Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes

200352 min 43 secFilm: Documentary

G

Direction: Jeff McKay

Production: Joe MacDonaldGraydon McCrea

A hazardous mix of waste is flushed into the sewer every day. The billions of litres of water - combined with unknown quantities of chemicals, solvents, heavy metals, human waste and food - where does it all go? And what does it do to us?

From ancient times, countries have chosen the sewer to get rid of household and industrial waste, yet the contaminants we flush resurface in our food chain. Fish swim through waste water dumped into rivers, while sewage sludge is spread on farmland as fertilizer.

Filmed in Italy, India, Sweden, the United States and Canada, this bold documentary questions whether the sewer is actually compounding our waste problems. While scientists warn of links between sewage practices and potential health risks, activists, engineers and concerned citizens challenge our fundamental attitudes to waste. Does our need to dispose of waste take precedence over public safety? What are the alternatives?

Subject categories


  • Industry and Commerce > Environmental Issues
  • Environment and Conservation > Oceans, Seas and EstuariesPollutionRecycling and Waste Disposal
  • Social Issues > Technology and Society
  • Social Studies > Environmental Challenges
  • Geography > Environmental Issues
  • Science > Environmental Science
  • History and Citizenship Education > Neolithic Civilization to the Renaissance

Credits


director
Jeff McKay
editor
Jeff McKay
narration writer
Ruth DeGraves
producer
Joe MacDonald
executive producer
Graydon McCrea
narrator
Ruth DeGraves
camera
Linda Danchak
location sound
Jerry Turchyn
additional camera
Jonathan Bland
Jeff McKay
original music
Peter Bundy
Jeff McKay
music performer
Peter Bundy
Gunnar Lindgren
production manager
Jeff McKay
Elisabetta Povoledo
research
Jeff McKay
Ruth DeGraves
Joe MacDonald
Maureen Reilly
story consultant
Amanda McConnell
translation
Adriana Lombardini
sound editor
Saul Henteleff
online editing
Tony Wytinck
final mix
John Schritt
production supervisor
Scott Collins
production assistant
Melanie Coad
Monique Perron
production clerk
Rolande Petit
program administrator
Cyndi Forcand

Awards


  • Golden Sheaf Award - Category: Best Science / MedicineYorkton Film Festival
  • Bronze Plaque - Category: Science and Technology International Film and Video Festival
  • Second Place - Category: Oceans, Water Quality & WatershedsEarthVision Film & Video Festival
  • Silver Plaque - Category: Documentary: Science / Nature at the Television AwardsInternational Film Festival