The Story of Stuff

The other day a friend turned me onto The Story of Stuff.  This is a website devoted to telling the real story of how we get our stuff and where our stuff goes.  The "Story of Stuff" is hosted by Annie Leonard.  (Sorry, should I know who she is?  There is no "About Annie" that I could find on the site.)  And it is sponsored by the Tides Foundation and produced by Free Range Studios.

I like the Story of Stuff.  It is a solid introduction to the bigger picture of how the stuff we acquire affects other people and the world around us.  The emphasis is on sustainability, like the PBS special Consumed.  Though there is an appreciation for the social issues related to the unchecked acquisition of stuff.

Sites like the Story of Stuff are doing a good thing in this: they are helping create awareness.  The average person living in suburban American who is scrambling around malls this month in order to overspend on their children does not appreciate the tremendous consequences of participating in a stuff-oriented culture.  When people learn that the world is bigger than their own desires to acquire more stuff in an endless race toward self-satisfaction then they can respond several ways.  They can change their behavior, taking into consideration the well-being of others.  They can continue seeing self-pleasure and social-status by way of stuff acquisition.  Either way, though, once educated they cannot go forward without making a decision.

It's been my experience that many people would like to do the right thing.  They don't want to be selfish jerks.  And so a bit of education and encouragement can help.  The Story of Stuff is a good start.

Comments

[steve]

i found a bio page for Annie ... here: http://www.storyofstuff.com/anniesbio.html

thanks for pointing this site out, i'm looking forward to looking further into it.

[Siel]

I liked the idea of Story of Stuff, but found it to be rather preachy and shrill (not v. good for getting the message beyond the choir)....