Founded in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day has emerged as a national awakening to society’s growing disregard for the planet’s health and well-being. From the destruction of waterways and treasured wild lands to rampant air pollution and harmful mining practices, post 1970s America placed little emphasis on environmental preservation. While Earth Day’s founding ushered in an unprecedented level of awareness about environmental issues, pressing problems persist. In honor of Earth Day, educate yourself about some of those issues with this top 10 list of eco-minded documentaries, complete with trailers and Netflix descriptions.
This film is a journey into one of America’s best-kept secrets: the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, with a pair of newlyweds as guides.
2. Virunga
The Oscar-nominated true story of the rangers risking their lives to save Africa’s most precious national park and its endangered gorillas
3. Mission Blue
This documentary follows oceanographer Sylvia Earle’s campaign to save the world’s oceans from threats such as overfishing and toxic waste.
This documentary details the economic, political and ecological consequences of a puzzling phenomenon: a dwindling world honeybee population.
5. DamNation
This documentary reveals the ecological cost of two centuries of American dam building, from degraded waterways to the loss of wildlife habitat.
This documentary profiles the evolution of environmental movements, from early efforts at conservation to current concerns over global climate change.
7. Watermark
Exploring the force that sustains all life, this documentary brings together diverse stories from around the globe about our relationship with water
8. Pump
After World War II, consumer tastes and government policy steer America into a fateful reliance on oil-fueled technology that must and can be broken.
A band of bliss-seeking surfer-mountaineers sets out — in 2007, by boat — on a journey to Patagonia, South America, in this adventure documentary
10. The Great Invisible
This film plumbs the depths of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig catastrophe, including the causes and aftermath of the unprecedented disaster.
All of these documentaries are currently streaming on Netflix.
