“What are the best Environmental Movies & Eco Documentaries?” We looked at 259 of the top Environmental films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 25 films, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Environmental” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 200+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!

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Top Environmental Movies & Documentaries

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25 .) Before the Flood

Lists It Appears On:

• Eco Warrior Princess
• Mind Body Green
• Top Documentary Films

A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.

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24 .) Crude (2009)

Lists It Appears On:

• Thought Co.
• Wikipedia
• Wikipedia

The story of lawsuit by tens of thousands of Ecuadorans against Chevron over contamination of the Ecuadorean Amazon.

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23 .) Earth

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Mind Body Green
• Wikipedia

It’s 1947 and the borderlines between India and Pakistan are being drawn. A young girl bears witnesses to tragedy as her ayah is caught between the love of two men and the rising tide of political and religious violence.

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22 .) Fly Away Home (1997)

Lists It Appears On:

• Berkeley Wellness
• Common Sense Media
• Wikipedia

Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor whom she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life… until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when a local forest is torn down. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes “Mama Goose”. When Winter comes, Amy, and her dad must find a way to lead the birds South…

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21 .) Home

Lists It Appears On:

• Conservation Careers
• Eco Warrior Princess
• Wikipedia

With aerial footage from 54 countries, Home is a depiction of how the Earth’s problems are all interlinked.

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20 .) Hoot

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Grist
• Smithsonian

A young man (Lerman) moves from Montana to Florida with his family, where he’s compelled to engage in a fight to protect a population of endangered owls.

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19 .) March of the Penguins (2005)

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Green Global Travel
• Wikipedia

Every year, thousands of Antarctica’s emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. Morgan Freeman narrates this amazing, true-life tale touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader … to adventure!!

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18 .) Over the Hedge

Lists It Appears On:

• Grist
• Smithsonian
• Wikipedia

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17 .) The Age of Consequences

Lists It Appears On:

• Eco Watch
• Mind Body Green
• PBS

The Hurt Locker’ meets ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, THE AGE OF CONSEQUENCES investigates the impacts of irreversible climate change, resource scarcity, mass migration, and pandemic conflict through the lens of US national security and global instability.

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16 .) The True Cost

Lists It Appears On:

• Eco Warrior Princess
• PBS
• Wikipedia

Film from Andrew Morgan. The True Cost is a documentary film exploring the impact of fashion on people and the planet.

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15 .) Who Killed The Electric Car? (2006)

Lists It Appears On:

• Grist
• Thought Co.
• Wikipedia

In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust, and ran without gasoline… Ten years later, these cars were destroyed.

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14 .) Winged Migration (2002)

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Green Global Travel
• Grist

The cameras of Jacques Perrin fly with migratory birds: geese, storks, cranes. The film begins with spring in North America and the migration to the Arctic; the flight is a community event for each species. Once in the Arctic, it’s family time: courtship, nests, eggs, fledglings, and first flight. Chicks must soon fly south. Bad weather, hunters, and pollution take their toll. Then, the cameras go

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13 .) Chinatown (1974)

Lists It Appears On:

• Berkeley Wellness
• Grist
• MNN
• Yes Magazine

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband’s extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.

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12 .) Erin Brockovich (2000)

Lists It Appears On:

• Grist
• MNN
• Wikipedia
• Yes Magazine

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins — with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.

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11 .) Food, Inc. (2009)

Lists It Appears On:

• Eco Warrior Princess
• Green Global Travel
• Thought Co.
• Wikipedia

Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner examines how mammoth corporations have taken over all aspects of the food chain in the United States, from the farms where our food is grown to the chain restaurants and supermarkets where it’s sold. Narrated by author and activist Eric Schlosser, the film features interviews with average Americans about their dietary habits, commentary from food experts like Michael Pollan and unsettling footage shot inside large-scale animal processing plants.

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10 .) Happy Feet

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Grist
• Smithsonian
• Wikipedia

Into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!

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9 .) Soylent Green (1973)

Lists It Appears On:

• Grist
• MNN
• Wikipedia
• Yes Magazine

In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff.

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8 .) The 11th Hour (2007)

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Thought Co.
• Uproxx
• Wikipedia

A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet’s ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse

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7 .) The Day after Tomorrow (2004)

Lists It Appears On:

• Grist
• MNN
• The Guardian
• Wikipedia

After years of increases in the greenhouse effect, havoc is wreaked globally in the form of catastrophic hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, floods and the beginning of a new Ice Age. Paleoclimatologist, Jack Hall tries to warn the world while also shepherding to safety his son, trapped in New York after the city is overwhelmed by the start of the new big freeze.

