What a delightful look at real people facing the seeming inevitability of the overwhelming influence of plastic and oil in our lives. It cannot have been easy, but even if we make a few steps towards their goal of total abstinence we will have made a difference. I found it totally charming and a privilege to have had such a personal look into their family.

I loved this documentary. Found it accidentally and found it riveting. Fell in love with the family, too! Good, interesting, realistic documentary that had tons of heart, and a really noble goal. Thanks!

Wow..:)

I think that was pretty inspiring to say the least.

Wonder how they fried their burgers though?..:)

Congratulations!

Thank you for having the guts to follow through with your convictions. This doc is brilliant.

Also, I got a few chuckles - love the fact that Johnny's wife swears, and on tv LOL

I enjoy it as well, but rarely get the change since it's not cool around these parts o_0

Seriously thought this doc be required viewing in every school here in North American and beyond.

I'll help distribute it if you like since I am a high school teacher, or was. (fine art and literature).

Keep up the altruism.

I LOVED this documentary and I applaud John's perseverance. It boosted my inspiration to continue making changes in my own lifestyle. I share 100% his concern about climate change and hope that other viewers would be inspired to �overcome themselves� and learn to perceive a so called �sacrifice� as a contribution (remember there is no small contributions). I know that the happiness I feel very time I make an environmentally conscious choice, surpasses by far the inconveniences of giving up certain things.

If the science says we have to drop 80-90% of our energy use, that family (and mine) have a long way to go. E.G. biodiesel is a feckless attempt, as is the diesel boat. The avg. human lives in a tent. We're in for a very rough awakening. I'd suggest U-Tube on James Kunstler's 21 minute tirade. If you get bored, at least watch the last 5 minutes.

Great Doc! But how arrogant is his wife? I give her credit for standing by her man, but with all the bitching she did along the way, who needs her? A 5-year-old could (and did) do a better job adapting. It does though reflect the we look at the environment: Save power? No plastic? No gas? Are you kidding? I'm entitled!

Thanks for bringing this to Canada! Morgan Spurlock-ish, yes, but in Recipies' case the husband ain't crazy!

Bravo, Bravo CBC for making this documentary available to us - for the first time, I think, we have been getting a view of what life under the "regime" is really like. The Regime of course is the need to cut back not just here and there but everywhere on energy usage in all it's forms. As a survivor of the WWII years and especially the postwar years, I can can give first hand testimony of what "life by candle light" really looks and smells like. One observation: This family undertook a volunteer effort - a mass effort requires outside force. People will adapt - for a time. Thereafter, who knows.

Packaging and plastic toys are things the Government could handle very very quickly. Demand to make packaging biodegradable. Car use is a big problem, but for large cities then method used in London U.K. has proved very good. Then you could have more Biodiesel taxis licensed for urban use. Buses have to be beefed up, with smaller units running more often. It would be designated an essential service and the manpower to maintain the systems would also be considered essential

It is a nice way of showing how dependant we are on oil and all its by-products.

As a motivator and agent of change, I'm having second thoughts.

Some of their measures were so drastic, like the toothpaste and the absolute plastic elimination, that it may scare people into inaction.

It would have been better to try and find out what were the easiest ways for this family to reduce its 'oil-print'; other easier changes might have achieved higher reductions.

Take their plastic kitchen utensils for example: they were already produced; if they replace them by metal ones they are going to increase their footprint.

They ended up using paper bags; some studies say that a paper bag uses more resources than a plastic bag...

I liked seeing the stress caused by the project and the humour used throughout the entire doc.

I enjoyed the film, recorded it and will be showing it to friends and family!!

I would like to know how to see this documentary again and to be able to recommend everyone I know to watch it.
It is a topic that is always on my mind but like John I feel I am swimming against the tide. With my husband, my children, even with the shop assistants who look at you funny when you ask for boxes rather that plastic bags.
One of the hardest parts of changing ones own habits, is persisting while everyone around you thinks you are strange, holier than thou, hypocritical (because we are struggling to change one step at a time), and extreme.
It was sad, but also of personal help to me to see someone else alone in their struggle, within their circle of people. We are not alone in being alone.
John your efforts have made a big difference,
thank you and Keep up the good work!!!!

I would have liked to see this at an earlier time so the whole family, including the children, would have watch it, rather than sleeping while I watched it alone.
Fantastic documentary! Show it again and again.

