Since we released The Story of Stuff nearly 18 months ago, hundreds of teachers around the country have used it to supplement textbooks that barely mention climate change, to spark discussion about our environmental future and inspire students to play a more active role in their communities.
This morning, The New York Times ran an incredible FRONT PAGE story about the ways our film is supplementing and expanding sustainability education!! Read the story.
The attention this article is generating represents a MAJOR opportunity to dramatically expand the impact of The Story of Stuff — an opportunity we can only take advantage of with your help!
First, please help us raise the last $20,000 needed to develop a two-week middle and high school level educational module with the film at its core. Our partner Facing the Future, a nationally-recognized curriculum developer, has received commitments for 75% of the funding we need.
Your gift — whether $1,000 or $100 or $10 — will help put us over the top and give teachers a strong alternative resource to help them educate and inspire young people. You can contribute securely on our site right now.
Second, if you’re a teacher who has shown the film in your classroom — or a teacher who wants to — we want to hear from you! Tell us how you’re using it or plan to, what its inspired your students to do, and what resources or materials would help you in the classroom. Contact our Special Projects Coordinator, Allison Cook, at allison@storyofstuff.org with your ideas.
Thank you for your tremendous support over the past year and stay tuned!
For the entire Story of Stuff Project team,
Annie Leonard
PS In addition to our work in schools, The Story of Stuff has a number of other projects in the hopper…a book, new films, community study and action guides and much, much more. We can’t do it without your support!
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May 11th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I read the NYT article and came to the site to see the movie. It’s WONDERFUL!! Great work! I am very excited that kids and adults are being exposed to these issues.
Well done and congratulations on the story in the NYT.
Jillian
May 11th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I can’t believe this anti-american, anti-capitalism video is being shown in schools; especially to students who are most vulnerable to these lies. What is this world coming to?
Follow this link for the truth:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2009/05/11/nyt-celebrates-america-hating-kids-enviro-video
May 11th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I enjoyed the video and its powerful message very much. However, I don’t think that producing and distributing DVDs is in keeping with the message of the video, especially when it is widely available free on the internet.
Donna
May 11th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Why are you promoting a DVD when you’re trying to cut down on stuff? Otherwise it’s a great video.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Congratulations on the NYTimes article! Such a fantastic video and I hope you do more. Obviously, most people are getting the joke, but some people (ahem, Chiapet_richard) have never seen the Colbert Report I guess.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Haha, I was taking it seriously too until I watched it from the start again and then realized that the intro has porn music. Too funny. I guess we all take ourselves too seriously sometimes and some satire helps introduce some levity.
May 12th, 2009 at 9:14 am
The “StoryofStuff” is a great message and the story telling medium could be very powerful, but the enuendos (sp?) really detract from the message and pander to a very narrow audience. The commentary on the evil big companies, the importance of taking back governement, the explotation of the third world, etc., while they may all be true and make you feel good by getting them out there (yet again), are tangential to the what I can do to make a difference and frankly turned me off.
I am the prototypical middle-aged, white conservative male, yet I am probably more conservation and “closed loop” aware — and more importantly active — than most hard core greens.
I clean and reuse ziplock bags and pound nails out of wood to give them a second life. I have xerscaped our yard, and what irrigation I do, I do with a highly efficient drip system. Leading by example, I have taken my family of 4 from generating 2 large garbage bins of trash a week, to one small white kitchen bag of non-recylceable trash every 10 days (averaging about 12 pounds — I weigh them before sending them to the curb — or 3 pounds per person every week-and-a-half. I check my tire pressure weekly and keep our cars well-maintained and try, without much success so far, to get my family to plan ahead and minimize the number of trips they have to make.
The message of sutainability is compelling and one I fully buy into, but by injecting political commentary and “digs” (why even mention George Bush, much less demonize him — it may help rouse the faithful and make you feel good that he is no longer president but it adds little to nothing to the dialogue we need to have going forward).
I was once told the following by an older German man about the Gruns (Greens) in Germany:
“A Grun is someone that demands everyone else live in a small apartment in the city and use only public transportation so that they (the Gruns) can live on a farm in the country and drive their belching VW microbuses into town every day to drink beers on the town square and pontificate about how little everyone else is doing to save the environment”.
Do as I do and not as I say.
