We deeply appreciate the generous outpouring of support our Project has received over the past 48 hours in response to Glenn Beck’s continuing attack against the use of The Story of Stuff in classrooms across the country.

We created The Story of Stuff to get people thinking and talking. The result over the past two years—not to mention the past two days—speaks for itself.

The messages we’ve received from thousands of teachers and students who’ve seen the film—some of whom thoroughly disagreed with it—gives us confidence that young people are not only fully capable of engaging with the subject matter in the Story of Stuff, they’re asking for it. After all, they are the ones who will have to address climate change and the other environmental and social side effects of our throw away culture.

Beck’s line of attack appears to be motivated by the release of his new book: Arguing with Idiots.

But we have better things to do.

We’re developing a two-week educational curriculum—aligned to national standards, with a strong focus on critical thinking—that provides teachers with a fuller set of tools to help students consider and debate the message of The Story of Stuff.

In response to requests from thousands of faith-based institutions for more information, we’re field-testing a study program that helps people of faith explore how their religious beliefs connect with the message of The Story of Stuff.

We’re also in production on a set of new short films, the first of which we’ll be releasing this November.

We appreciate the new viewers, Facebook friends, contributions and other support that Beck has generated for us, but rather than respond to his outrageous claims, we’re going to stay focused on building the more sustainable, safe and just world our children, and all of us, deserve.

Thanks,

Annie Leonard and the Story of Stuff Project Team

When Missoula, Montana high school teacher Kathleen Kennedy showed The Story of Stuff to students in her 12th grade biology classes last October she figured it would be a good conversation starter. Yet, one parent, Mr. Zuber, who wasn’t too pleased with the subject matter discussed in the Story of Stuff, launched a campaign against the teacher and the film that eventually reached the school board. As you recall, in February the board voted 4-3 (with 3 members absent) that Kennedy’s showing of the video violated the district’s policy on presentation of controversial issues.

This issue in Missoula was complicated by the fact that Mr. Zuber’s complaint against Kennedy’s showing of The Story of Stuff changed over time. His original complaint focused on the content of the film. Quoted in the Missoulian, Zuber said “This video is essentially a 20-minute infomercial supporting an extremely liberal agenda”.Zuber questioned the validity of showing The Story of Stuff in a wildlife biology class, citing climate change and other issues as being “inappropriate”. When he realized that these claims were not gaining traction, his claims morphed into issues around providing alternative viewpoints in the lesson plan, along with personal attacks on the teacher’s capacity to conduct discussions.
Even though many board members supported the teacher, a combination of miscommunications among board members and fluke absences during the board meeting lead to an outcome that was favorable to Mr. Zuber’s ambitions, at least in the short term.  Due to a miscommunication, Ms. Kennedy did not present a lesson plan to the school board as she was instructed to do so. Moreover, three board members were absent that day, (one sick, one on a trip, one at the son’s basketball game), which gave Zumber’s supporters on the board, who are in the minority, a majority for that day, resulting in the vote in favor of Mr. Zuber’s complaint.

The Story of Stuff project spoke with Toni Rehbein, the School Board chair,  who confirmed that the board’s intention was not to prevent use of The Story of Stuff in classrooms or to squelch much needed attention on environmental issues, as long as such discussions welcome diverse opinions. She told us that the emails of support for Story of Stuff which the Board received from around the world had made a big impact and she assured us that the Board planned to issue a statement clarifying their position. We look forward to seeing that statement.

Meanwhile, in School Board elections on May 4th, Missoula citizens removed incumbant Rick Johns, one of the School Board members who had supported Mr Zuber’s concerns, further securing the majority of those who welcome environmental discourse and promote academic freedom.

Thank you to all the Story of Stuff supporters who mobilized to support the showing of our film and the open discussion on the issues it raises in Kennedy’s classroom.

All along, Story of Stuff has been about raising the volume on discourse on this matter. regardless of the complicated situation that followed the school boards decision, the good folks of Missoula viewed the Story of Stuff on our website nearly 2,000 times in February, just about quadrupling the total number of viewers from Missoula in all of 2008 in just one month. Way to Go! Thanks to Mr Zuber for helping to spread the word about Story of Stuff and inspiring so many Missoulians to check out the film themselves!

