It’s the Earth’s most precious resource and possibly the one most taken for granted. Now two brothers from the Beach are on a mission to shine a light on the consequences of mismanaging it. The Water Brothers, a six-part documentary-style series airing on TVO this spring, follows Alex and Tyler Mifflin as they travel to different areas of the world to evaluate the state of the planet’s water sources.
In the first season, the Mifflins examine the disappearing coral reefs in the Caribbean, the melting Arctic Circle and the carp-infested Mississippi River. They also come back home to Toronto for one episode to examine the so-called “addiction” to bottled water.
Why did the environmentalist, filmmaker team of brothers gravitate toward this broad issue in the first place?
“Our lives and our hobbies have always revolved around water,” says Tyler Mifflin, 26, the older brother by two years. “Growing up, Lake Ontario was at the bottom of our street.”
Obviously the topic was organic to them and it just seemed to, well, flow. But they were also attracted to the wider issues that the project presented.
“Water is connected to everything — climate change, loss of ocean habitat, loss of fresh water and biodiversity, the collapse of fisheries, pollution, waste, extinction — water is at the heart of all of these issues,” says Alex, the younger brother.
The brothers say that, of their worldwide adventures and producing and starring in the series, their visit to the Arctic was especially daunting.
“We’ve all heard about the big thaw in the Arctic,” Alex says. “But to go and actually see the changes and hear the predictions, it’s so concerning to see how fast it’s going.”
When The Water Brothers was shot last summer, the Arctic experienced more sea ice loss than in the previous 1,450 years, the Mifflins explain.
“That has a big effect on wildlife,” Alex says. “All mammal predators [in the Arctic] depend on sea ice for hunting and survival.”
Also of enormous concern are the spinoff environmental effects that could happen as waters in the Arctic continue to change.
“If the Arctic changes and water shifts, we see the speeding up of the effects of climate change,” says Alex. “If the Arctic changes, everywhere changes.”
As the ice melts, fresh water enters the ocean and “messes up” the ocean currents, Alex says.
“If that starts shifting, some places might get warmer and some might get colder.”
While the Mifflin brothers show Canadians the challenges facing the world’s water supply, they also take action to make changes in the Toronto area.
They’ve launched an app called Quench that details restaurants and businesses in the GTA willing to refill water bottles for free or provide access to tap water.
“Bottled water should never be more convenient than tap water,” says Tyler, who adds that in big Canadian cities like Toronto we have access to great clean public drinking water.
(They hope to eventually expand Quench across Canada.)
When they talk about their backgrounds, it becomes obvious that their passion for the environment came to the brothers early on. Born in Toronto, they grew up spending summers at their family cottage in Georgian Bay.
“I was the young kid always immersed in wildlife,” says Alex. “I’d wake up at five in the morning to catch frogs and snakes in the marshes.” Tyler says he spent his spare time canoeing, sailing and swimming.
They credit their parents for fuelling their love of adventure on family trips to Europe, Australia, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The brothers went their separate ways for university — Tyler graduated from film school at UBC, and Alex earned a degree in international development and environmental studies from Dalhousie (fittingly, they both went to school near an ocean). Following graduation, both ended up back in Toronto, working at their family production company, SK Films, which now produces The Water Brothers.
After gaining experience in production, the brothers worked on separate wildlife IMAX films, researching and scouting for locations, before deciding to put their expertise together.
“We felt passionate about particular environmental issues, so we thought, ‘How can we turn this into something?’” says Alex.
Now that they’ve found their voice and gained significant notice, Alex and Tyler say they have no plans to go solo or change course any time soon. The Water Brothers has been renewed for a second season on TVO, so they’re in the midst of planning new episodes.
“We have a lot of ideas,” says Tyler. “We know we will be pushing hard to do the Ganges River in India. And Bangladesh would be an epic trip — that’s almost guaranteed.”
As much as they’re concerned about the world’s water resources, they try to make the overall feel of the show uplifting and fun while exploring different cultures.
“There’s a lot of bad news to share but a lot of reasons to be hopeful, too.” That’s their message in the season one promo.
They’re also the keynote speakers for Eco Youth Day at the Green Living Show at Exhibition Place, April 13th, an event meant to empower young people to tackle environmental issues.
They’re definitely not short on ideas for how people can help the state of water in the world. Alex says one major step is to know where seafood comes from and how it’s caught. “Have a seafood pocket guide on hand or a smartphone app for oceans,” he says. Alex also recommends that homeowners consider installing low-flow showerheads and toilets.
“There are a lot of changes around the house we can make that are really simple,” Tyler says. “Spread the word.”
Check out The Water Brothers online at TVO.org.