Great film - can you show it every week for a while?

I wish someone could take this to the next level and show how challenging it is to live without exposure to volatile chemicals of any kind, the way people with chemical sensitivities have to.

This family found they could still have a good life by making substitutions that weren't too difficult, just a bit less convenient.

When someone truly is allergic to plastics, or has a chemical injury and suffers life threatening reactions from fragrance, laundry, cleaning product chemicals, pesticides, furniture and clothing materials, life is considerably more difficult.

This film mentions the resistance people have to change, why they prefer to bury their heads in the sand.

We need more films like this about how to get over the fears of denial, more on how to do something instead of being paralized and doing nothing.

Thanks CBC for airing this.

I loved this documentary and I'm a keen documentary watcher. I had such a good laugh and the family was just too adorable. The husband, the wife, the kids - if a movie director wanted to cast the perfect family for this - they were it.

And because it was a family you could love and who were so endearing and reluctant, you loved their message. I am chemically sensitive and so had to go through the throwing out of plastic and brushing my teeth with baking soda, etc and felt just like the wife - why do i have do this!!! Her comments were some of the funniest..

And the use of the dam and the sinking ship - brilliant...

The "recipies for disaster" teaches a paradigm shift that can applied at home to reduce oil consumption and the resultant carbon dioxide. Can you make available on YouTube? Jim Ronback, Tsawwassen, BC

Watching this doc made me feel uncomfortable, to say the least.

When I see this family giving up such simple things as toothpaste, it makes me realize how doubtful it is the majority of North Americans could live without such small conveniences, let alone automobiles. (We could start with a conversation about SUV's manufactured for anywhere other than all-terrain Africa, for goodness sake. I'm not certain a Hummer equipped enough to make the drive over the perilous pavement of a grocery store parking lot.)

I was shocked to learns North Americans use 20,000 kilos of CO2 per year, vs the 9 or 10,000 per person in Europe and other areas. We really are that wasteful, glutenous and ignorant.

But to fall asleep at night, my mind is more easily led to daydream about thoughts of a "cyclical planet" during these warming temperatures and melting icebergs. That and the analogy of the population's impact like a "width of a fingernail clipping" on the "2 meter length of time" this world has existed.

Thank you Webster family for this example. It is documented, it is palpable. Your children are hilariously cute!

great documentary. I especially liked the development of the argument.
I find the "recieps" quite accurately describing what is happening in the world community - a good explanation to the indifference we are seeing.
however, I am quite perplexed. in the end of the year they managed to emmit about 9 tonnes, which is a 50% improvement. but, at the begining of the film he claimed that the goal should be 3 tonnes a year. that is, I understood that a sustainable emmission would be no more than 3 tonnes of carbon emmitted to the atmosphere per family per year. yet, after all his efforts his family still emmitted 3 times that much. I wonder then, how possible it is to emmitt in a sustainable way. obviously, we have to come up with some creative solutions. for this purpose I have opened a group on facebook called "brainstrom to save the world". the purpose of the group is to encourage people around the world to share information, and quite literally brainstorm on how we might achieve a more sustainable lifestyle without leading the world to economic catastrophe.
good luck to us all

I enjoyed this documentary very much and I thought the Webster's goals very realistic. I think if we all considered lowering our carbon footprint, even in a modest way, it would make an incredible difference.

Unfortunately I only caught part of this documentary last night, but it was very good. I hope the CBC repeats it because its is well worth seeing again. The documentary illustrates the serious problems mankind will have breaking its addiction to oil. It used a good metaphor for the situation mankind finds itself in. We are like the passengers in a sinking ship. We have all the information we need to make the prudent decision of "jumping into the lifeboats" and escaping the inevitable but we delude ourselves into thinking that "perhaps the ship isn't really sinking after all". Its only when its too late that will we wake up and start blaming everybody else for our own reckless disregard for our actions. It will take a miracle to change things around. To be honest I am very pessimistic about the future.

A wonderful, honest account of the difficulties of trying to change the status quo - and the stress on a family when one member gets a conscience - my husband and I had many of the same conversations as he tried to move our family to a more sustainable life - happily I finally got it and we now work as a team to try and limit our use of oil-based products - the food industry is the absolute worst - those plastic-clam containers are now everywhere - it is truly depressing how little people consider their everyday choices...

