My latest “Plan to Watch” column in Planning takes you on an Earth, Air, Fire, and Water “Elemental Tour” of hopeful environmental documentaries.

[I]n preparing for this column, I watched dozens of pessimistic environmental documentaries — enough to rattle even the most optimistic planner. But buried within all this footage of habitat destruction, toxic waste, and environmental collapse, I found a few encouraging signs, like crocuses popping up in the spring: the rare gems that begin with problems and end with solutions.

Th films include Brave Blue World (solutions to the water crisis, narrated by Matt Damon), Kiss the Ground (secret: the soil is actually alive!), and Reinventing Power: America’s Renewable Energy Boom (a new doc from the Sierra Club).

Read the full review in Planning.