Trashed

Narrated by executive producer Jeremy Irons, Candida Brady's documentary Trashed focuses on the waste that is drowning humanity, opening on a beach in Lebanon, where a massive dump emits clouds of methane that foul the air, while debris washes up on Mediterranean shores. Sitting amid the detritus—as people and animals root in the garbage—Irons says, succinctly, “This is appalling.” But the images get even worse, with trash incinerators around the world spewing poisonous dioxins that no scrubbing technology can totally eliminate; faulty barriers leaching noxious chemicals into the ground; and sewage fouling waters that people drink, bathe in, and use to wash their clothes. In Vietnam—heavily contaminated from the defoliant sprayed by U.S. planes in the 1960s and '70s—Irons visits an orphanage housing deformed children and stares in horror at shelves of bottles containing monstrous preserved fetuses. Meanwhile, in our oceans, the tiny particles from billions of plastic bags, nets, bottles, and other objects that are breaking down, now outnumber zooplankton. Fish eat these toxins; some killer whales, at the top of the food chain, are now failing to reproduce. Irons talks with scientists and politicians, exploring the solutions to these ghastly problems—including recycling, composting, garbage digesters, reusable packaging, and zero-waste programs—but the challenges seem insurmountable. As Irons says, “this is not about what might happen in some distant future.” Offering an eye-opening look at a genuine crisis, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (F. Gardner)