"Peak Moment" (27.5 minutes)
"We had a different notion of real wealth…we converted [our paper money] wealth into this land and home," says Steve Unger. Mary Coll adds that they're storing wealth in their knowledge, and by building a low-tech handmade house with no need for outside "experts" for maintenance. With their children Chloe and Finn, we tour the cob house under construction at Inishoge Farm in Sooke, BC, Canada. On the south side, heat from the summer sun is stored in rocks underground, which release heat slowly through winter (called annualized geo-solar heating). On the north side, walls are insulated to prevent heat loss, and there's even a cool room (like a cold cellar). Chloe and Finn show us the cob oven and their favorite under-the-stairs room.
"Our Campaign to Ban Plastic Bags in Bali" (11 minutes)
Plastic bags are essentially indestructible, yet they're used and thrown away with reckless abandon. Most end up in the ocean, where they pollute the water and harm marine life; the rest are burned in garbage piles, where they release harmful dioxins into the atmosphere. Melati and Isabel Wijsen are on a mission to stop plastic bags from suffocating their beautiful island home of Bali. Their efforts — including petitions, beach cleanups, even a hunger strike — paid off when they convinced their governor to commit to a plastic bag-free Bali by 2018. "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're too young or you won't understand," Isabel says to other aspiring activists. "We're not telling you it's going to be easy. We're telling you it's going to be worth it."
"4 Ways We Can Avoid a Catastrophic Drought" (13.5 minutes)
As the world's climate patterns continue to shift unpredictably, places where drinking water was once abundant may soon find reservoirs dry and groundwater aquifers depleted. In this talk, civil and environmental engineer David Sedlak shares four practical solutions to the ongoing urban water crisis. His goal: to shift our water supply towards new, local sources of water and create a system that is capable of withstanding any of the challenges climate change may throw at us in the coming years.
"Treatment vs. Jail" (6.5 minutes)
David Moss was arrested 14 times for drug possession and never offered treatment. He finally got clean on his own. How much taxpayer money got wasted arresting this guy instead of helping him fix the problem? Can California afford to keep spending so much on criminal justice while getting so little in return?
This video was produced by Brave New Films in partnership with the ACLU of California.
"Koch Brothers Exposed" (56 minutes)
This documentary shines a light on billionaires David and Charles Koch, who were handed the ability to buy our democracy in the form of giant checks to the House, Senate, and soon, possibly even the Presidency. It investigates where their money went and who their money hurt during the process leading up to the 2014 elections.
