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Lead Papers
Larisa Khomik
Video film demonstrations promote keen emotional perception and understanding of the present ecological problems, encourage
interesting discussions and, most important, the wish to solve problems.
"Catastrophe of the year 2030: The problem of garbage ranges from simple to
complex"
The waste problem
The world climate might get warmer, the sun more dangerous but this is not so noticiable as the waste problem nowadays. It has
become an ecological priority issue in the 1990’s. World industry and individuals produce a great deal of garbage. The only way to
solve that problem is to try to throw away less garbage, especially plastics that only slowly decompose.
The film "In the Supermarket" is about those problems.
There is a good number of different goods in a big supermarket. Each product is thoroughly packaged preventing contamination and
making it suitable for long-lasting storage. But food packing is rather expensive. Furthermore, most of the packing material turns to
waste after being used.
Millions of tons of garbage are brought to waste dumps every year. Some regions of the world have no space for that. There are three
ways of getting rid of garbage, dumping, burning and processing. In the recent past burning and dumping were generally used for that
purpose. But waste dumps take plenty of space and burning can cause air pollution. On the other hand, the quality of incinerators is
improving and they don’t pollute so much any more.
New ways of incineration
During the past ten years improved incineration plants have been in use for example in Hamburg. Special filters purify exhaust fumes
by pressing damp and warm steam through a chimney. This process makes smoke and water combine and traps harmful substances
such as hydrogen chloride and fluoride, sulfur dioxide and dust.
Equipment like this makes it possible to process garbage and produce energy. Yet for many countries this equipment is too expensive.
Besides it pollutes the environment with toxic left-overs which must be moved somewhere even though it does not penetrate the
atmosphere. After burning, the amount of waste decreases but the weight stays the same. It also can’t be buried because of high
concentration of toxic substances.
"Garbage" is a film about processing and usage of garbage.
Manufactures produce a good deal of garbage which can be re-used. The film shows ways of garbage processing without big
expenditures.
New processing technologies are very effective. However, there is a problem with this, the sorting of rubbish, because the different
fractions of garbage, metal, paper and glass must be processed separately.
The film "A Worm Teaches School" shows that everyone has an ability to protect the environment.
Schoolchildren process garbage with the help of a compost heap that is rather useful for the environment. Having learnt about the role
of worms, children teach their parents to find ways of re-using garbage.
Industrial and other waste
Sea inhabitants casting themselves ashore, forbidden fishing and overgrown aquatic plants in reservoirs – all these are result of a
pollution of the environment. Industrial flows and sewage system are still poisoning the nature.
"Black Sea – Death or Reprieve" is a film about the Black Sea environment.
The Black Sea is one of the biggest inland seas. Its biological resources have diminished considerably over the last decades because of
pollution of the rivers in Central and Western Europe. Those rivers flow into the sea and thus pollute it with industrial and agricultural
waste. Which actions do the countries of the Black Sea region take to prevent the pollution?
The film "Happy Trigger" is about a small fish swimming in polluted waters of Hong Kong harbor and looking for coral reefs. This
shows us the problems of the aquatic eco-system of ports.
Industrial waste contains heavy metals, plastics and other lasting compounds. Furthermore, it is now difficult to reveal and control the
main places of pollution. The film "The Town, the Poison and Bayer
Corporation" depicts the fight of non-governmental organizations
against pollution by the famous concern.
The city has faced the problem of heavy pollution of soil and water. It caused big expenditures to resettle people to clean the ground.
The film also tells how pollution can be controlled.
Potential polluters are bad-quality sewage collectors filled to the rim (because of rains) with toxic substances and polluted sewage. This
problem is raised in the film "Gutter Pirates".
Gutter pirates are three little funny creatures on a paper toy-ship sailing on the gutters of city streets. They meet paper, empty cans and
other rubbish on their way. In the end of the journey the ship turns into an airplane and the pirates leave the polluted land.
Gardens in the outskirts of towns can also be sources of pollution. Biocides are applied in order to kill weeds and pests in rivers and
shore waters. Nitric and phosphoric fertilizers stimulating growth of plants along with pesticides are deadly poisonous for reservoir
inhabitants. Nitrates brought by acid rains make things still worse. Stimulating the growth of aqua-plants with nitrates means a lack of
oxygen necessary for underwater life.
The film "Ecological Agriculture" shows ecological approaches to agricultural practices.
Formerly agriculture used to adapt to nature. However, nowadays it interferes in the balance of nature. Pesticides and fertilizers are
used to increase crops but it means the destruction of soil structure. Chemical sprayings for pests do a great harm to nature. Ecological
agriculture is the only way to protect the environment.
Even though rubbish and polluted water are of high importance, nuclear waste is a more serious issue. The film
"Change" is about how
public organizations in Ukraine and Russia fight against the transportation and storage of nuclear waste in Finland.
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