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Story of Stuff: Video of Consumables Becoming Trash is a Treasure

by Kerry Vineberg (sternklar)

Many gems of resources are tucked away in corners of the WiserEarth site. If you were to browse through the Areas of Focus portals, and take a left turn at the topics Industrial Ecology, Sustainable Living, or numerous others, you might discover the 20-minute linked video “The Story of Stuff,” created by Annie Leonard.

“The Story of Stuff,” located at www.storyofstuff.org, describes the wasteful movement of natural resources into consumer goods in an accessible way, drawing connections between pollution, community destruction, business, government, and monetary flow.  It has received over 5.8 million views as of this writing, and is being used by teachers around the world. Subtitles are currently available in eleven languages!

Leonard took some time from her hectic schedule to speak with us about the issues in the film. She remarks, “I was lucky to spend a decade visiting factories where our stuff is made and dumps where it is disposed all over the world. I saw first hand the hidden environmental, social, and health impacts of our toxics-based production systems and out-of-control consumer-driven society. The biggest thing I learned is that we’re not facing a laundry list of individual problems – deforestation, pollution, depletion of aquifers, climate change, growing economic inequity, and resource wars – but that all of these issues are interconnected. They are all part of a fundamentally flawed system that is leading towards ecologic, and now economic, collapse. The more that we can understand the connections among the issues we care about, the stronger and more strategic our movements for change will be.”

The interconnectedness Leonard speaks of is in tune with the philosophy of WiserEarth, and “The Story of Stuff” has found a second home, and many admirers, on the site. Make sure to check out this highly educational and fascinating video.