The University of Ottawa’s Office of Campus Sustainability hosted a public screening of the documentary Trashed on March 6. Featuring Jeremy Irons, the documentary is not quite as entertaining as his famous voice role as Scar in The Lion King, but it does bring an important and terrifying issue to light.
The documentary tells the unfortunate tale of waste production and its effects around the world. Irons travels to the UK, Asia, and Lebanon to highlight some of the largest trash heaps in the world and informs us that our oceans are a “trash soup.”
Much like any other documentary, Trashed was blistering with interesting facts and while Irons had the best of intentions, the story would at times meander. It left me confused as to what the link wasbetween his intended message and what was shown in the film. Some documentaries like to show text to reinforce messages, but at times this one had too much text and lost my interest.
Although this was not my favourite documentary, I would certainly recommend it, whether you’re environmentally conscious or not. Trashed has more to offer than just a lecture about the effects of trash production and recycling. It has a powerful message that made me reconsider my lifestyle choices and my consumption of trash-producing products.
