Racing Extinction is a film about the rapid extinction of animals on our planet. The film shows how a group of activists go around the world to prevent a man-made mass extinction. Earth is losing species 1000% faster than the natural rate of extinction. “We are losing species faster than we can describe them,” says director and activist Louis Psihoyos. “When you are talking about losing all of nature its no longer a spectator sport, everyone has to become active somehow.
Much of the film focuses on the places where people kill endangered animals like manta rays, sharks, and whalesharks, and then go to the illegal black markets that sell them for profit. Many endangered species are used for Chinese medicines and remedies. The Chinese believe for example, that shark fin soup can cure cancer, which has contributed to the practice of finning.
One of the people in the film is Joel Sartore, a photographer that is taking photos of all the endangered animals before they are extinct. Another person in the film is Shawn Heinrichs, filmmaker and marine conservationist. One of the things Shawn says in the movie, “It is better to light one candle than curse the darkness.” I think he says this because it is better to do one thing, even if it seems small, than to do nothing at all. Which means all of us can do something.
They use the idea of Start with One Thing. The movie ends with some of those small changes that we can all do to get started. #startwith1thing
- Turning off the lights when you leave the room, saving energy and reduce our impact on fossil fuels.
- Walk and bike more places instead of driving cars.
- Reduce your plastic use. Don’t buy bottled water, and recycle when you can.
- Don’t buy endangered animal products.
- Eat one meal less a week of meat and cheese, it is like taking 2,700 cars off the road
And if the entire population of the United States did not eat meat or cheese for just one day a week, it would be the equivalent of taking 7.6 million cars off the road.
You can learn more about the film and how to take action at www.racingextinction.com
The movie is available on iTunes and Amazon.com