Sri Lanka: The X Press Pearl disaster podcast

In May 2021, Sri Lanka suffered one of the worst environmental disasters in its history when a massive container ship, the X-Press Pearl, caught fire and sank off its coast. As it went down it released tonnes of toxic chemicals, metal waste, and microplastics into the sea— the UN called it the largest plastic spill ever recorded. Four years on Watershed and the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network investigates how the disaster is still having an impact on coastal communities.

To listen to the podcast, click the link below, or search for Sri Lanka the X Press Pearl Disaster on your podcast app.

Plastic recycling’s dirty secrets

Recycling has long been promoted as the solution to plastic pollution. Plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries for that purpose are on the rise at over four million tonnes annually, mostly from ten high-income countries.  Malaysia has become a top destination and global exports have increased by over 30% from 2022-2023, according to UN trade data.  But how clean and safe is the recycling trade and how much plastic can actually be recycled?

Click on the link below to listen to the full documentary podcast, or listen on your own podcast app by searching ‘Plastic Recycling’s Dirty Secrets’ on the BBC.

Also click on the below links to watch the BBC TV news report and to listen back to The Climate Question, also on the BBC.

Watershed releases new documentary ‘TOXIC’

Watershed has worked with the ENDS Report to produce a new film ‘TOXIC: Britain’s forever poisoned rivers and seas’. The film can be viewed at endsreport.com/toxic and reveals PFAS pollution hotspots across England, particularly in the Mersey and Wyre. Featuring Feargal Sharkey, Dame Natalie Bennett, Clare Cavers, Dr Patrick Byrne, Dr Tom Miller and Lizzie Carr, it tells the worrying story of widespread carcinogen contamination.

 

The oil pipeline in the Great Lakes

Why Michigan is trying to shut down Canada’s Enbridge Line 5 pipeline

An ageing oil pipeline crossing part of the Great Lakes – a fifth of the world’s fresh surface water – has led to a standoff between the US state of Michigan and Canada. The outcome of the battle over Line 5, which delivers energy to the US Midwest and central Canada, will be viewed by many as a bellwether of how North America will balance its energy future with its environmental commitments.

 

Turtle Island and the Black Snake

Native American Anishinaabe people have been living around the Great Lakes since time immemorial, following spiritual beliefs centred around the water. But they say their way of life is being threatened by an oil pipeline sitting on the bed of the Straits of Mackinac, a volatile waterway connecting two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

SEVERN: The poisoning of Britain’s Amazon

In ENDS Report’s film SEVERN: The poisoning of Britain’s Amazon, Environment Agency whistleblowers, experts and people who live by and work with the river give their testimonies as to how the river has been allowed to deteriorate and the dire consequences for people and wildlife.

Thirst for Justice

Armed only with facts and their illnesses, extraordinary citizens take on industry and government, risking arrest to protect clean water. From Flint to the Navajo Nation, via Standing Rock, this is their story.

Thirst for Justice was shown on Bloomberg Quicktake.

It is currently available for purchase at Bullfrog Films. https://bit.ly/3G98cJH

 

Awards and Festivals
Best Documentary Feature, Gallup Film Festival

Nominee, Best Documentary Feature, Bentonville Film Festival
Nominee, Best Documentary Feature and Best UK Feature, Raindance Film Festival
Award of Merit Special Mention, Accolade Global Film Competition
St. Louis International Film Festival
Louisiana International Film Festival
Great Lakes International Film Festival
BZN International Film Festival
Cinematters: NY Social Justice Film Festival
International Uranium Film Festival
Jelly FEST Film Festival
Red Nation International Film Festival
Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival
ReadingFilmFEST
International Social Change Film Festival (Changesfest)

Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival

St Louis International Film Festival

Gold Movie Awards Cinetopia                                                                                                                                                        LASA International Film Festival