Activism

As clearcutting continues to ravage California’s coastal redwood region, Farmer, an environmental activist, decides to tree sit to defend the McKay Tract, near Eureka. AMONG GIANTS begins three years into the McKay tree-sit. Stuck on his tiny platform a hundred feet up in the ancient redwood canopy, Farmer must battle the elements and avoid isolation [...]

Six beautiful films highlight the activism of The Earth Island Institute’s 2011 Brower Youth Award winners, today’s most visionary and strategic young environmentalists. Inspired by a community service trips to post-Katrina New Orleans, Alex Epstein co-founded New York 2 New Orleans Coalition, an network of New York City high school students mobilizing around the parallel [...]

Junior Walk lives in one of many coal-dependent communities of West Virginia, where criticizing the coal industry can be grounds for ostracism. But Junior, who was mentored by the late anti-strip-mining activist Judy Bonds, continues to challenge Big Coal’s power in Appalachia. He was a keynote speaker at the 2011 PowerShift conference in Washington, DC, [...]

Kyle Thiermann isn’t all about surfing — though the sport is a huge part of his life and his inspiration. His five-part video series, called Surfing for Change, urges people to make small adjustments in their daily actions to help save the environment. The videos have produced tangible results: Thousands of viewers have transferred $340 [...]

A desire to earn a Girl Scouts award led Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva to something much larger. The two friends created Project ORANG (Orangutans Really Appreciate and Need Girls Scouts) in 2007 to earn their award. Then they discovered that the Girl Scouts’ iconic cookies contain palm oil, and that palm oil plantations are [...]

In a city plagued by high crime and industrial pollution, Tania Pulido runs a community garden that’s more than just a place to grow food. The Berryland garden in the Iron Triangle neighborhood of Richmond, CA, is also a space where local youth can take summer apprenticeships and learn about issues like climate change and [...]

Making environmental education fun and engaging for young folks is Victor Davila’s passion. Which is why he set up EcoRyders, a series of summer workshops that combine environmental and health education with skateboarding. Workshop participants build their own skateboards and learn about pressing environmental issues in their community. EcoRyders offers a way to tackle both [...]

In December 2008, Tim DeChristopher, climate activist, started something big. What began as a singular act of civil disobedience at a BLM auction in Salt Lake City, Utah, has since become part of uprisings the world over. When students from Finding the Good HS Semester interviewed Tim at Wild and Scenic in 2009, 2010 and [...]

Jen Slotterback was hiking in her favorite park when she found signs of surveying for industrial gas drilling, or fracking. She went home and told her husband Jim, and although the two had never been actively involved in the issue of gas drilling, they immediately began a campaign to save the park. The board that [...]

What if global hunger, poverty and disease could be solved with the natural and abundant resources already at our finger tips? From the Mara Soil transports you to a community in rural Tanzania trying to answer this question with a novel approach to solving humanity’s greatest challenges with simple, natural and affordable solutions. This inspiring [...]

The world of environmental direct action has remained a secretive one, until now. Emily James spent over a year embedded in activist groups such as Climate Camp and Plane Stupid to document their clandestine activities. With unprecedented access, Just do It takes you on an astonishing journey behind the scenes of a community of people [...]

At 4am November 2, 2007, a Nevada County band called the Ginger Ninjas made camp on the Yuba River. They had bicycled all of five miles to get there and still had 4000-some to go on their quest to ride and perform their way to southern Mexico, carrying all their instruments and a pedal powered [...]

This is the parallel journey of two characters: one a young woman discouraged at her future as a suburban housewife, the other a river — one beautiful and teeming with wildlife — now a hopeless, toxic sludge pit. Chronicling an important episode in U.S. environmental history, this inspirational story examines the human side of acclaimed [...]

Twenty-six community members in Eugene, Oregon give new voice to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who’s message continues to be relevant today.

The Naked Option reveals the inspiring story of an organized group of Nigerian women who use the threat of stripping naked in public, a serious cultural taboo, in their deadly struggle to hold the oil companies accountable to the communities in which they operate. The women, at the risk of being raped, beaten or killed, [...]

Texas: An entrepreneur returns home to his environmentally damaged coastal community to fight an ominous source of major industrial pollution. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is the latest in the Mill Valley Film Group’s [...]

Indonesia : A charismatic teacher leads the cleanup of the Surabaya River from a flood of industrial chemicals and sewage that are causing severe health issues for local people. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is [...]

Germany: Community activists respond to the Chernobyl nuclear accident by creating the country’s first successful, cooperatively owned, renewable power company. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is the latest in the Mill Valley Film Group’s Emmy [...]

Zimbabwe: When the rhino population in his homeland is threatened by heavily armed poachers, a visionary bush pilot moves the animals hundreds of miles to safety. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is the latest in [...]

Russia: On an island off the coast of Siberia, a dedicated activist fights to protect endangered wildlife and the region’s biodiversity from oil and gas development. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is the latest in [...]

El Salvador: Courageous farmers paid with their lives as they stood up against a transnational gold mining corporation to protect their fragile water resources. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is the latest in the Mill [...]

“Nature is the most beautiful thing… There’s a universal energy. We should protect nature, because we are nature. I imagine the world as a playground.” Bet you didn’t think those words would come from a 9-year-old, Dylan Brophy, who freestyles the narration for Seth Warren’s new award-winning film, Playgrounds Re-imagined. From the beauty and rawness [...]

Sekem Vision highlights a poignant example of a community that sprang from the soil of modern Egypt. Thirty years ago, after studying chemistry and medicine in Austria, Professor Ibrahim Abouleish turned 70 hectares of desert sand outside of Cairo into Sekem, a flourishing Biodynamic farm, thriving business, active educational center and wholesome cultural community.

One man’s obsession to do his part for the environment using weed-eating goats to control noxious invaders in the Rocky Mountains. A profile on Mark Harbaugh, Patagonia fly fishing rep and goat rancher.

For Fred, a health worker in Zambia, the bicycle is a means of reaching twice as many patients. For Bharati, a teenager in India, it provides access to education. For Mirriam, a disabled Ghanaian woman, working on bicycles is an escape from the stigma attached to disabled people in her community. For Carlos, a farmer [...]