On his radio and television programs today, Glenn Beck offered up a “critique” of The Story of Stuff—a 20-minute web-film that examines the underside of America’s production and consumption patterns. In Beck’s world, an honest exploration of the environmental and social challenges our children are inheriting is worthy of scorn and ridicule, not honest engagement.
In May 2009, the New York Times called The Story of Stuff “a sleeper hit in classrooms across the country.” We’re honored that teachers from middle school through university are using our film to spark debate and engage students in critical thinking.
While it may be hard for climate change deniers like Beck and his friends at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Evergreen Freedom Foundation to swallow, there is a real hunger in this country for a straightforward, honest discussion of our environmental future. Teachers have told us that The Story of Stuff has been a valuable supplement to textbooks that give short shrift to issues like climate change by creating spirited debate and inspiring students to look deeper into what are truly some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.
Beck didn’t have the courtesy to contact The Story of Stuff Project for comment or offer a spot on his show to rebut the claims of his guests. While playing fast and loose with the facts is nothing new for Beck, we stand behind our presentation.
Viewers are welcome to visit www.storyofstuff.org to watch the film and, as Fox News would put it, decide for themselves. While on the site, visitors can check out the annotated script, which provides references for all the facts used in the film. For those who would like to use The Story of Stuff to stimulate discussions in classrooms, living rooms, community meetings or other venues, there are a number of resources, including sample discussion questions and group exercise ideas, in the resources section of the Story of Stuff webpage.
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!
A teacher in Missoula, Montana, U.S., recently showed the film The Story of Stuff to her high school biology class. An irate parent complained to the school board, which late last month voted that showing the video violated district policy—in effect banning the film.
Fortuantely students, parents, and teachers in Missoula and elsewhere are voicing their concern to the school board. Please join them!
You can read about this growing controversy in these two recent news articles from Missoula: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/local/news03.txt and http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/02/08/news/local/news02.txt. And we will post updates to this blog as things develop.
At a time when every reputable scientist and organization agrees that the future of the planet is at risk, educators need to help students to think critically about the causes and consequences of environmental degradation, especially climate change. Our nation’s textbooks and mainstream media have failed to adequately address the environmental crises we face, and teachers like Kathleen Kennedy should be commended for seeking out alternative materials like The Story of Stuff to encourage critical thinking and action for sustainability.
Please take a minute to send an email to the Missoula school board to ask that they reconsider their vote. I’ve pasted a sample letter below or you can write your own comment.
Annie Leonard
The Story of Stuff
Here’s a suggested note to the school board or, better yet, you can write and send your own note.
Dear Trustees,
I am writing to urge you to reconsider your January 29th decision that found Kathleen Kennedy, a teacher at Big Sky High School, had violated district policy by airing The Story of Stuff for a biology class. I am deeply concerned that your decision violates Ms. Kennedy’s academic freedom and will have a negative affect on the ability of teachers in your district and around the country to prepare students for the complex and rapidly changing world of which we are all are a part.
It is clear from the public statements of both the teacher and students in the class that the film was intended to spark conversation, something it has done in hundreds of classrooms in the United States over the past year. I believe that The Story of Stuff is a valuable resource for teachers in a variety of subjects, biology included, because it covers exactly the kind of ecological and economic issues that students need to be critically examining, and does it in a straightforward and accessible way.
Please support a motion to reconsider your earlier vote and overturn that vote in favor of academic freedom, critical thinking and dialogue.
One of the many surprises in the response to the film was the flood of offers and requests we received fortranslated versions. We have received well over 1,000 requests from all over the world. We are starting with an initial 10 languages in subtitled format and will add additional subtitles and dubbed versions in the coming year. Another dozen languages are already in the works and will be added shortly.
We worked closely with allied organizations in other countries to complete the translations. Each group that contributed a translation has agreed to serve as a regional contact for viewers interested in sustainability, consumption, waste and related issues in their area. This way, we hope that that the translated versions not only spread the message, but strengthen connections among people who want to work for change around the world.
We are now at 4.8 million on line views, with a steady average of 6,000 – 11,000 new ones a day. The list of the op 25 countries, in terms of viewership, is below. We will be tracking this to see how it changes with the addition of subtitled versions. If you write for a blog or newsletter in another language, please tell people about www.storyofstuff.com/international
Thank again to everyone who asked us about translations. Special thanks to our friends around the world who volunteered their translating services (they are listed on the credits section of the international webpage) and Nathan Embretson, who works with the Story of Stuff project and is coordinating the translations project.
