Yes, it seems this economic downturn has hit my hometown of Glendale, CA… and just in time too.
Last week, LA Times reported that General Growth, owners of the Glendale Galleria along with 200 other mega-malls, just filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. my peers and i grew up spending a good portion of our early teenage saturdays in this mall. When the first Apple store in the world opened, it came to the Glendale Galleria and me and my Apple-fan buddies stood in line for hours just to get in. What are today’s teenagers going to be spending their time doing in Glendale, now that the Mall may be on its way out? Thanks to the efforts of some local activists, Glendale just opened up its first ever community garden, just a few blocks from the mall. I hope this is an indication of the coming trend… more fun, less stuff!
-Babken DerGrigorian
Lead Organizer
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April 21st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I know (of) the Glendale Galleria quite well.
The sight of an empty mall is always such a haunting one. I’m glad to know the community is taking right steps elsewhere!
(Hoping to use the video again soon here in Taiwan)
-Chase
April 21st, 2009 at 10:54 pm
This is incredible news! I hope to see more gardens instead of Sears and Macy’s and the like!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
This movement is pretty ridiculous. We have 8 million more things to worry about then what our pillows are dipped in before we lie on them.
This is all just the hippie movement reborn. I hate it. This planet has survived so many catastrophies.. trust me we are not going to destroy it. Trees are a renewable resource and what the woman doesn’t tell you is that we are planting as many trees as we cut down.. So that is one thing she is not telling you..
And she tosses out so many alleged statistics.. How in the world are we just going to believe her.. Who are her sources? Are they reliable? Do they have the same liberal agenda she has?
Face it.. we are going to continue to multiply.. You are not going to stop everyone using stuff..
In fact in honor of this video I take a pledge to go by more stuff from Wal-Mart. Ok.. so it’s stuff I need anyway.. But good luck guys..
May 1st, 2009 at 11:59 am
Hi,
I just saw the story of stuff video for the first time. It was very informative and insightful.
However, I have the right to say that your video was made at the end of 2001 (about 8 years ago),
and thus many statements may be outdated.
I can say this, because nowhere in the video or website can I find when the video was made.
This is crucial information.
Every piece of important information given to the public should have a publishing date in it.
Someone could be watching a video with a important warning that things will get worse citing certain statistics. The viewer may then base his actions on those statistics and actually do too little, because the video was 15 years old and the case has gotten worse, and thus the current statistics show much urgency.
If the viewer had known the age of the video,
he may have looked up the current statistics and acted in a more urgent way.
My opinion is that it shows a bit of thoughtlessness by not including this information.
This is not to attack you, just to make you aware of the importance of showing the date.
It puts a bit of dirt on a good video.
Again, I thank you for the information.
Keep up the good work!
Gerard
May 11th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Just a heads up that the first Apple Store opened in NYC, not at the Glendale Galleria.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Good questions, people. I just checked the website. Under the May 11, 2009 entry, it gives the information that the DVD was released Dec. 2007.
Secondly, where does Annie get her information? While the IPCC has made public reports of thousands of scientific papers about Climate Change and GHG emissions from industrial activity (by beavers, maybe?), alas, that isn’t all. The 2005 Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, by Greenpeace? No, by the UNEP-World Bank-World Resources Institute coordinated scientific group shows basically that 60% of ecosystems worldwide are passed rebound, or regenerative capacity.
The World Wildlife Fund (aka WorldWide Fund for Nature or WWF) has also put out a Living Planet Index with a chart that shows how industry appears to have blown passed biocapacity equilibrium in 1986. You could read the scientific papers, or you could go back into the news. The 1987 UN Our Common Future was a classic study and preparation for the 1992 Earth Summit. The 1972 UN Stockholm Environment Conference had a study published as Only One Earth.
Then we could talk about Paul Ehrlich, Rachel Carson, and Barry Commoner, or just ride through Warren County, Love Canal, the Torrey Canyon, Stella Maris, Minamata, and London smog for a taste of the roll call.
Back in 1948, the UN’s founders worked with NGO’s to start the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
There’s a nice little skeleton outline for you. Now you also read up in books like Clive Ponting’s A Green History of the World and Jared Diamond’s Collapse. It might be easier, though, to read Ray Anderson’s book Mid-Course Correction in which he tells about his conversion as CEO of a multinational.
Now, why would anyone want to shop at Whole Foods for organic and fair trade food, while they also buy 100% green power? Or go to your local food coop. They may be 100% green too, like mine in Brooklyn, NY. Otherwise, check the EPA Green Power Partner list. Don’t be surprised if you find Pepsi there (100% green) and Intel, (only about 45% green, but number one company listed. Pepsi’s actually being really humble, though….).
Do I hear a green cheers and chill for peace?
May 11th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
By the way, you can see the movies The Corporation for clips with Ray Anderson, and The Next Industrial Revolution to find green initiatives. PBS also has some nice clips and they seem to be showing most of them online these days…
Steaz Green Tea Organic FT Cola anybody? Or Santa Cruz organic 100% green powered Ginger Ale? Take your pick at the health food store…
May 13th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
mrmister, you are incorrect. the first apple retail stores opened on 5/19/01. they were in glendale and mclean, virginia.
http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/chronology_2001-2003.html
May 13th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
As the father of three young boys, it concerns me when this type of presentation is passed off as science. Unfortunately, it reminds me of Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” which was highly effective, but inconveniently wrong on a lot of facts.
I’m not a global climate change denier and I want to protect the planet, but we need to change the dialogue to one where we first agree on a set of facts and then we conduct an unemotional analysis of where to spend our money and effort.
The best I’ve seen to date is what they’ve done at the Copenhagen Consensus Center ( http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com ). I strongly recommend that site for thoughtful, in depth analysis of the many issues facing people and the planet.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
“Yes, it seems this economic downturn has hit my hometown of Glendale, CA… and just in time too.”
It’s really nice that you are so empathetic for the people who will lose their jobs because of this “just in time” recession…
August 24th, 2009 at 6:40 am
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September 11th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Glad to see that there is going to be community gardens hopefully in the near future being built. It is sad that the people lost their jobs but turning a bad issue into a good one I think is great.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
God Almighty, this is sooooooooo typical of you LIBS…rejoicing over the demise of the mini-mall because now we have a park in its place. Don’t get me wrong, I love parks and green space. However, it must have escaped your pea brained minds that the evil mini-mall provided many jobs for the citizens, which enabled them to provide for themselves, their families and maybe even contribute to those less fortunate than themselves by donating money to charitable causes. Oh, but, right, making money and buying STUFF with it is bad, bad, bad. Bad capitalism.
Go mix yourself up some more kool-aid and hop a plane to Russia. You’ll be much happier there.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
This is one of the scariest videos I have ever seen. The thought of this being shown to children is sickening. I hope that you are showing this to children after they have taken a middle school economics course so they can understand that this is nothing more than a poor attempt to brainwash them. “The radio didn’t cost $4.” REALLY!!! Are you serious?! Please, please, please, THINK about that. Just think about it…
If you are going to criticize capitalism then you need to also offer your solution. What exactly are you suggesting? That we NOT help bring these people out of poverty? Did you even think about what would happen if you did not purchase the radio?! Is there some other job waiting for these people that is better? If so, why aren’t they already working there?