Focus on actions and not on emptying your venom: the StoryofStuff is long on rhetoric but short on real solutions.
Funny, but I think I now get the fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives: liberals are people of big ideas, while conservatives are people of big actions (however misguided some of those actions may be). It’s a shame we can harness both and get everyone pulling in the same direction.
May 12th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Looks like my previous comment got deleted. Not sure what I said that was inappropriate.
Anyway, I just want to say that Annie has done a marvelous job here. The delivery is perfect (although a little too subtle for everyone to get the joke, I guess) and uncompromising. One day, this work will likely be seen alongside such greats as Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”. Pure, brilliant satire! Wonderful.
All the best, Annie!
May 12th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I’m Taiwanese student in environmental studies in New School.
I really like the way you present this concept.
Do you have Mandarin subtitle for this film?
Do you need any help to translate it?
May 12th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Although I heartily agree with the sentiments expressed in the film, I think it’s misleading to categorize ALL of consumerism as evil. The cloth diapers I use on my son are a consumer product, but they allow me the option of avoiding dispposables- and they are ALOT more user-friendly than the cloth diapers my grandmother was using on her children in the 1950s. The laptop I work on is another example of consumerism, but it allows me to work from home and avoid a 4-hour daily commute.
Many of the advances we enjoy came from the demands of consumers. I agree that most of what is marketed at your local Dollar Tree harms our earth more than helps it; but let’s not overlook the products that actually do make our lives a little easier. Thanks!
P.S. I REALLY didn’t appreciate the comment about breast milk being polluted. As if the younger generation needed one more excuse to formula-feed! Now there’s another good topics for one of these short films- the marketing of formula to first and third world countries beacuse breast milk “isn’t good enough.” I think you inadvertently contributed to their efforts in your film.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
We should stick to teaching facts in school, not opinion. I didn’t get past the first 3 minutes of the video because she started by saying the government picture should be a tank because of the amount of money the military receives. I would like to know where you got the percentage amount from? Are you going to talk about the other organizations the government gives money to? I’ll finish the video and see if it’s worthy of showing to my students in our schools Waste Free Program.
May 12th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
One more thing..let’s not forget that it was the 1950s generation (the one in the film as portrayed as being the “happiest”) that used gasoline to kill weeds, DDT to kill bugs, thalidomide to cure morning sickness, and unleashed a host of other poisons into the environment- repercussions we’re still dealing with today. Our environment didn’t become degraded overnight…and we’re coming a long way in correctly the mistakes of our mother’s and grandmother’s generations.
May 12th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I am in agreement with Chiapet_Richard
on this one. The amount of unproven
“panic” that we are subjecting our children
to, and also the uneducated adults through the fabricated, non-factual consesus of this HOAX has gotten out of control ! I hope all the people who helped vote our new president into office are ready to experience Socialism, which has crippled countries in the past, and will now cripple the United States as we give into the control of the government over the people starting with this stuff! Wake up everyone, it is not about feeling good about everyone, it is about supply and demand and good old competition and survival of the fittest !
May 12th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I don’t think that the video is anti-American or anti-Capitalism in the slightest. We can still enjoy our freedoms, we can still make profit from designing and selling things that solve problems, but while you are at it why not consider the rest of the equation rather than being limited to the situation in front of your nose?
May 12th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
When wil you correct the blatent errors in this “film”.
For example, more than 50% of our budget is defense.. Incorrect for fact visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Budget
US comsumes 35% of the worlds energy.. Incorrect… More like 26%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_energy
We invades other countries to exploit thier resources, our top 3 customers for energy products are Canada (recall any wars), Mexico (fought a war long before this “consumerism” started), and Saudia Arabia where we purchase the oil from them and I remember in 2008 everyone was rather upset over that too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_energy
Toxins in breast milk, HA! while some medications may pass into breast milk the mammary grands are able to filter out most harmful substances and as the half life in the mothers body decreases the harmful substances can be reasorbed.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070213101557.htm
Planned obsolescence, while for some items can seem downright ridiculious and almost criminal it has benefits as well. That so called “washing Machine Monitor” consumes twice as much energy as the newer LCD screens. Planned obs. can help improve efficency by forcing people to retire older less efficent models for newer more efficent ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
While the movie has merit in its general topic of changing the way we consume and discard materials. This is blatent scaremongering and is blatent propaganda.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
This movie is awesome Annie – as are you for making it.
