Annie Leonard speaks about the government, big corporations, natural resources, product distribution, planned and perceived obsolescence, and how we can help fix our world. Don’t worry, this isn’t as boring as you think. It’s really very interesting. The Story of Stuff video is about 20 minutes long but will keep you interested. If you don’t have 20 minutes, read below for the general idea.
Some of the things that she speaks about really make you wonder what our (the U.S.) society is thinking. We are really destroying our Earth. One of the facts that really caught my attention was that the U.S. consists of only about 1 percent of the World but we are using about 30 percent of the worlds resources and that if the whole world used resources the way we do, we would need 3 to 5 more planets. That’s really disgusting.
Here are some more facts that are interesting:
- There are 4 billion lbs. of pollution a year
- 99% of the stuff we produce becomes trash within 6 months
- We shop an average of 3 to 4 times more than other countries
- We use 4.5 lbs. of trash per day per person
She also talks about other things that big companies and corporations do, such as planned obsolescence, (the plan of making things obsolete) so that we have to keep buying new stuff. This would consist of products such as cameras, cds, and computers. It is made to become obsolete, then thrown away and a replacement model is created to take its place. This also ties in to perceived obsolescence which is the idea of making you feel like your stuff is outdated, often brought on by commercials. Some examples would be phones, computer monitors, and fashion. The new model of phone or computer monitor model makes yours look bulky and dated, then you feel embarrassed and compelled to buy the newest stuff.
All in all, this is about changing the system, not just recycling. Local living economies and renewable energy are a couple of examples. Read 10 Little and Big Things You Can Do if you want to learn how you can help.