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6 .) Chasing Ice (2012)

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Conservation Careers
• Thought Co.
• Uproxx
• Wikipedia

When National Geographic photographer James Balog asked, “How can one take a picture of climate change?” his attention was immediately drawn to ice. Soon he was asked to do a cover story on glaciers that became the most popular and well-read piece in the magazine during the last five years. But for Balog, that story marked the beginning of a much larger and longer-term project that would reach epic proportions.

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5 .) FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• MNN
• Smithsonian
• Wikipedia
• Yes Magazine

When a sprite named Crysta shrinks a human boy, Zak, down to her size, he vows to help the magical fairy folk stop a greedy logging company from destroying their home, the pristine rainforest known as FernGully. Zak and his new friends fight to defend FernGully from lumberjacks — and the vengeful spirit they accidentally unleash after chopping down a magic tree.

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4 .) The Cove (2009)

Lists It Appears On:

• Conservation Careers
• Eco Warrior Princess
• Green Global Travel
• Thought Co.
• Wikipedia

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

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3 .) WALL-E (2008)

Lists It Appears On:

• Berkeley Wellness
• Common Sense Media
• MNN
• Smithsonian
• Wikipedia

WALL·E is the last robot left on an Earth that has been overrun with garbage and all humans have fled to outer space. For 700 years he has continued to try and clean up the mess, but has developed some rather interesting human-like qualities. When a ship arrives with a sleek new type of robot, WALL·E thinks he’s finally found a friend and stows away on the ship when it leaves.

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2 .) Avatar (2009)

Lists It Appears On:

• Berkeley Wellness
• Common Sense Media
• MNN
• Smithsonian
• Wikipedia
• Yes Magazine

In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.

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1 .) An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Lists It Appears On:

• Common Sense Media
• Conservation Careers
• Eco Warrior Princess
• Green Global Travel
• Grist
• MNN
• Thought Co.
• Uproxx
• Wikipedia

A documentary on Al Gore’s campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

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The 200+ Additional Best Eco Movies Of All-Time

