part of the second wave of environmentalist documentaries, which tend to offer solutions and olive branches instead of scoldings and doom-saying. Narrated by Daryl Hannah, this cautiously hopeful film centers on Ray Anderson, the successful CEO of Interface, a carpet-tile manufacturing company. In the mid-1990s, Anderson became an overnight convert to sustainability (primarily influenced by author Paul Hawken, who's among several environmental writers and experts offering comments here). When Anderson assembled a task force to transform Interface into a showcase of green practices, others in the world of manufacturing and commerce thought he'd lost his mind, but Anderson's epiphany was fueled by his conviction that eco-positive practices weren't just liberal-PC dogma but, over the long term, good business: healthier employees were working on shop floors producing minimum waste, recycled material could be resold at a profit, and innovative bio-based product concepts attracted positive interest. Filmmakers Justin Maine, Guy Noerr, Leanne Robinson Maine, and Michael Swantek turn Anderson's story into a surprisingly captivating narrative (higher profile companies—Whole Foods, Patagonia, and Seventh Generation—are also briefly profiled). And even Wal-Mart, a villain in many docu-exposés, earns praise here for moving toward conservation, inspired in part by Anderson's evangelizing. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)