Emerson College Library: Earth Day: Home

Planet vs. Plastics

Earth Day is April 22, 2024, and the theme is Planet vs. Plastics. Check out the resources from Earthday.org to learn more, attend events or donate!

Books at Emerson

All We Can Save

Plastic Soup

Diversifying Power

Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Cities

Climate Action

Eden on the Charles

The Man from Clear Lake

Plastic Pollution

Beyond Earth Day

Emerson Groups

Emerson Green Collective
Emerson Green Collective is an assemblage of small environmental groups on campus unified together for one cause: Saving the earth!
Eco Corps
The Eco Corps, Emerson’s recognized green community, fosters participation in the College’s climate efforts by regularly offering engagement opportunities and creating space for environmental inquiry.

Chasing Ice
This documentary Chronicles the efforts of nature photographer James Balog to document the receding of the Solheim glacier in Iceland, a consequence of climate change and global warming, in which strategically placed cameras would take one picture every hour for three years.
Earth Days
This is a 2009 documentary about the history of the modern environmental movement from the first Earth Day, April, 1970.
Environmental Impacts : Ethical Textiles
What would happen if we changed the way our clothes are made and sold? If we used different fibers or different agricultural techniques? If we insisted that facilities which produce textile products dispose of chemicals and materials properly? This program assesses the environmental impact of the textile industry both in the U.K. and abroad. It explores the ecological footprint of textile production in Bangladesh, and shows how the true cost of cheap textiles is being felt by the very poorest living downstream from polluting textile factories.
Global Dump, Toxic Waste, and the Planetary Ecosystem
While international corporations boast of newfound environmental stewardship, toxic materials are still produced on a worldwide scale-with underdeveloped nations serving as the planet's dump site. Viewers will gain an understanding of several topics: the impact of pesticides and other chemical products, the role of large-scale food waste, the dangers low-wage workers face as they pick through urban trash heaps, and more.
No Impact Man
Author Colin Beavan, in research for his next book, began the No Impact Project in November 2006. A newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who could no longer avoid pointing the finger at himself, Colin leaves behind his liberal complacency for a vow to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year.
The Plastic Cup: The Official Story of the Plastic Pirates
A huge amount of plastic bags & bottles is swept away by the flood of the river Tisza, flowing through Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and Serbia. Hungarian idealists launched the "Plastic Cup", a long-distance race of a special kind on the river with boats made of the collected plastic garbage to pick up the trash and raise awareness on the issue ... in a fun way!
Plastic Wars
Did the plastic industry use recycling to sell more plastic? With the industry expanding like never before and the crisis of ocean pollution growing, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the fight over the future of plastics.

The Age of Stupid
Pete Postlethwaite (the only fictional character) stars as an archivist living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, who spends his days looking at old footage from the years leading up to 2015 when a cataclysmic climate change took place. As he sifts through the relics of our lost and misguided civilization, the archivist asks why Earth's inhabitants did nothing to reverse the effects of climate change while they still had the chance.
Bag It
Our story follows Jeb Berrier, an average American guy -- admittedly not a 'tree hugger' -- who makes a pledge to stop using plastic bags. This simple action gets Jeb thinking about all kinds of plastic. He embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world.
Catching the Sun: The Race for the Clean Energy Future
Through the stories of workers and entrepreneurs in the U.S. and China, Catching the Sun captures the global race to lead the clean energy future. Over the course of a solar jobs training program, Catching the Sun follows the hope and heartbreak of unemployed American workers seeking jobs in the solar industry. With countries like China investing in innovative technologies and capitalizing on this trillion-dollar opportunity, Catching the Sun tells the story of the global energy transition from the perspective of workers and entrepreneurs building solutions to income inequality and climate change with their own hands.
A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet
Spanning 50 years of grassroots and global activism, this Sundance documentary brings to light the vital stories of the environmental movement where people fought, and succeeded, against enormous odds.
The True Cost
The True Cost is a groundbreaking new documentary film that pulls back the curtain on an unseen part of our world and asks us each to consider, who pays the price for our clothing? Filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums and features interviews with the world's leading influencers including Stella McCartney, Livia Firth, Vandana Shiva and many more. This unprecedented project invites us all on an eye opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes