What Lies Below Premieres at Planet in Focus

The 17th Annual Planet in Focus Film Festival showing Environmental films just closed in Toronto and I was able to see a few amazing films at the festival.  One of them was the Closing Night film Premiere of "What Lies Below".  A Canadian documentary featuring Lawrence Gauther, a blind man who is a graduate from New York University's master's program in environmental studies.  He is also a writer and radio host and a speaker expert on Canada's aquatic ecosystems.

Lawrence is an incredible speaker and he takes the viewers across Canada to look at all of the things that are destroying the ecosystems in Canada.  From the toxic waste that is dumped into the Ottawa River to the destruction of the land from the Oil processing companies in the Alberta Tar Sands, and the damage that overfishing does to destroy future species of fish and the ripple effect that shark finning does to the rest of the water systems.

I knew a lot of these things but to really see the sum of the destruction mostly caused by greed and consumption is frightening.

You wonder how governments would allow companies to continue these destructive practices and what needs to be done to turn the trend around before we lose the ability to feed people and live in a healthy non toxic environment.

If you aren't able to find this documentary you can also watch Leonardo Di Caprio's documentary BEFORE THE FLOOD.  Similar in message it travels around the world to see the devastation from clear cutting, burning trees and once again the tar sands and more.

The message is clear.  We need to find alternative sources for fuel, farming and other destructive practices before it's too late.

Here's what I know and what you can do.

Don't count on politicians to save us.  The only politician that truly believes in climate change is Al Gore and even if some do they get bought by big corp who are the ones doing the damage.

If you want to do something here's some things you can do now:

1.  Eat less Beef - Most of the grains grown are to feed cattle, also it takes a ton of water to grow the feed for the cows.  The cows produce methane gas which is what is causing global warming.

2.  If you are going to eat fish reduce your consumption to a few times a week and try and only eat Sustainable fish to curb over fishing which nets all kinds of fish that are discarded.

3.  Never eat Shark Fin Soup or any sort of shark fin products.  They fish sharks and cut off their fins and toss them back into the water.  Sharks keep the oceans eco system in balance and tossing a shark back into the ocean without fins is just wrong for so many reasons.

4.  Buy less packaged products and plastics.  All of the junk food you buy uses some sort of oil to produce them and our reliance on oil to keep up with production.  The destruction that the production of oil does to the land is unbelievable.  It renders the earth toxic and people get cancer and end up having to leave their homes because everything in the are becomes toxic.

5.  Switch to more of a plant based diet and that will have a ripple effect in what is produced and on your health.  Try and buy only what you need to reduce waste so that we can keep up with production.  Eat more lentils and beans which replenish the soil and are a Canadian product.

6. Try and buy most of your products local so that the use of huge transport trucks are reduced and also things shipped from other countries in shipping containers etc.  The further it comes from the more fuel it will use to get to you.

It's all pretty scary.  I can do more and you can do more.  You can contact your politicians and vote for those you think will do the right thing but ultimately you will change things if you stop feeding the system that feeds the greed of the huge corporations that will just go in and deplete a resource for profit.  If you put them out of business they will have to find another way to run their business.

If everyone does a couple of these things consistently that can do more than waiting for a politician to create a law that has to be enforced.


For more info about What Lies Below:
http://whatliesbelow.ca/

For a look at Before the Flood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90CkXVF-Q8M