As always, if you have any ideas, feedback, we would love to hear them!
Very Sincerely,
Annie Leonard
The Story of Stuff Project
For those of you interested in the international reach of the film, below are the 25 countries with the highest numbers of online viewers, with the current number of views recorded in each.
I apologize for my absence from my blog. To be totally frank, while I have been delighted and inspired by the response to the Story of Stuff, I wasn’t expecting quite this level of enthusiasm, so I’ve also been a bit floored figuring out how to manage it all. I’ve now secured a friend, Allison Cook, to work with me on managing all the emails, requests for translations and more so I am coming up for air. You can email Allison and me at storyofstuff@gmail.com.
I’ll start my re-entrance into blogging with two pieces of great news about Story of Stuff.
First, this past Sunday, the Story of Stuff won the SXSW Interactive Award as an educational resource. This is a huge honor for the Story of Stuff.
Second, Story of Stuff has topped 2 million on line views! We are currently averaging about 15,000 new views a day from literally all over the world.
Thanks to everyone who has forwarded the link to friends, showed it in classes and at events and generally helped spread the word.
And you? I know many of you have been doing your own work to disseminate Story of Stuff and, more importantly, to take action on the issues discussed in the film. What’s your news of the last 2 months?
I just saw this wonderful short video that some high school kids at Woodside Priory School’s Global Issues Class made about Story of Stuff:
In this great little film, the students asked specific questions about extraction and toxics and waste. I wrote them answers, which I can post here if anyone wants to see them.
More importantly though, the students asked what they can do to help address the concerns described in The Story of Stuff. They wanted to know what to do.
I explained to them why I didn’t and won’t provide a list of simple steps for people to get involved.
I’ve received a number of emails asking the same thing, so I want to share my answer to the WPS students.
I intentionally didn’t include specific recommendations for action for a couple reasons:
1) the solutions don’t lend themselves to sound bites and
2) I don’t want to prescribe and limit the actions each viewer may choose to do.
“It’s complicated.”
In their film, the students parody me saying “it’s complicated.” Well, that’s the truth. Neither the problems nor the solutions are simple or easy. If we want to change the situation we’re in, we’ve got to be willing to spend time figuring all this out.
I didn’t want to lay out this massive critique of the interconnected environmental and social problems of our current global materials economy and then belittle both viewers and the diversity and breadth of the solutions by providing a pre-determined concise list of simple action steps. I did capitulate to those asking for lists of recommended actions by providing some suggestions (http://www.storyofstuff.com/anotherway.html) but even this list includes just a sampling of the many ways to make a difference.
I don’t like simple lists of recommended actions because I believe what is needed can’t be captured in that format. As Michael Maniates, a professor at Allegheny College said in a recent Washington Post op-ed: “We need to be looking at fundamental change in our energy, transportation and agricultural systems rather than technological tweaking on the margins, and this means changes and costs that our current and would-be leaders seem afraid to discuss. Which is a pity, since Americans are at their best when they’re struggling together, and sometimes with one another, toward difficult goals.”
My goal in making The Story of Stuff was to encourage people to have this difficult conversation, to begin thinking and talking about these complicated issues. Our current ways of making, using and throwing away stuff is largely based on unsustainable and unjust systems yet, as a society,we’ve got this big collective blind spot about talking about this. Let’s raise the issues, let’s ask the hard questions, let’s get it on the table and examine it and debate it and figure out together how to move forward towards solutions.
As I said in the film, one of the good things about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention. We each need to find that intervention that matches our skill set and our passions. The passion piece is key, because it is going to be a long haul and we need to rely on our passions, the fire in our bellies for change, to see us through. So, I advised the students to find something that they feel passionate about and dive in.
