The Story of Stuff

I sent the link to The Story of Stuff to many of my friends, but I wanted to post it here too.  It goes right along with the Mr. Pickens post, sort of, but not really.  The Story of Stuff is by Annie Leonard.  She did some research and figured out where things come from, including where the raw materials are mined, stuff is assembled, etc.  The video is done very well and is plenty easy to understand.  It is only about 20 minutes and it is set up so that if you have to stop, you will be able to come back to where you left, give or take a couple minutes.  Ms. Leonard is obviously very passionate about the work she has done and who would blame her.

As a side note, I don’t completely agree with her statistics.  Having taken a number of statistics classes, one thing I’ve learned is that you can pretty much make stats say just about anything that you want them to say.  Just depends on how you word your “findings.”  I like to joke that 87 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot, but then again, I just made that up so who knows what the real percentage.  Even if her stats are padded to help make her point, there is enough truth there to make it scary.

Here’s a teaser on the Story of Stuff, but you can see the full video on the Story of Stuff website.

Bottom line is, don’t buy stuff so that it will make you happy for now.  If you are going to make a purchase, try to get your items from someplace local.  Not only are you keeping the locals employed and helping the local economy, you are reducing emissions since the stuff doesn’t have to travel as far.  There’s a farmer’s market her in Manhattan that the wife and I are trying to go to more often.  We won’t find everything we need there, but we find some of the items on our grocery list and it is nice and fresh.  Plus I think it’s pretty freaking cool.

Second bottom line, do stuff to help reduce this cycle of buy, use for a little bit, and throw it away. If you’re tired of something and it still has value, don’t just toss it.  Old clothes, furniture, appliances, etc. can find a new home and be perfectly happy.  Just because you are done with something doesn’t mean it needs to go to the landfill.  Try taking things to a consignment shop or thrift store or your local Salvation Army. The wife and I have started composting now and between that and recycling, our weekly trash is only a bag or two.  Pretty amazing considering that previously we’ve filled the dumpster in a week.  This week it was literally one bag from the kitchen and a couple other items.  We’ve reduced our waste and after we compost some, we’ll have healthier plants to help us reduce the amount we buy from the grocery store.  It isn’t much, but I’m sure that it has helped reduce our footprint on this earth.  If nothing else, it is a step in the right direction.

Use less, do more!