The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

We are a consumer society with a throwaway mindset. Please watch this video about how this has come about. It is called “The Story of Stuff”. It is 20 minutes long but once you start watching it, you can’t stop. Set aside the time to watch it. It will affect your consumer habits. I have a short summary here if you can’t watch it right now.

The video is about our consumer economy and the impact it is having on our planet. There are 5 parts:

1. Extraction of resources - This is about how we cut forests, foul water, use energy, blow up mountains to get our stuff. Much of this is done in the so-called third world where regulations are lax and people who are extremely poor will work for next to nothing.

2. Production of stuff - This is about how we use energy and synthetic chemicals along with extracted resources to make toxic products. Women are often exposed to reproductive toxins during the production of our stuff.

3. Distribution of stuff - Corporations have retail stores ( the one in the video is Big Box Mart) that keep prices down so that we consumers will buy more stuff. But at what costs? Workers have low pay and no health insurance. Workers in poor countries work under unregulated conditions. Children are some of these workers.

4. Consumption of stuff - In our society we are valued by how much we consume. We have an economy that is powered by the consumer. What did President Bush tell us to do after 911? “Shop.” Ninety nine percent of all products are no longer in use just 6 months after purchase. Planned obsolescence makes sure of this. Perceived obsolescence also makes sure of this. New fashions come out every season to make us think that our old stuff is no good so we must buy new stuff.

5. Disposal of stuff - Americans produce 4.5 pounds of garbage per day. That is twice as much as 30 years ago. Recycling helps but is not enough. For every can of garbage put out for the garbage man, 70 cans were generated just to produce that one can we throw out. So most of the waste is generated before consumption of the stuff!

What can we do? Stop buying stuff to fill up the hole in our spirit. It does not work. We must start thinking about what we buy and the affect it has on the planet. The way we are behaving is not sustainable and will destroy our environment. Keep up-to-date on this issue at Annie's blog.