The Story of Stuff,” a new short film released online this winter, takes viewers on a provocative tour of our consumer-driven culture and exposes the real costs of this use-it and lose-it approach to stuff. Throughout the 20-minute film, activist Annie Leonard, the film’s narrator and an expert on the materials economy, examines the social, environmental and global costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal.
“We’re running out of resources. We are using too much stuff. Now I know this can be hard to hear, but it’s the truth and we’ve gotta deal with it. In the past three decades alone, one-third of the planet’s natural resources base have been consumed. Gone.”
Leonard’s illustration of a culture driven by stuff allows her to isolate the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. “The Story of Stuff” examines how economic policies of the post-World War II era ushered in notions of consumerism—and how those notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today.
According to the film, consumer mania may have been born from the post World War II era, but economic manipulation has driven consumerism to where it is today. From the limited life cycle of personal computers to changes in footwear fashion, Leonard demonstrates that products are either designed to be regularly replaced or to convince consumers that their stuff needs to be upgraded. This notion of planned and perceived obsolescence drives the machine of American consumerism year round.
The film features Leonard delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff—where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.” Written by Leonard, the film was produced by Free Range Studios, the makers of other socially-minded, web-based films such as “The Meatrix” and “Grocery Store Wars.” Funding for the project came from The Sustainability Funders and Tides Foundation.
The story of stuff—Facts & Figures
- The U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population but we’re consuming 30 percent of the world’s resources and creating 30 percent of the world’s waste.
- Eighty percent of the planet’s original forests are gone. In the Amazon alone, we’re losing 2,000 trees a minute.
- There are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals in commerce today.
- Thirty percent of the kids in parts of the Congo now have had to drop out of school to mine coltan, a metal we need for our cheap and disposable electronics.
- Each of us in the U.S. makes 4.5 pounds of garbage a day. That is twice what we each made 30 years ago.
The film’s website, www.storyofstuff.com, serves as an interactive launch pad for information and activism. The site features hundreds of organizations working to change the cycle of the materials economy and offers viewers “another way.” The site includes resources and information, a footnoted script, a suggested reading list and ideas for educational activities and discussion topics for local screenings of the film.
The Story of stuff—SOLUTIONS
- Power down! Reduce your energy use: drive less, turn off lights, buy locally grown food, weatherproof your home, use power strips to turn off electronics that are on standby mode.
- Waste less. Work toward a Zero Waste culture in your home, school, workplace and community. Use both sides of the paper, carry your own mugs and shopping bags, get printer cartridges refilled, compost food scraps, avoid bottled water and other over packaged products.
- Talk to everyone about these issues. Talking about sustainability issues raises awareness, builds community and can inspire others to action.
- Make Your Voice Heard. Write letters to the editor and contact your elected officials.
- DeTox your body, home & economy. Before you buy be sure you’re not inadvertently introducing toxics into your home and body.
- Unplug (the TV & internet) and Plug In (the community). The average person in the U.S. watches T.V. more than four hours a day, filled with messages about stuff we should buy.
- Change your paradigm. A paradigm is a collection of assumptions, concepts, beliefs and values that together make up a community’s way of viewing reality. Our current paradigm dictates that more stuff is better, that infinite economic growth is desirable and possible, and that pollution is the price of progress. To really turn things around, we need to nurture a different paradigm based on the values of sustainability, justice, health and community.
- Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used & most importantly, Buy Less.
“I found this cute little green radio for $4.99. I was standing in line to buy this radio and I was wondering how $4.99 could possibly capture the costs of making this radio and getting it to my hands. The metal was probably mined in South Africa, the petroleum was probably drilled in Iraq, the plastics were probably produced in China, and maybe the whole thing was assembled by some 15 year old in a maquiladora in Mexico. Four dollars and ninety-nine cents wouldn’t even pay the rent for the shelf space it occupied until I came along, let alone part of the staff guy’s salary that helped me pick it out, or the multiple ocean cruises and truck rides pieces of this radio went on. That’s how I realized, I didn’t pay for the radio. So, who did pay?”
Visit www.storyofstuff.com to find out.