Congratulations on all you have accomplished and continued success in at least trying to bring some sort of awareness to the massive sea of mouth breathing retarded zombies that shuffle around our planet in their perpetual state of entitled distraction.
People like you make me happy.
Bravo.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Fantastic! Well put together! Please keep up the great work. One by one, we will bring the change needed to help this country survive and move into the future.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Congratulations on the NYTimes article and coverage from it. This story needs to be seen by everyone. I have shown this video to at least 300 people and more to come. I have give money and will do more. Hey keep it up.
May 12th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Hmm, another comment deleted.
You’ll do the reveal later and you don’t want me to blow your cover. That’s cool
Still, I find censorship a little disconcerting. You and I both believe that our system of consumerism is undemocratic. Citizens and stakeholders don’t get a fair say in things if corporations have so much power. Here’s your chance to give me, a stakeholder, a voice in a matter that is important to me and my community!
Stay well!
May 12th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
About your recent mail “Marx with a Pony Tail?”…
Maybe you should consider wearing beard and a 19th century suit; that way the ones who find you similar to Marx would have a kind of a point.
Talking seriously, and seeing the picture form outside USA, I can say that your whole effort, despite being focused on USA’s activities, are not restricted to them. I think it’s not a problem of the US alone, but of the ultra-consumerist capitalism that now dwells on some first world countries.
And going back to the critics you’ve received, if the idea of nationalism of some pseudo nationalist freaks around the world is that patriotism=[love-the-companies-and-buy-as-much-as-you-can(and-even-more)] then maybe they should make a found to buy some Pacific island and declare it “W*lm*rtland”. Well, that and then move their residences to it. At least that way they’ll be all together and happy
May 12th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Isn’t freedom of the press a wonderful thing? You can print a load of garbage like this stuff and pass it off as truth. It’s also good that there are common folk with common sense that can spot the garbage and refute it. It’s irrefutable? Wrong. Guess again. It’s unsubstantiated, misleading, and irresponsible for an “educated” person to try to pass this off as truth. Reexamine it and reevaluate what the show is saying. It’s so obvious that what this person is trying to get us to accept as fact is really a bunch of baloney, it’s hard to fathom that there are sane people that would actually swallow it – hook, line, and sinker.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:30 am
I read the article on the NY Times and came to this website to check out the video. I just had to write a post about it on my blog, since I loved the video so much. I truly believe that videos like yours will hopefully get people to start thinking about things they normally take for granted and help support the many companies out there researching greener and cleaner technologies to transform our current consumption cycle into a more sustainable one.
May 13th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Awesome!!!
I’ve shown a few people the Story Of Stuff video over the past couple of months and everyone has left with a feeling of enlightenment. I’m thrilled to hear this news!
Congrats, and keep up the great work!
May 13th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
You know, it’s very clever to leave out the most important facet of the consumption cascade: people. People need stuff, which includes food, shelter, and safety. All that translates into products that we have to produce, use, and dispose of. You sustainability types forget that people are the reason for the planet; we are the dominant species thereon and what we do, having survived meteor strikes, tsunamis, and an ice age or two, is also natural. We use stuff, and we do it pretty well, I think. I am a pilot and have flown over pretty much all of the U.S. and I can tell you, it’s pretty damn empty; there is room for most all the stuff you can IMAGINE, let alone actually create. Did you know that everyone on earth could have a 6×6 “personal space” and still fit — all 6,000,000,000 of us — in Texas! So quit proselyting me! I already have a religion and His name is not Sustainability. People not only use stuff, but create stuff to take care of the stuff they used. So wake up, get another hobby, and quit squawking, Chicken Little. It will be fine. You should find something else to worry about, like why you glom onto every pathetic worry-wart end-of-the-world scenario that comes along. I remember the first Earth Day in 1970. We stood in the sun on the quad at my high school in San Diego and laughed as some woman in a parka shrilly warned us about the coming Ice Age. That was only 40 years ago. What next? Oh, right: stuff is evil; ergo, man is evil. Down with man. But that includes you, too, Ms. “I’m a superior person because I drive a hybrid car.” Sheesh, so pathetic…
May 13th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
[...] See Annie’s comments re: the NY Times story on the Story of Stuff blog. [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Where do you get the facts to back up these misleading claims? Given the information in this video the woman presenting these facts should be naked because the clothing on her back is leading to the destruction of our planet. THINK… Investigate the facts yourself… Don’t believe everything you see on the internet! If I did then I’d be a millionare because I won the lottery in South Africa and only need to send some info and cash to secure my prize!!! I saw it on the internet, it must be true. DUH!
