If you start feeling burnt out on Holiday movies or just need some inspiration for what to watch next, we’ve got you covered. We’ve curated a list of documentaries and series that focus on different aspects of sustainability and environmentalism. Watching them may open your eyes to overlooked concerns, while also reinforcing why the work we do as environment, health, safety, and sustainability professionals is so important.
10 Shows and Movies About Sustainability You Can Stream Now
From circular farming and ocean warming to food waste and climate change, these enlightening, educational productions highlight critical topics in the sustainability movement. And they’re all available on popular streaming platforms.
Our Oceans (2024)
Streaming on: Netflix
Premiering Nov. 20, Our Oceans is an ambitious project that illustrates just how much we have in common with the animals that populate our oceans — and how their lives are impacted by the choices we make on land. Narrated by President Barack Obama, each episode is dedicated to one of the world’s five oceans — Pacific, Indian, Atlantic, Arctic, and Southern — taking viewers on a 75,000-mile cruise across and beneath the surface. Utilizing cutting-edge research and newly developed underwater filmmaking technology, the series spends time with well-loved animals like dolphins and sea turtles while featuring other sea creatures and natural phenomena that have never before been captured on camera.
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy (2024)
Streaming on: Netflix
In Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy, a new documentary written and directed by News & Documentary Emmy Award nominee Nic Stacey (The World According to Jeff Goldblum), the architects of our collective desire for endless consumption reveal how corporations are hell-bent on increasing profits, how they convince unsuspecting consumers time and time again to part with their money, and what happens when all of our discarded purchases make their way to landfills. Commentators who witnessed the inner workings of corporations sit down to talk about the unsavory practices their former employers are still using. But while we’re all being encouraged to quench a bottomless thirst for more stuff, it’s the future generations and our environment that end up paying the price.
Our Great National Parks (2022)
Streaming on: Netflix
This five-part documentary released in 2022, and it shows off some of the world's national parks and their wildlife. Narrated by former president Barack Obama, viewers will explore parks from the Chilean Patagonia to Kenya's Tsavo East National Park. This series reminds us that all of the world's plants, animals, and humans are interconnected, and it aims to introduce viewers to some of the most beautiful places in the world - a great reminder that we have so much to fight for when it comes to climate change and sustainability.
Disneynature: Polar Bear (2022)
Streaming on: Disney+
Narrated by two-time Academy Award® nominee Catherine Keener (“Capote,” “Being John Malkovich”), Disneynature’s “Polar Bear” tells the story of a new mother whose memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today. Helmed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, the directing team behind Disneynature’s “Penguins,” and produced by Fothergill, Wilson, Jason Roberts, Keith Scholey and Roy Conli.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Streaming on: Netflix
Understandably, documentaries about climate change tend to be a bit somber and deflating. And while this movie is not shy about the seriousness of the problems we face, it strikes an optimistic note by centering on a real solution: a true story of a 13-year-old boy who is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees. He sneaks into the library and learns how to build a windmill to save his village from a famine.
Extrapolations (2023)
Streaming on: Apple TV
In the near future, the effects of climate change have become embedded into people's everyday lives; eight interwoven stories explore the intimate, life-changing choices that must be made when the planet is changing faster than the population.
Welcome to Earth (2021)
Streaming on: Disney+
In this six-episode docuseries by National Geographic, Will Smith takes on adventures including plunging to ocean depths of more than 3,300 feet with a marine biologist, visiting the edge of an active volcano and scaling the side of a glacier. The series follows Smith as he goes on a journey to connect with the Earth and encourage others to do the same.
Down to Earth (2022)
Streaming on: Netflix
In this two-season series, actor Zac Efron is joined by wellness expert Darin Olien to travel around the world and learn how different cultures and geographies strive to lead healthy and sustainable lifestyles. From Iceland to France to Puerto Rico and beyond, the duo encounters many different inspiring people who are all doing their parts to reduce pollution, advance renewable energy, and support the longevity of their native ecosystems.
I Am Greta (2020)
Streaming on: Hulu, Disney+
Greta Thunberg, 15, starts school striking for the climate. She skips school and sit outside the parliament to show the politicians that if they don't care about her future, why should she? A film about acting to stop climate change before it's too late.
Jane Goodall: The Hope (2020)
Streaming on: Disney+
Jane Goodall: Activist, scientist, conservationist. In this documentary, we learn how Goodall’s awe of nature has inspired her work as an activist and her mission to empower young generations to make a difference. This inspirational work will leave you with a sense of hope and optimism for the future of our planet and help you find your own purpose and activist spirit.
