The Sound Image Library, associated with York University, has a wide range of media collections. These include DVDs, CDs etc., which are available for loan or online access for students. I decided to visit the library’s online database, in order to find some media resources for my applied plant ecology course. The website had a collection of movies, with lots of different genres, including science-fiction, action, history etc. I was very pleased when I found this, as this would allow students from various majors to access and gain knowledge related to their disciplines. As I was searching for video resources for my class, I was able to make use of the advanced search bar and chose video for the type of source, to narrow my search. I thought this was a very helpful tool as it allows one to filter their search by inputting the date of publication, source language, type of source etc., making it easier to find resources. I came across a lot of amazing films related to plant ecology, using the database, however, the Disney film titled Wall-E made a very strong impression on me. Hence, I will be sharing a few thoughts regarding it as well as why I recommend it for other viewers due to its portrayal of very powerful messages.
This film relates to Applied plant ecology because it illustrates issues such as the loss of plant biodiversity as well as its impact on the extinction of plant species on Earth. The film portrays how humans have used up all the planet’s resources, in a very unsustainable way, in order to satisfy their needs. This has severely damaged and polluted the Earth, and as a result, threatened the existence of plant species. Since the environment had become so toxic, plant species were unable to survive and what once used to be beautiful forests, had turned into piles of dump and landfills. The film highlights, that the deteriorating environmental conditions on Earth had eventually driven the plant species to extinction. It is shown that there were only one species of plant remaining on the entire Earth. This had vast indirect effects on humans, such as oxygen deprivation, polluted environment due to which they had left Earth and moved to another planet, leaving behind just a robot named Wall-E.
The movie portrays a very strong message, that should be addressed. It teaches us that if we continue along this path, of polluting the environment, eventually the environment would be too toxic for us to live in. Furthermore, our plant species and animal species would suffer and their existence would be threatened to extinction. However, it also depicts that just one plant could make a difference, and help restore ecosystems. This gives a message of hope to the audience, that if we try to care for and protect our environment we could make a positive impact.
Reference: Armstrong, Burtt, B., Gabriel, P., Garlin, J., Knight, E., McFerrin, B., Najimy, K., Piaf, E., Ratzenberger, J., Stanton, A., Weaver, S., & Willard, F. (2008). WALL-E. Disney Pixar.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 