May 14th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
What a load of Marxist bull. DIAF!!!!
May 14th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
if you want a better understanding of what stuff costs read this: http://www.withouthotair.com/
May 14th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Your video is FULL of misleading quotes. I guess it is ok to lie to kids to brain wash them into accepting your liberal one sided view of the world.
May 14th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
How about updating the statistics in the video to the facts. A good amount of what is said in the video is simply not true. Good thing you aren’t being greedy capitalists and contributing to the harm of the planet. Nice mass-manufactured DVD by the way. I’m sure the disk is biodegradable, the case is made out of leaves, transported by bicycle and electric cars, and manufactured in a solar factory.
May 14th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I live in the Bronx and my teacher showed us this video the other day and I think it’s cool. Some people in my classes and community don’t care about this kind of stuff and I really didn’t either but I like how you helped me see things about the world in a different way. I read that NY times article today and it was pretty awesome. I hope you guys get your message out to more people.
May 14th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
You made this video on a toxic computer and are wearing toxic clothes. I am sure you drive a prius that is full of toxic lead and use those toxic new crappy lightbulbs full of mercury. When you are on your toxic learjet flying to your next speaking engagement, pat yourself on the back for all of the good you have done(don’t pat too hard, you might get contaminated by your toxic clothing). It is obvious you have never worked a day in your life. Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, North Korea and China are still communist, go live there, I am sure you would find that your life is much better. IDIOT!
May 14th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Order a DVD? Really? How un – consumer of you. I think after I finish commenting I’ll go see how much it costs, but wait, I’m sure you’re using the money to establish free health care for all American people? Because I am also sure that the fancy video I just watched was very inexpensive to make. I’m also sure the video equipment you used for it was at least 10 years old. By the way, I love how nice comments are approved instantaneously but the ones that dare contradict your ignorant rant are still pending.
By the way:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520207,00.html
May 14th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Also, I think you must be the Anti Christ. Just a side note.
May 15th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Please stop spreading your lies.
May 15th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
A few quick points I hope can be taken to heart; first, congratulations on the NYT article as well as today’s article in the Christian Science Monitor. Tough luck with the Horner person that appeared on Fox. However, there was a legitimate problem brought forward in that case. The product and information I have seen here is a wonderful educational tool, in general. But Annie Leonard’s quick fact sheet here on this site highlights a bit of deceptive language that Fox only had to repeat. While it is wonderful to see the devotion here, taking what Leonard may feel is only ‘artistic license’ can in fact undermine her efforts. The product is obviously a success, and it is the youngest generation that has to be educated, but vigilance in accuracy is key. Using creative language to imply that the U.S. only has 4% of its forests remaining is asking for trouble. Things like that can undermine all the other truthful and critical information our children need to learn. Good luck and please work to keep science first, civil action second, and politics last. (P.S. a whole lot of other “green” authors need to work harder to help the cause by always double and triple checking the facts to preempt the contrary arguments) thanks!
May 15th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Now I am very worried about my grandchildren’s education! I sincerely hope that none of their teachers will see fit to teach them any of your faulty facts. See Fox News article here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520207,00.html
May 15th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
You are indoctrinating our children with propaganda… you’re as bad as those rightists and republicans with their creationist propaganda…
You should be ashamed of yourself.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Chiapet_richard:
Umm, deadpan delivery, rapid-fire “facts” that nobody could possibly believe, etc. Colbert is a little smoother, but for a first try this is not bad. Lots of people are saying that it’s a satire in the vein of A Modest Proposal.
May 16th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Her is my small contribution:
http://bruno-wp.blogspot.com/2009/05/helping-environment-with-latex.html
It suggests a simple solution to reduce the amount of paper printed by scientists in roughly 30%…
May 16th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
A Billion Bravos! What an extraordinary piece of work. After living in different parts of the world and seeing other cultures living with ‘much less stuff’ this video says it all. Try not to be unnerved by the ignorant critics. They probably haven’t left their back yards before.
