Waste Not, Want Not
Last Updated on January 29, 2021
Film Recommendation
Trashed (2012)
Something Rotten This Way Comes
Jeremy Irons takes us on a journey through our waste, as he investigates its impact on our world. This is a moving documentary that will hopefully encourage a greater awareness of our trash and what it does to people and wildlife around the planet.
There are indeed deeply saddening examples of those afflicted, as viewers bear witness to a small dose of the tremendous burden being carried by nature and the world’s poor. The documentary is effective in highlighting the glaring deficiency in the current status quo with regards our waste and the immense opportunity for it to be improved.

Consider the Waste
Despite the focus on what we are doing wrong with in our waste management and overconsumption, Trashed is not a wholly depressing film. There are painful moments to be sure, but the filmmakers also present alternatives to how we address waste, and attempt to offer hope that we can learn from our mistakes.

An Opportunity for Improvement
We can do better! Humans have learned from other past mistakes and have been able to make improvements. It can be done with our trash. The first step is recognizing that there is a problem. That where this film can help. It is a profound and impassioned storytelling of our relationship with garbage. Trashed is certainly worth your time and attention.
Thrift is poetic because it is creative; waste is unpoetic because it is waste.”
― G.K. Chesterton
12 Responses
[…] One the one hand we must look to clean up all the plastic that is poisoning our environment (see Waste Not, Want Not). There are pretty creative ways to accomplish this first part, ranging from plogging (picking up […]
[…] This not need be the case!! There is no waste in nature, everything is constantly used and reused (see The Circular Economy), and we need to relearn how to live within nature’s means. But until that time, we can certainly attempt to cut down on what we do in fact throw away. For added motivation, just take a look at the tremendous amount of trash we are throwing away, and what it does to people and the environment (check out the documentary Trashed). […]
[…] 2 […]
[…] This not need be the case!! There is no waste in nature, everything is constantly used and reused (see The Circular Economy), and we need to relearn how to live within nature’s means. But until that time, we can certainly attempt to cut down on what we do in fact throw away. For added motivation, just take a look at the tremendous amount of trash we are throwing away, and what it does to people and the environment (check out the documentary Trashed). […]
[…] this rapid consumption culture enact destructive social costs, but it also contributes greatly to landfill waste as represented by the millions upon millions of tons thrown away annually. This fashion debris, […]
[…] 5 […]
[…] society need to stop dumping our trash/plastics/ & synthetic chemicals into the water (see Trashed) and adopt better, biodegradable […]
[…] Click here for more details & the film trailer […]
[…] how things are made. As the authors explain, the current (conventional) way of making things is failing us. It is simply a status quo that has perpetuated from the days of the Industrial Revolution. It […]
[…] The holiday season is upon us, with Christmas and New Year’s Eve just around the corner. Waste management groups and zero waste advocates in Canada estimate a 25 percent increase in waste over the holiday period compared to the rest of the year. Think of all that wrapping paper, gift bags and ribbons, the paper plates and plastic cutlery, all tape and bubble wrap, that go straight to the landfill. […]
[…] two million tons of food is wasted each year from restaurants, supermarkets, and households! Going straight to a landfill, food waste is the cause of 20% of Canada’s methane emissions. We can help cut back on this waste […]
[…] but instead of throwing out more petroleum products to contaminate our precious planet (as they slowly decayed in landfills over the next thousand years). I simply toss them in the wash in the morning, and after they’ve dried out, they’re […]