This past September, news of the economic crisis dominated the headlines. At the exact same time another debt crisis was intensifying, yet was barely noticed.

Earth Overshoot Day, also known as Ecological Debt Day, was September 23.This is the day in 2008 by which humanity had used all the resources that the planet will generate this year. As viewers of The Story of Stuff already know, we currently consume 1.4 planets’ worth of global resources each year. From September 23rd on, we’re eating into the natural capital, undermining its ability to produce for the future. We’re consuming on credit and accumulating ecological debt that we have no way to repay.

Ecology and economics share a common root: the Greek word oikos, meaning “home.” Economics and ecology both are about managing our home. In our current situation, we have messed up both.  Continue reading here.

We’re obsessive over economic indicators. We track indicators hourly, panic at the slightest decline, invest billions when it is shaky. Yet, we have a  huge collective blind spot to the other ecological management, even though it’s a bigger problem, both in terms of survival and even in terms of finances. There is a growing call coming from all over the world, to integrate our understanding of the economic and ecological crises and to ensure that a solution to one is a solution to both.

Crisis and opportunity are often referred to as two sides of the same coin. That is definitely true here. The current economic crisis provides us a much needed opportunity to re-evaluate the priorities of our economy, to develop new metrics for measuring real progress, for reducing superfluous consumption while increasing economic equity and ensuring the integrity of the ecological systems on which life depends.

My friend Rita always says “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.” Clearly, what we’re doing isn’t working. As David Korten, author of The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth, suggests, it’s time to try something new.

I’ve spent much of the last two days emailing back and forth with colleagues around the world in a state of panic. Early Sunday morning, I received a call that three friends – from India, the Philippines and the U.S. – were detained in Indonesia. They were en route to the historic UN Framework on Climate Change Conference in Bali, taking place this week. Along with the official government delegates, many environmental and social justice activist are also attending the conference to share information and strategize about combating global warming. My friends planned to host a forum entitled ‚”Zero Waste for Zero Warming‚” at the conference, to educate others about the strong connection between waste disposal and climate change.

The three – Gigie Cruz, Shibu Nair, and Neil Tangri – stopped in Bandung at the invitation of a local organization opposed to the construction of a new garbage incinerator in their town. The local groups held an event, which drew 2,000 community members, to discuss the environmental, health and climate impacts of burning garbage. My friends were taken by the police on Saturday after speaking there about the ill effects of incinerating waste and advocating for healthier alternatives. At the police station, their passports were seized; they were subjected to lengthy interrogation and asked to sign a document in the Bahasa Indonesian language.

Gigie, Shibu and Neil have been able to send us period text messages reporting that no formal charges have been brought and they don’t feel their physical safety is in immediate danger. But they continue to be detained, and will likely be deported for speaking at a peaceful public education event about the environmental and health problems with burning garbage.

In contrast to the Neanderthal response of jailing people speaking about community well being, a network of active global citizens jumped into positive action. Within an hour of receiving the news, email alerts went out to activists working on sustainability, climate and waste issues around the world. Faxes and emails began flooding Indonesian embassies in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, calling for the safe release of the three Zero Waste experts. Leading environmentalists already at the Bali conference contacted people they knew in the Indonesian government, all the way up to the President. The combination of email activism and strong civil society networks demonstrated to the Indonesian police that the whole world really was watching.

I woke up this morning to learn that Gigie, Shibu and Neil have been transferred to a hotel, still under police custody, and will likely be deported soon, preventing them from speaking about‚ “Zero Waste for Zero Warming‚” at the critical UN Framework on Climate Change Conference.

Above all, I am just glad my friends are safe. I’m also grateful to be part of a growing global civil society movement seeking both environmental sustainability and social justice, which must include freedom to share environmental and health information. I look forward to that day that people aren’t jailed for speaking the truth about incinerators – both because freedom of speech is guaranteed everywhere, for everyone, and also because incinerators are a thing of the past and we’ve moved on to solutions that really do protect the environment, community health and the climate.

Note: for updates on the three activists detained in Bandung, Indonesia en route to the UN Framework on Climate Change Conference, please visit no-burn.org.