May 17th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Hi there. I found you in the New York Times and it is great. It has lots and lots of common sense. Sometimes it oversimplifies but I guess the clip want to make people move into action and remembering or including the many nuances and ideas of an issue as complex as this wouldn’t work for your purpose. I think also that it is too ambitious (too naive?)and changing the way people live would never be achieved by appealing mainly to their intelligence. The author of the video should reflect about why a system or structure that doesn’t make any sense (and indeed it does so, I agree with the main point) has been so far so successful with people at every level and in every area of society, no matter how intelligent or well-informed they are. I am a teacher in Spain and, according to the figures, the school “supplies” (let me use ironically this word) only around 20% of children´s education. The rest comes from the society and we all know very well what kind of teachings it has for everybody: the very well described in your video work-consume cycle and its more and more wealthy but unsound way of life.
Anyway, the way everything is told is clear, fresh and direct. It is entertaining by itself and highlights facts that must be highlighted like, for instance, the near to zero cost of some products and what’s the reason for that (at least one of them).
My very best wishes for all of you. Our world will only truly change when, in due time (decades?, centuries?… who knows?) this system will implode (that’s to say, “When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money.”) but meanwhile we all at least can enjoy, in the distance and through the computer screen, good moments shared with people like you.
Take care
May 18th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I see Ms. Leonard is wearing clothing that was made with natural materials and possible synthetics and made with metallic machines and shipped via metallic ships/trains/trucks — all requiring “extracted” materials. Also, if she uses a razor, that will be made with extracted metals too. I hope she never needs medical care as we sure use a lot of evil synthetic chemicals (antibiotics, antivirals, antihypertensives, etc.)here in medicine. Shall I go on or do you see her hypocrisy? Unless she lives in a cave and photosynthesizes (hard to do in the darkness of a cave) she is part of the problem. Even the founder of Greenpeace (of which she is an active member)is now in favor of nuclear energy! Be less sensational, more truthful (by not omitting facts), and less conspiratorial.
May 19th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I really liked this video, but I think the underlying problem is the population explosion. I wonder why this issue is seldom addressed. If the population is left unchecked we can’t keep up with the problems.
May 19th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I watched Annie Leonard’s video for the first time today.
I think she looks kind of frumpy in those clothes. She needs a very expensive extreme makeover!
Just sayin’!
May 20th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
The weird thing about this show is that I don’t think it’s a joke. I can appreciate a practical joke on society, but this is being shown to kids which makes it a little more serious.
I hope that someone wises up in this studio and stops taking advantage of ignorant people. On the other hand, if the video is genuine, then they’re just stupid, and more will be made. This video warps facts and is being shown to kids. This is scary to kids because they take everything at face value.
If any teacher of my kids shows this thing to them, I’m going to be raising Hell at the school.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:23 am
I can’t believe people think this video is a satire or even Anti-American. This doco is showing the true cost of our consumerist lifestyle. We need to stop our consumption or we will not have a planet to live on.
This is great work. Simple. Effective. Timely. I applaud you and your team Annie.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
The vein of sad little mal-contents who WILL not look at ALL of the facts is sad because this is our future. The great thing about liberals is they have caring and compassion for others (they SAY they do anyway and I will take it at face value)…the problem with them reminds me of my high school days…when I was a fire-breathing lib. All kinds of idealistic, grandiose ideas on how to “fix things” without ever thinking through to what the outcome would be. No different here. Everywhere the “green” forced living has been tried (Spain, Oregon, Calif, NY) it has been an economic disaster for all involved. I have been an environmentalist before most of you were an itch in your daddy’s britches and can tell you. If you want to live in this unattainable Utopia you THINK you want, be careful what you WISHHHHH for.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:40 pm
great video should be shown to all schools and students
May 21st, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Wow this video is amazing and it tells the truth. i am a grade seven student and this story really touched me. i believe that we all play a part in the problem so we should all be a part of the solution.
my friends and i saw it in computer class and now lots of us are leaving comments to say wow. thanks so much for sharing your opinion with the world!!!
=)
May 21st, 2009 at 4:42 pm
That video was very noticable and hopfully will make a difference in the planet
May 21st, 2009 at 4:42 pm
The video clip was very interesting. Why do u sell DVDs when they can just watch the video on the computer. Please reply!
