Another inspiring recycling movie

My friend Guy Crittenden, editor of Canada's premier recycling trade magazine Solid Waste & Recycling, wrote to say that he's steering his readers in next month's October/November edition to a movie that celebrates a great Zero Waste icon.

Garbage Warrior (winner of the Audience Award at last year's VIFF) profiles "biotect" Michael Reynolds. Reynolds builds sturdy, earthquake and recession-proof homes out of pop bottles and tires. The structures are beautiful to Crittenden's eye, achieving what he called a kind of “Salvador Dali meets the Flintstones” effect.

As we hunker down for the Great Depression ahead, emissaries from the Back to the Land movement in the early 70s will have valuable lessons for us.

Garbage Warrior is available at Limelight Video at Broadway and Alma. Anyone want to come over and watch it at my house?

Pic: Earthship News

Upcoming film screening: Recycled Life

Projecting Change, Vancouver's environmental film festival at the Ridge Theatre this weekend, sounds very tasty indeed, featuring buzzworthy films like King Corn and Tableland.

Of particular interest to Zero Waste supporters will be the documentary "Recycled Life", which offers a glimpse into the informal diversion of waste in Guatemala City. The film documents the "beauty, humour and remarkable contrast" in the lives of generations of entrepreneurs who work in the Guatemala City Garbage Dump harvesting anything of value for recycling and reuse. View the trailer here.

Annie Leonard's wonderful short film "The Story of Stuff," which takes a smart, often humourous look at the cycle of production and consumption, will be paired with "Recycled Life" at the same showing. If you can't make it into Vancouver to the Projecting Change festival, "The Story of Stuff" is also available to watch free online at http://www.storyofstuff.com/ .

Recycled Life and The Story of Stuff play this Saturday, May 11 at 5pm at the Ridge Theatre, at 16th Avenue and Arbutus, in Vancouver.