There are as many ways to get involved as there are people who care. Are you outraged that your cosmetics and body care products have toxics that aren’t even labeled? Get a bunch of friends together and call the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to find out what can be done (www.safecosmetics.org). Are you concerned about what happens to your MP3 Player or computer when it dies? Call Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (www.svtc.org) and Basel Action Network (www.ban.org). Do you want to make local, organic food accessible and affordable? Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program or set up a farmers market in your town.Work for Health Care Reform. Adopt a green procurement policy at your company or school to mandate that purchases prioritize local and sustainable products. Look into the Renewable Fuels Portfolio is in your State and join with those working to increase it. Start a used book, tooland clothing swap program on your campus or community. Pressure local businesses to stop selling super toxic PVC plastic (http://www.besafenet.com/pvc/). Track your ecological footprint (http://www.footprintnetwork.org/). Work for mining reform (www.earthworksaction.org). Green your hospital (www.noharm.org). Register people to vote. Run for local office yourself. Have a monthly screening and discussion with films on these issues at your church or school. Make your campus Zero Waste. Work for Campaign Finance Reform.Talk to your neighbors about these issues. Fill your free time with friends rather than stuff. The list goes on and on…
You get the point. Everyone needs to find their own path; find the projects that we each can each do well and which excites us. There are so many options that we don’t even have to do something boring! And there are loads of organizations that can help provide direction on specific issues once we get started. See the list of organizations on the Story of Stuff website to start and check out www.wiserearth.org for even more.
It is less important what we chose to do than how we do it. To make all these activities add up to more than a list of “teachnological tweakings at the margins,”as Maniates describes it, whatever we eachdo must be part of a larger effort. We’ve got to get toxics out of cosmetics and reform the health care system and build local community and stop incinerators not as ends in themselves but as part of strengthening an active democracy, as part of transforming the current system to be in the service of community health, ecological stability and social justice.
I’d love to hear from you about the strategies or entry points you’ve found to address the specific and the systemic issues described in The Story of Stuff. What has worked for you? What is needed to make positive change? What projects or campaigns are you involved in that give you hope?
I’ve spent the last two weeks sorting through about a thousand emails from people around the world who have contacted us to share ideas about the issues in The Story of Stuff.
A significant chunk of the emails and DVD requests has come from teachers all the way from elementary through college level. I have heard from teachers all over the U.S. as well as many other countries who wanted to share ideas or experiences on using The Story of Stuff in a classroom or other educational setting.
These teachers’ comments and ideas have been so inspiring and useful that I thought it would be good for educators to share ideas with each other via this blog so other teachers can also read them.
So, teachers, if you have used Story of Stuff, or if you are thinking about how to use it, please respond to this posting so we can have a broader conversation about creative and effective ways to use the film.
I spoke to one middle school teacher in California who showed the film to his students, then asked each to research and present to the class ideas about solutions for some aspect of the problem. Many of the students researched the terms that are presented in the green arrow at the end of the film, and explained how each is a part of a solution.
I’ve also heard from organizations that have resources available for educators on sustainability and related issues. Three of these groups are listed below. Please share URLs and leads for other good resources for teachers too so we can keep learning from each other.
Thanks teachers!
Have a peaceful, restful winter break and let’s keep talking in the New Year.
Cheers,
Annie
Center for Ecoliteracy (ecoliteracy.org)
The Center for Ecoliteracy is dedicated to education for sustainable living. The Center is a pioneer in providing tools, ideas, and support for combining hands-on experience in the natural world with curricular innovation in K-12 education. It administers a grant program and donor-advised funds, publishes extensively online and in print, and offers resources, seminars, and technical assistance in support of systemic change.
Rethinking Schools (rethinkingschools.org)
Rethinking Schools began as a local effort to address problems such as basal readers, standardized testing, and textbook-dominated curriculum. Since its founding in 1986, it has grown into a nationally prominent publisher of educational materials, with subscribers in all 50 states, all 10 Canadian provinces, and many other countries.
Green Schools Network (greenschools.net)
The Green Schools Initiative was founded in 2004 by parent-environmentalists who were shocked by how un-environmental their kids’ schools were and mobilized to improve the environmental health and ecological sustainability of schools in the U.S. We believe it is essential to protect children’s health – at school and in the world beyond school – and we work to catalyze and support “green” actions by kids, teachers, parents, and policymakers to eliminate toxics, use resources sustainably, create green spaces and buildings, serve healthy food, and teach stewardship. We are working to leverage the schools sector to transform the school environment – and the markets that supply schools – to improve health and sustainability. We are starting our efforts with schools throughout California; in the longer-term, we plan to use our success in California to mobilize efforts to green schools nationally.
On his radio and television programs today, Glenn Beck offered up a “critique” of The Story of Stuff—a 20-minute web-film that examines the underside of America’s production and consumption patterns. In Beck’s world, an honest exploration of the environmental and social challenges our children are inheriting is worthy of scorn and ridicule, not honest engagement.
308 Comments