National Geographic: Human Footprint | 
 enlarge | Director: Clive Maltby
Actor: Elizabeth Vargas
Studio: Nat'l Geographic
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $14.16
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 3789
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 90
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5.7 x 0.5
MPN: 1000037198
UPC: 727994752936
EAN: 0727994752936
ASIN: B00147F8WS
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In a National Geographic special event The Human Footprint reveals the extraordinary impact that each of our lives has on the world around us. In a playful surprising and thought-provoking portrait of our time on earth National Geographic demonstrates in a series of remarkable visuals what makes up an average human life today and how everything we do has impact on the world around us. In this unique journey through life it shows all the people you will ever know how much waste you will produce the amount of fuel youll consume and how much youve got to pack in during your 2475526000 seconds on Earth.Running Time: 90 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC UPC: 727994752936 Manufacturer No: 1000037198
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| Customer Reviews:
 First Fascinating...Then Boring....Then Irritating July 19, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This film tracks the life of a boy and girl from childhood through old age.
At various stages of life their consumption of various resources is examined in great detail.
The early displays of actual counts of what they use are at first fascinating and impressive. Gee...I thought... someone went to lot of effort to assemble and set up over 43,000 soft drink cans.
Then as the statistical bombardment continues, one begins to wonder are these numbers really correct. Each stat is accompanied with yet another visual display of what the number means. OK...I get it...I don't need to see the actual number of toothbrushes I will use in a lifetime.
Finally, the whole experience becomes irritating, if there is a point here the film is not making it clear (at least for me). Even small uses become large values over the 77 years of the average lifespan.
Are we supposed to apologize for being alive? That was the way I felt a few times. Apparently you are really not a good person if you eat cheeseburgers.
I would certainly agree that there are waste and excesses that need to be curbed especially here in America, but the film seems to imply that consumers are to blame for all of it.
There is nothing in the film about the endless marketing and advertising that drive all of us to over-buy and over-use. Consumption and more consumption is just what corporations want and their role in driving that to excess is never explored.
The planned and engineered obsolescence of many products that requires us to re-buy the same items that fill up the landfills is also never considered.
As an hypothetical example, the "Acme Widget Company" wants you to buy as many "widgets" as possible in your lifetime, building them to last is the very last thing they want to do. Meanwhile landfills are accumulating thousands of broken and worn out "widgets".
There is also nothing about the real source of the human footprint impact and that is over-population. Even consumption in moderate amounts really starts to add up with 6+ billion of us out there.
Finally, it seems the film misses a golden opportunity to discuss the positive benefits of recycling. If it was discussed at all I missed it.
Human Footprint is certainly worth a look, but the steady stream of "average" statistics may not be entertaining for some. For me, I felt a sense of relief when the film was over.
 Amazing Video May 15, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The "Human Footprint" was first aired on the National Geographic Channel earlier this year. It is a graphic portrayal of the quantities of stuff that an average American consumes over the course of a lifetime.
The criticism of our lifestyle is implicit. No one says what all this is doing to the planet, but it quickly becomes obvious that enormous quantities of stuff must be manufactured, consumed, and discarded in order to support the high standard of living that we enjoy. You only have to look at the herd of pigs, tons of potatoes, or football field expanse of bread to be amazed at what we consume.
The story is told with a sense of humor. The kitchen filling with fruit is funny. However, the question that comes to mind is whether we will always have the resources to keep this up. The inventory shown by National Geographic is food for thought.
Another interesting video on the subject of the consumer economy is the 20-minute "The Story of Stuff." It does not seem to be available on Amazon, but can be found for viewing on the web. "Stuff" is more direct in its point of view.
visually impressive, lacking in substantial content May 14, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I teach high school science and 100 level science classes at the local university. I showed the dvd for both groups with a worksheet I made up for them (anyone in education knows that you must give the students something to work on relating to the movie they're watching, or else they won't pay attention). It was visually impressive to see the amounts of "stuff" we go through in a lifetime, and it's a good movie because students have no idea what these amounts really are; they cannot fathom how immense 43,000 soda cans is. However that's really all there was to this dvd-they show a product (or activity), explain (briefly)how it is constructed, or shipped, and then they actually display the amount with the number (literaly they laid out 43,000+ soda cans in a parking lot). There was no explanation of the impact or problems associated with the levels of consumption or waste. And after 30-40 minutes (the dvd is 1.5hrs) it gets well, kind of boring. So good for providing the visual concept, poor in terms exploring the underlying cause and consequences.
OUTSTANDING!!! April 21, 2008
My entire loved this documentary! It even held my 5 yr olds full attention. We loved the creative ways that the information was put across, and it really opened our eyes as to exactly how much we as individuals affect the earth. We learned a lot and we plan on changing a lot of things as well!
Brilliant, Tedious, Needs a Study Guide or Booklet April 20, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The intelligence that went into creating this movie, and the artistic creabtivity and sheer industry in amassing visual depictions of what goes into making and using things, is absolutely top of the line world class.
Unfortunately, viewed in one sitting this movie becomes tedius and also suffers from throwing out so many numbers that none of them are memorable. I suspect the following terms were uttered sometime during the movie, but the fact that I cannot remember for sure is troubling:
Virtual Water
Carbon Footprint
True Cost
This DVD, if used in a classroom, should be broken up into at least five sessions, no more than three chapters at a time.
I actually think this would be better as a book, the movie aspect is too fleeting for the best possible absorbtion and retention.
Chapters cover:
Human Presence
Diapers and Milk
Meat, Eggs, and Carbs
Sweets, Fruits, and Vegetables
Plastics and Metals
Cleansing and Beauty Products
Water and Solid Waste
Clothing and Textiles
ASlcohol
Housing, Furnishing, and Apppliances
Entertainment Consumption
Transportation
Consumption of Natural Resources
Cell Phones
Shrinking Wildlife
National Geographic: Six Degrees Could Change the World is the better of two, all things considered. This movie I would like to see National Geographic re-issue with a little booklet of facts for each chapter, and also a website in which the complete true costs for all items discussed are presented, and volunteers shown how to do the research to post "true costs" for any given product or service.
I see real value in National Geographic becoming the hub for "true cost" information, something they could easily do in partnership with the World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility (WISER).
Only one big negative: the DVD pupports to be about the average person but is actually about the average within the billion rich that have an aggregate annual income of one trillion. It teaches us nothing at all about the five billion at the base of the pyramid who have an aggregate income of four trillion. I'd like to see National Geographic rethink its plans, and ultimately come out with short videos on each of the ten high-level threats to Humanity, each of the twelve core policy areas, and each of the eight demographic definers of the future. Somewhere in there they could teach citizens to demand responsible transpartisan policies and balanced transparent budgets.
Books that I recommend include:
Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy
The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink
Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beau
The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
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