I thought this "adventure" was fabulous. It does show that it truly takes just one person to make a difference. I already take my own cloth bags when shopping, or refuse the plastic and just carry my items out. I hope to be driving a hybrid with my next vehicle, though I am fighting what others are viewing the extra dollar cost to the hybrid as opposed to the environmental cost. We do not have a bus service in our town, and my job involves travelling to differnt peoples' homes as a health care aide, so for me a car does seem to be mandatory.

I enjoyed the show very much, and was actually wondering where some of the recipies for the proucts used came from ie. Hair Gel, or shampoo? I am currently replacing my plastic containers ie Tupperware with glass containers for food storage in the fridge. We put out 5 bins of recycling every week in an effort to do our part, but obviously reusing, or doing without is a much more effective solution.

Thanks to Mr Webster and his family for putting themselves on the line like that for this documentary. Job Well Done!!

This is almost too little, too late.

The family and European dynamic was interesting, and representative of the direction that we must take.

Open discussion is needed at all levels and the bilingual touch was iconic, too.

The program was done extremely well. The emotions of the subjects was captured, it was real. John Webster was fluent in Swedish and Finnish besides English.( I would like to know more about him and his family, because my husband is also a film maker and Fnnish Canadian and has implemented similar things into our lives).

The reality of the planet was brought into the documentary with the daily happenings of the family, but people are not waking up. Here in Alberta the icefields are receding. The oilsands are polluting the river, besides taking billions of barrels of water each day out of the river, fish are deformed, people have increased rates of cancer.

We have drout in places, the Americans want our water. The frustrating thing is that people do not listen to you. They make fun of you when you try to explain about global warming. It is like in the documentary the ship that goes down and the people do not take it seriously - do not go into the life boats.

Last week I was in California. The hotel had a sign about conserving water eg. towel usage etc, but when I left a tip on the pillow, it was misunderstood - all towels changed, the four pillows on my bed alone - all pillowcases changed. So the next day I put a note please do not change the bedding and do not change the towels. On our way back to LA to the airport, I saw the devastation of the fires - where are the Californians going to get their water?

Now going back to the documentary. Christmas. Finns are like the Japanese about presentation. You wrap the gifts beautifully - it is an art. Sure you can use brown paper and decorate it with crayons etc., but it is tradition that we fight against here.

Plastic - you cannot purchase anything that is not wrapped in several layers

There are some towns in Alberta that have gone free of plastic shopping bags. Think what they are doing to the oceans - the fish and other sea animals - what about landfills?

I take my own cloth bags to the store, they do not have paper bags at the grocery store. I fight at the grocery store about packaging.

I am old and I ask myself is it worth it? I try to be optimistic.
We had two cars because we have a business to operate. My husband decided to get rid of my vehicle. That means that I ride with him all the time and he has priority. He asks if my use of the car is really necessary. He does not want me to go to some meetings because of the pollution the car creates and the amount of gasoline we use. I cannot use the public transportation system because it does not excists. We work three days of the week in Edmonton which is 168 km from our home. So the other car was simply sold to cut down expenses and pollution.

This family really did it, but I wondered throughout the documentary would they be able to stick together as a family. It is hard when you alone do all these things to save the planet, and nobody cares, you do not wish your fellow workers to know that you are doing this. I can feel the frustration of the wife. Even getting rid of the really beautiful plastic containers made in Finland (Finland was one of the first countries to develop plastics) - it is very hard- plastic has taken over -I would prefer all wooden toys for example.

We have tried the 100 mile (km) diet, but in the winter time it is hard. Even in the summer time you cannot purchase fish from the fishermen because "it is all sold to New York restaurants" before it is taken out of the lake. The commercial fishermen use nets and fish all the fish out of "our lake". Then there is only small fish that if we fish we have to release them back to the lake .

Changing the light bulbs is a start, but I ask myself is there time to avoid disaster? We need to do more. What can we as individuals do to encourage the development of different kinds of cars, how to get industry practice safely and put in pollution controls? Are we so greedy that we do not wish to change our lifestyles? We simply cannot go on as we are used to!

When you do these things to cut pollution, you are singled out and made fun of because the rest of the world is not seeing it. Indeed this family was couragious to "try" it for a year. I would like to send to this family some of our documentaries. Would it be possible to get their address?