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#	Film		Lists
(Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each)
26	A Civil Action		Grist
			Wikipedia
27	Arctic Tale (2007)		Common Sense Media
			Thought Co.
28	Bambi (1942)		Smithsonian
			Yes Magazine
29	Blue Vinyl		Grist
			Wikipedia
30	Children of Men (2006)		Tree Hugger
			Berkeley Wellness
31	Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret		Eco Warrior Princess
			Wikipedia
32	Earth Days (2009)		Wikipedia
			Thought Co.
33	Fire Down Below		Grist
			Wikipedia
34	Flow: For Love of Water		Thought Co.
			Wikipedia
35	Forget Shorter Showers		Eco Watch
			PBS
36	If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011)		Wikipedia
			Green Global Travel
37	Koyaanisqatsi (1982)		Wikipedia
			MNN
38	Revenge of the Electric Car (2009)		Wikipedia
			Thought Co.
39	Revolution		Wikipedia
			Wikipedia
40	Safe		Grist
			Wikipedia
41	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home		Smithsonian
			Wikipedia
42	The Burning Season		Wikipedia
			Wikipedia
43	The China Syndrome		Grist
			Wikipedia
44	The Future of Energy: Lateral Power to the People		Eco Watch
			PBS
45	The Lorax (1972)		Wikipedia
			Berkeley Wellness
46	To the Ends of the Earth		Eco Watch
			PBS
47	Virunga		Conservation Careers
			Wikipedia
48	Whale Rider (2003)		MNN
			Berkeley Wellness
49	Windfall		Uproxx
			Wikipedia
(Titles Appear On 1 Lists Each)
50	2012		Wikipedia
51	180 Degrees South		Common Sense Media
52	A Beautiful Planet		Common Sense Media
53	A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash		Wikipedia
54	A Fierce Green Fire		PBS
55	A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity		Mind Body Green
56	African Cats		Common Sense Media
57	Aftermath		Wikipedia
58	Amazon (IMAX)		Common Sense Media
59	American Masters		PBS
60	An Inconvenient Penguin		Wikipedia
61	An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power		Wikipedia
62	Angry Inuk		Wikipedia
63	Anthropocene		Top Documentary Films
64	Ashes to Honey		Wikipedia
65	Baraka		Wikipedia
66	Bears		Common Sense Media
67	Beasts of the Southern Wild		The Guardian
68	Before Vanishing		Wikipedia
69	Bhopal Express		Wikipedia
70	Birdemic: Shock and Terror		Wikipedia
71	Biùtiful cauntri		Wikipedia
72	Black Hole		Wikipedia
73	Black Snake Killaz		Top Documentary Films
74	Blackfish		Conservation Careers
75	Boy and the World		Common Sense Media
76	Burning the Future: Coal in America		Wikipedia
77	Butterfly		Wikipedia
78	Call of Life		Conservation Careers
79	Can You Dig This?		Common Sense Media
80	Cane Toads: An Unnatural History		Wikipedia
81	Cane Toads: The Conquest		Wikipedia
82	Captain Planet		Wikipedia
83	Carface		Wikipedia
84	Chernobyl Heart		Wikipedia
85	Chernobyl: The Exclusion Zone		Top Documentary Films
86	Chevron vs. the Amazon		Top Documentary Films
87	Chicken Run		Wikipedia
88	Children of Tsunami: No More Tears		Wikipedia
89	China Syndrome (1979)		MNN
90	Climate Change Denial Disorder		Wikipedia
91	CLIMATE OF DOUBT		Uproxx
92	Climate Refugees		Wikipedia
93	Clouds of Smoke		Wikipedia
94	Darwin’s Nightmare (2005)		Green Global Travel
95	Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster		Wikipedia
96	Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment		Wikipedia
97	Demain		Wikipedia
98	Denmark		Wikipedia
99	Disarm. (2005)		Thought Co.
100	Disneynature: Wings of Life (2013)		Thought Co.
101	Disneynature’s Oceans		Smithsonian
102	Donald Trump, The Koch Brothers and Their War on Climate Science		Top Documentary Films
103	Dr. Seuss: The Lorax		Common Sense Media
104	Dreamland		Wikipedia
105	Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11		Wikipedia
106	Earthquake		Wikipedia
107	Earthquake in Chile		Wikipedia
108	Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson		Wikipedia
109	Elemental		Wikipedia
110	Empty Oceans, Empty Nets: The Race to Save Marine Fisheries		Thought Co.
111	Encounters at the End of the World (Nominated in 2008)		Green Global Travel
112	Evolution of Organic		PBS
113	Fight for the Planet		Wikipedia
114	Final Straw: Food, Earth, Happiness		Wikipedia
115	Forbidden Forest		Wikipedia
116	Forests for the 21st Century		Wikipedia
117	Fractured Land		Wikipedia
118	Free Willy		Smithsonian
119	Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder		Wikipedia
120	GasLand (2010)		Green Global Travel
121	Glacier Exit		Mind Body Green
122	Global Warming: The Signs and The Science		Wikipedia
123	Global Warming: What You Need to Know		Wikipedia
124	GMO OMG		Wikipedia
125	Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey		Grist
126	Great Lakes, Bad Lines		Top Documentary Films
127	H2O		Wikipedia
128	Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World		Wikipedia
129	Hell		The Guardian
130	Hell and High Water		Wikipedia
131	Heritage Radio Network		PBS
132	Hinterland Who’s Who		Wikipedia
133	How to Change the World		Wikipedia
134	I Heart Huckabees (2004)		Yes Magazine
135	Ice and the Sky		Wikipedia
136	If You Love This Planet		Wikipedia
137	Interstellar		The Guardian
138	Island of Lemurs: Madagascar		Common Sense Media
139	Journey to the Safest Place on Earth		Wikipedia
140	King Corn (2007)		Thought Co.
141	Laloorinu Parayanullathu		Wikipedia
142	Life		Conservation Careers
143	Mad Max		Tree Hugger
144	Manda Bala (2007)		Thought Co.
145	Material Of The Future		Wikipedia
146	Matrix series		Tree Hugger
147	Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World		Wikipedia
148	Minamata: The Victims and Their World		Wikipedia
149	Mission Blue		Conservation Careers
150	Monkey Kingdom		Common Sense Media