May 21st, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Great video should be shown a student kids teachers and even parents
May 21st, 2009 at 4:50 pm
People, especially children need to be exposed to the REAL truth. All around the world, the enviroment is being trashed. This video clip is a great example. Great work Annie!
May 21st, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I think your video was really inspiring to me but i thik you should give the government a peice of your or our minds in other words shov it up there butts!!!!!!
May 21st, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Hello, my name’s Mac and I’m 14 yrs old and I would just like to point out that even though I’m young I think that some of the information in this video is reliable, while other facts are wrong. First off if we don’t shop the economy will die and we will have nothing to fall back on. All of our technology will be lost and we will not progress forward. Trying to act like all of this environmental “stuff” is mainstream is lying to not only kids my age but teens and on to adults.
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Comment #2 and that blog of yours it’s pretty pathetic… in your terms of use you state that only the comments you like will make it through… well let me tell you something, there’s not even one argument that you have rebutted to Annie Leonard’s documentary, your explanations are just a coarse insubstantial text without purpose or future.
And please send this back to your list of comments about how much money your country spends in military purposes… even Annie Leonard is being benevolent about that, it’s a 68%!!
Here you are a link with enough detail to find yourself in that pay list
http://www.zoomorama.com/JBachman/929f9f7efd4b50dd34a159fe23ac88c9
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:49 am
This is a comment about the film. I’m all for it! But I have an issue with the computer chip example. I think it is a weak example. I think you can do better. Here’s why.
Replacing the processor (which is what you are implying) is not going to give you the improvement of the new processor. You may as well not replace anything. The faster processor needs faster memory to go with it and that also implies, in essence, a faster motherboard.
It is true that everything else would move just fine. The video adapters, the keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc etc. But your example is over simplified. All of your other statements and arguments are very strong. I see this particular part in the movie as a weak point. Just to repeat, I sure you can some up with a better, more accurate example. You have my email. I’m happy to help if I can.
On a different topic: THANK YOU!.
I’ve been in a somewhat confused state for the past couple of years wondering how this economy based upon consumption could continue. Was I the only person who could see the hopelessness of it?
I often grind my teeth about incompetent management, incompetent politicians, etc. I often muse about how to make them better. But that is starting at the wrong end. What we need are competent consumers. Consumers who demand things to work and to last.
Microsoft is a glaring example of how bad things have gotten. MS users simply accept the PCs and OS that don’t work. They go out and buy the newest upgrade hoping that will solve their problems and it doesn’t. Don’t people ever wake up? (Of course, the same can be said about the one party “corporatism” political system we have but that is too far off topic.)
Thank you again.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Hi from New Zealand in the South Pacific.
We love “The Story of Stuff”. My class of 11 and 12 yr olds are fascinated by the horrifying truth about the social and environmental costs of our unsustainable lifestyles. It really has them thinking.
We are studying it in class and greatly appreciate “The Story of Stuff”.
I can’t believe some of the people commenting above still choose to deny the truth of our irresponsible existence.
Thank you,
MrWoody
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:16 am
Hello,
Had the pleasure of watching “Story of Stuff” last night with a group of close friends; this morning, my wife and I started a Facebook event inspiring people to pass on 50 things in 50 days – purging their closets and shelves of one article of clothing, one book, one paperweight at a time and giving them to a stranger, Goodwill, a friend, or someone who might actually have a use for it. Thanks for the inspiration.
Dave
June 6th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
What is the purpose of our government, again? Are you just making things up to fit your needs? It is awesome that you feel strongly about sustainabilty, but come on, you are really setting the effort back by misrepresenting so many aspects of capitalism, our democratic government, and the empowered American. Please rework this video to remove the incorrect assertions and scare-tactic propaganda before exposing it to any more of our children. You are really doing a disservice otherwise. -Jon
June 19th, 2009 at 11:27 am
I like my stuff and don’t feel guilty about my high standard of living.
If you believe in the “Story of Stuff” movement then there are plenty of places in this world where you can go, live in a mud hut, without any stuff, and feel better about yourself for saving the planet.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:19 am
I absolutely love the movie and applaud it’s message, especially concerning the philosophies of absolute greed espoused by corporations and where they originated. But that being said, I don’t understand how any serious attempts at conservation can be achieved without any mention of population control.