I saw a lot of truth in this documentary and agreed with the ideas but would find it very diffult to go as far as this family did.

What made this film very special to me is the fact that I am bilingual to suit this film. Very funny for me to hear the mother's words and not read the sub titles. Would love to see it again with my siblings or even get a copy of the film? Thank you very much.

Thank you CBC for airing this excellent documentary. This family has shown that if each family does his/her/their part, it will all add up to the benefit of the quality of our lives and of the environment.

To "Niro" who was confused about their emmission reduction. John had calculated that his family's total yearly emission was 20 tonnes. Ideally, everyone's emissions should be 3 tonnes for the planet to sustainably supprt humans.

To "Robert from Toronto" who said how arrogant John Websters wife was. How unjust of you to claim this. I think she did very well in sticking with the project. I bet 95% of North Americans could not even stick out this project for 1 month, let alone 1 year.

Well done Webster family. I hope you prove to be an inspiration for many families to reduce their overly consumptive ways and for manufacturers to smarten up.

I too caught only the last half of the doc. I want to see the whole thing--Youtube please! I want to show it to all my friends and spread the word. This film needs to be seen by as many people as possible! I ckecked out the Millenium Films website hoping to find a forum or email link to directly contact Mr. Webster to make comments, no such luck (other than a street address). Does anyone have any info on how to directly contact John Webster? He deserves to hear what a fantastic job he and his family did with their efforts.

I missed this documentary, and would love to know where and when it will be shown again. Needs to be available for schools and public showings. Can a copy be purchased?

I found it interesting and loved the family dynamic.

It didn't surprise me they only cut emissions by 50%. And if the whole population of Finland had joined in, emissions savings would have been even less since the electrical company would not have been able to generate enough renewable power for everyone in Finland. The same is true if everyone switched to biodiesel.

They were lucky they lived where they did. Small flat (less to heat, fewer outside walls) and access to public transportation helped them a lot. I have no bus service at all and I'm not about to bike or walk the 6km along the highway in winter to the nearest shops(I do in the summer.) And my rural home, built when Ontario Hydro convinced the builders that oil would be to expensive for heating, is 100% electric, including access to running water, so solar panels are out of the question for us. Our plan is to up occupancy of the house (converting it to a duplex) and super-insulating to cut heat loss even more.

The best comment from the show was about slowing down. He's right, we do rush through things and end up wasting the time 'saved.'

I'm on a 1 year experiment not to buy new things (except for food/health items) and it has freed up a lot of time (no need to read flyers, no shopping, no putting things away) as well as reduce my ecological footprint this year. But like the wife, it is an adventure, not a permanent change (for instance, I can't super-insulate the house until after the year is up because I'm not buying used insulation.)

It was an interesting documentary. I could not help thinking how unrealistic he was on entering it. I do beleive he rather forced it on his wife and did not think through the implications to their life. He did not do very well on explaining it's purpose to her.

Throwing out existing plastic to rebuy non-plastic items is not a solution. It contributes to the problem. The utensils could continue to be used purposefully for another 20 or 30 years, maybe more.

Interesting that this family used so much CO2 to begin with. Much more than quoted for the average Dane.
To drive 300 km to get the biofuel??? And the increase in demand of biofuels is causing food to be even more unaffordable for the poor.
In the late 70's I truely believed I would be driving an electric car by the mid 90's.

Politians and governments have failed us. Now the only electric car in N. America was pulled by the manufacturer and it's owners forced to return them.

The plastic used in the grocery stores, particularly for produce as exhibited in the documentary is far more extensive than what I see in my hometown. Here, few items are wrapped in plastic as those displayed in the Finnish store were. Ours arrive in boxes and placed in the display cases.

I'm tired of the hippocracy of the rich. The effect fo the water vapour from short and long haul flights produced more greenhouse effect than I can produce in 30 years of driving. I know too many Europeans flying to Paris for the weekend and taking 3 - 4 airline vacations a year.
Some of us have been living eco-friendly lifestyles for 20 years - it is a daily practice so I don't get the statistics - they don't add up for me.

Having reviewed again some of the comments, there was a point on their 'country' or island vacation where they showed getting their heat from Wood. The use of wood has already become a warning sign. Just get the record during the 'Ice storm' of 1998. The pollution in the greater Montreal area went through the ceiling.

