The Story of Stuff

[la_belle_laide]

I just watched the most amazing thing.

The Story Of Stuff. It's about twenty minutes long, but totally eye-opening and jaw-dropping. It's about the creation of consumerism and what it's done to us, the planet, different nations and the entire world.

It's not some kind of hard to follow, pedantic sort of thing either. This lady narrates it and she is very engaging and she knows her stuff. (She really does know her "stuff!")

It made me feel bad though, because even though I talk about consumerism, fair trade, recycling, and sustainable living, I don't do any of those things nearly as well as I should be doing them. I do try to get less stuff, and I do try to stick with my old stuff (my computer is about seven years old,) but sometimes I do get new stuff when I don't even really need it. And I realize now how much "stuff" I throw away!

Please, please take a look at this short video. There are some links on the page to give you tips and hints about how to do better. I know I'll be trying so much harder in the future.

Comments

[awakesoon.livejournal.com]

I saw this a few years back when it was shown in my Environmentalism class. It made basically everyone go "woah." (even better when you imagine it a la Keanu)

[spatterdash.livejournal.com]

If you feel like reading a book that is in that same vein, one of my favorite nonfiction books of all time is Susan Strasser's Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash.

She basically talks about how the very concept of garbage was not really a part of human consciousness until the early/middle of the 20th century, and how before that time, people didn't actually generate any waste--they composted their food scraps or fed them to domesticated animals, they saved and reused or remade/repurposed jars and string and old clothing, they sold or gave broken things to charity or to tinkers/rag-and-bone shops, who repaired them and resold them. The book goes into how the invention of "disposable" and "convenience" products essentially created the need for garbage services and landfills and dumps and such, that technology created trash. She talks about all kinds of fascinating stuff like precursors to plastic, how waste can be reused, etc.

That said, it's not a hopeless depresso book. You might dig it!

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't know this was so old!

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

Sounds very cool, thank you. Even better that it is not in the hopeless "omg we are all gonna die because you broke the world!!!" vein. A little hope is a good thing. :)