151	Mountaintop Removal		Wikipedia
152	Muro Ami		Wikipedia
153	Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind		Common Sense Media
154	Never Cry Wolf (1983)		Berkeley Wellness
155	No Impact Man		Wikipedia
156	No Pressure		Wikipedia
157	Oceans		Common Sense Media
158	Oil on Ice		Wikipedia
159	Oil Sands Karaoke		Wikipedia
160	On Deadly Ground		Wikipedia
161	On the Line		Wikipedia
162	Once Upon a Forest		Wikipedia
163	Out of the Blue		PBS
164	Paddle to the Sea		Wikipedia
165	Pandora’s Promise		Wikipedia
166	Plastic Bag		Wikipedia
167	Plastic China		PBS
168	Polluting Paradise		Wikipedia
169	Powerful: Energy for Everyone		Wikipedia
170	Princess Mononoke (1997)		Yes Magazine
171	Prophecy (1979)		Yes Magazine
172	Rancher Farmer Fisherman		PBS
173	Renewal		Wikipedia
174	San Andreas		Wikipedia
175	Schoolhouse Rock! Earth		Common Sense Media
176	Sea of Life		Wikipedia
177	Search for the Super Battery		Wikipedia
178	Semper Fi: Always Faithful		Wikipedia
179	Shale Cowboys		Top Documentary Films
180	Sharknado		Wikipedia
181	Sharkwater		Wikipedia
182	Shored Up		Wikipedia
183	Silent Storm		Wikipedia
184	Silkwood		Grist
185	Sizzle		Wikipedia
186	Snowpiercer		The Guardian
187	Space Tourists		Wikipedia
188	Spoiled the Movie		Wikipedia
189	Super Comet: After The Impact		Wikipedia
190	Surviving the Tsunami – My Atomic Aunt		Wikipedia
191	SWITCH		Uproxx
192	Syriana		Grist
193	Tapped		Eco Warrior Princess
194	Tentacles		Wikipedia
195	That Should Not Be: Our Children Will Accuse Us		Wikipedia
196	The Age of Mankind		Top Documentary Films
197	The Age of Stupid		Wikipedia
198	The Animal Train		Common Sense Media
199	The Bell of Chernobyl		Wikipedia
200	The Breakthrough In Renewable Energy		Mind Body Green
201	The Chances of the World Changing		Wikipedia
202	The City Dark		Wikipedia
203	The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos		Common Sense Media
204	The Dome		Top Documentary Films
205	The End of Eden		Wikipedia
206	The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream		Grist
207	The End of the Line		Conservation Careers
208	The Forgotten District		Wikipedia
209	The Fourth Revolution: Energy		Wikipedia
210	The Future of Food		Wikipedia
211	The Garden (2008)		Thought Co.
212	The Great Global Warming Swindle		Wikipedia
213	The Great Warming		Wikipedia
214	The Happening		Wikipedia
215	The Idiot Cycle		Wikipedia
216	THE ISLAND PRESIDENT		Uproxx
217	The Islands and the Whales		PBS
218	The Last Paradises: On the Track of Rare Animals		Wikipedia
219	The Man Who Planted Trees		Common Sense Media
220	The Memory of Fish		PBS
221	The Messenger		Wikipedia
222	The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil		Wikipedia
223	The Redwoods		Wikipedia
224	The Return of Navajo Boy		Wikipedia
225	The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes		Wikipedia
226	The Rise of Vertical Farming		Top Documentary Films
227	The Road (2009)		Yes Magazine
228	The Shiranui Sea		Wikipedia
229	The Story of Stuff		Wikipedia
230	The Story of the Weeping Camel (2004)		Green Global Travel
231	The Toxic Clouds of 9/11: A Looming Disaster		Wikipedia
232	The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill		Common Sense Media
233	The World According to Monsanto		Wikipedia
234	This Changes Everything		Common Sense Media
235	To the Arctic		Common Sense Media
236	Tomorrow		Mind Body Green
237	Toxic Legacy		Wikipedia
238	Trash Inc: The Secret Life of Garbage		Wikipedia
239	Trouble The Water (2008)		Thought Co.
240	Troubled Waters		Top Documentary Films
241	Ultimate Tornado		Wikipedia
242	Unacceptable Levels		Wikipedia
243	Under the Dome		Wikipedia
244	Under the Sea 3D		Common Sense Media
245	Up The Yangtze (2008)		Thought Co.
246	Vanishing of the Bees		Wikipedia
247	Vanishing Point		Wikipedia
248	Voices of Transition		Wikipedia
249	Vorticity		Mind Body Green
250	Watch		Wikipedia
251	Water & Power: A California Heist		PBS
252	Water Wars: When Drought, Flood and Greed Collide (2009)		Thought Co.
253	Watermark		Wikipedia
254	Waterworld		Tree Hugger
255	What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire		Wikipedia
256	What Is the Electric Car?		Wikipedia
257	White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki		Wikipedia
258	Wind Over Water: The Cape Wind Story		Wikipedia
259	Wings of Life		Common Sense Media

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18 Best Environmental Film Sources/Lists

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Source	Article
Berkeley Wellness	View as List The Best Environmentally Conscious Movies
Common Sense Media	Environmental Movies
Conservation Careers	10 Documentaries Ever Conservationist Should
Eco Warrior Princess	Must See Green Films: 8 of the Best Environmental Documentaries
Eco Watch	Climate Change Documentary
Green Global Travel	The Top 10 Oscar-Nominated Environmental Documentaries
Grist	15 Green Movies
Mind Body Green	Want To Know What The Heck Is Up With Climate Change? Watch These Documentaries
MNN	Top 10 Environmental Films Of All Time
PBS	Earth Day Watch List: 17 Films About Sustainability and Climate Change
Smithsonian	Top Ten Kids’ Movies With a Green Theme
The Guardian	Spoiler alerts: the five best climate-change films
Thought Co.	Documentary Films About the Environment and Ecology
Top Documentary Films	Environment
Tree Hugger	Can’t get enough TreeHugger? Sign up now and have it sent straight to your inbox.
Uproxx	7 Best Environmental Documentaries
Wikipedia	List of Environmental Films
Yes Magazine	10 Films to Inspire Your Inner Environmental Superhero