The use of wood, and I live in the country, and I do use wood. It is going to be banned. So the producers in Finland missed that point. Electric power is the only way we know at this point in time that could produce heat in northern latitudes.

Consumption has to be met with fewer people. The imprint comparison with say 6 people in India versus 1 in the 'Western' world does not hold up. Massive education has to reach everyone in a very limited time.

I missed this one. Any chance it is going to be shown again? I'd really like to see it and think all Canadians should have more exposure to the peak oil scenario. And unfortunately begin to prepare for sudden changes in the near future.

I can't count how many times I've heard the lament of good intentions. This family is amazing in what they actually accomplished! I've made significant changes myself, but the Webster's are truly inspiring. What this documentary clearly illustrates is how difficult it is to be eco-conscious in our consumer society. Everybody would be more inclined to buy and use less plastic if it weren't the exclusive "option". Typically change of this magnitude requires legislation from our Government and aggressive promotion by our Media. You can make fancy commercials to sell someone an unnecessary gas-guzzling SUV, well then you can sell them on anything, if you really want to.

We're sorry but we don't have the necessary rights in order to offer Recipes for Disaster online or on YouTube.

We're told that a DVD will be available soon. Please contact the distributor in Germany at:
email: info@deckert-distribution.com
website: www.deckert-distribution.com

We do hope the repeat the film during our repeat season in later spring/summer. Please check www.cbc.ca/docs for updated schedule information!

Europeans and North Americans should try this for a week given that they are the worst per capita polluters and emitters of GHGs.

It would take leadship and I guess you get more bang for your buck targeting households with large consumption ie the family...

Fantastic film. Would love to see the full version. The Webster family's interactions made the film real. Well done Webster family, you have inspired us to slow down and think about the impact our fast paced lives have on the earth. I wonder how much fitter they all were after walking (and rowing) for a year.

The main point which i believe has been missed by a number of the comments is that it takes a change in attitude and thinking to deal with the current realities. I believe the film address a number of psychological factors of why we as individuals never try to do anything about the current realities. I like the film-maker have the truth of this reality screaming at me daily while the majority of people live in denial. ( like the example of people living below a dam. ) I believe the film demonstrated that if people just made an effort the world would change. I remember in college a friend who only would have organic items in his house and recycled. He was thought of being odd!!! How the world has changed. Ken

I loved the program - though I missed the first part. I think we need every chance to educate ourselves about the impact our daily activities of consumption have, and the alternative low impact options that are available if we simply put in the time, money and/or effort.

I have committed to never owning a car. The production and later disposal of a vehicle produces more toxins and green house gases than all the gas it burns in it's life time - which is getting shorter and shorter all the time thanks to designed absolecence. Once you make a decision to reject Car Culture and organize your life around a car free life style it is amazing how simple and rewarding it can be.

I think it is also important to realize how quickly things change once a certain momentum has been reached. I remember being in Walmart maybe five years ago and being told I could not put my purchases in a cloth bag I had brought for that purpose. The cashier told me that I was required to put them in a Walmart plastic bag for security reasons. I explained that I asumed that was the purpose in having my receipt ready to show at the door. I also explained that I would insist on taking all the items over to the customer service counter and return them - bringing them over without the bag thank you very much - if she did not let me leave without a plastic bag. Needless to say I won the argument. Now, a mere five years later most large chain stores have reusable bags available for customers. All that is ever needed is enough people to insist on something.

A thought provoking film with a lovely personal appeal. It should be made widely available asap. Please let us know when you will repeat it.
Thanks for making it available to viewers.

This is one of the most inspiring documentaries I've seen in years. In that it is very up-front and personal, you can't help but be drawn in. And the over-riding message is an important one.

I could really identify with John given that I also tend to be an idealist about certain things and my wife (and sometimes my kids) often thinks that I'm nuts.

The main thing is that the film has caused me to actually start advocating on behalf of the planet (at work this week), and to seriously consider making some positive changes in lifestyle. Our first goal is to reduce the amount of driving to work.

Thank you CBC for airing this. It has made a difference in my attitude about how to treat 'spaceship earth'.

Wow. This is intense. Just goes to show you how little we know about where all our products really come from. Hopefully this makes people realize that we need to preserve the environment and consider these items luxuries. Better to use in moderation now than waste the resources and have to cut back to nothing!