Each year when Earth Day rolls around, all of us are thinking about the environment. It feels like everything is getting worse, and those in power don't care. Of course, we all should be doing our part to help, like recycling, using less water, and purchasing less plastic. But I often feel hopeless and am in need of something uplifting. What could that be, you ask? For me, it is what, in my opinion, is to watch the by far the best animated movie of all time, Wall-E. If one needs to feel hope, this is the movie to watch.
If you haven't seen the movie, let me sum up its plot real fast [Spoiler Alert!!!]. Humans are long gone from Earth, but Wall-E, a small robot, is left to clean up the polluted land. He discovers a plant growing in the trash, which interests another robot EVE, leading them both to go into space, where a large spaceship carries the remaining, albeit lazy and uneducated, humans. From there, an adventure takes place that turns into lots of good robots and the humans trying to regain their control over the sentient spaceship.
The movie shows us what can and will happen if we don't start protecting our planet, but it does so with adorable robots so we don't feel lectured at. We can learn lots of lessons from Wall-E, such as not to trust big businesses (the company that runs the spaceship Buy 'n' Large, is even controlling the education on the spaceship, teaching the alphabet with words about the company such as "B is for Buy 'n' Large, your very best friend"), the dangers of materialism, and how dangerous pollution is. But it also shows us how humans give it their all to survive, even in dire circumstances. You see a little robot who no one thought could do anything overcome the odds to help save Earth and humans. Wall-E truly shows us how we can love and support each other.
So, if you are ever feeling like humanity is a bit of a lost cause, I recommend taking a break and watching Wall-E. It'll help you be hopeful for the future.
If you're looking for further reading on the environment, I suggest One Earth: People of Color Protecting Our Planet by Anuradha S. Rao and What is the Impact of Declining Biodiversity? by Stuart A. Kallen.