Perhaps those capitalist engineers of the uber-greed philosophies knew and know all too well that humans will invariably breed themselves into extinction and all the sustainability efforts in the world can’t change that.
Congratulations for the effort, but shame on you for not speaking the whole truth.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Never watch the dvd before. How does it goes?
August 16th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
First of all I think that “THE STORY OF STUFF” is a really good idea and also the best conduct (internet)to inform everyone in these days.Secondly these video shows many things that probably no one imagine about the million of stuff that we use daily.
September 8th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
In the 1950 the sovjets also made a (anty-capistalistic) system and that didn’t work out well :p. My mother lives there and she didn’t enjoyed it so much. I live in Belguim and they showed it at school.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Roosters Piri Piri is the best chicken stop in London
September 9th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
The Story of Stuff is a great film and puts out an extraordinary message to people of all ages. It is broken down perfectly into each element of production and consumption for just about anyone to understand. I learned a lot from the video such as the fact that the US consumes nearly triple the amount people in Countries such as Europe consume each year or that the US mines for metals in the mountains and in South Africa. I enjoyed this video and would recommend to anyone and I sincerely hope that the tour for middle and high school students to see this movie gets put in to action as soon as possible and if I wasn’t a broke college student I would definitely contribute to getting this plan into action.
September 18th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I need to tell you what I feel, what I think, what I FEAR for our own future, for the future of our little ones. It´s not enough to change “some” things in this “necrotic” system… We have to change most EVERYTHING if we wish a better future for our own children… please…!!! In the U.S.A. as in Canada, Europe, Japan, China and all the developed countries, the present culture of ilimited consuming habits has to be radically changed to the opposite culture of total AUSTERITY.
I think it’s time for all humankind to be conscious about reality. It’s not possible to go on with this irrational level of industrialization.
Humankind MUST STOP making so many frivolous and unnecessary luxurious products, all dispensable in this necrotic system of ilimited consumption. Our very toxic and contaminating garbage is growing in exponential degree, as well as human population does. Neverending contamination…!!!
Natural resources will soon be exhausted, so the logical reaction SHOULD BE to walk back the same way that brought us all up to this irrational point of neverending consumption.
DECREASE IS one of the two alternatives we have, but the ONLY LOGICAL ALTERNATIVE that IS LEFT in this PATHETIC REALITY that INVOLVES US ALL. The another one is to go on in the same very dramatically wrong way we are since ever.
Industrialization has to DIMINISH to the minimun necessary and vital level.
It’s needed a radical change in all steps of Education to provide the technical, mechanical, manual knowledge to go back to our grandparents’ times or to the style of the Amish people, in order to prepare our children to be able to get their own daily sustenance from mother earth, taking care of it naturally and without agrotoxical and chemical industrialized products. Familiar or community farms, with agricultural cooperatives in small communities should be encouraged to be done elsewhere for the self-sufficiency of goods and supplies. Recycling, restoration, recovering, reparing activities with manual and handicraft labours should be the alternative jobs in the near future for our children, activities of minimum fossil fuels requiry.
Please, do all what is possible for you to encourage the whole World to STOP PRODUCING cars, electronical supplies incompatible with new ones that forces people all around the world to buy new elements instead, luxurious materials, most everything no biodegradable and with very toxic components, etc.etc.etc. Industrialization should be diminished to its minimun necessary level!!!!!
Instead, it has to be produced all types of spare parts to recycle, restore, repare, recover all types of things that we have; all types of manual and mechanical elements must be produced for all types of jobs and labours of minimum fossil fuels requiry.
WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE LITTLE NATURAL RESOURCES THAT ARE STILL LEFT…
NO other alternative energy will be able to sustaine this irrational level of neverending consumption. It’s not enough to go on studying other alternative energies in this irrational and neverending necrotic system of insatiable industrialization.
We are all destroying our unique Planet, we are destroying LIFE elsewhere, contaminating water, air, soil, and intoxicating PEOPLE with MINING and AGRIBUSINESS activities.
Latinamerican people, the poor people of the Latinamerican Developing Countries, as well as the poor people in so many developing countries, are suffering since EVER in many ways because of long-term unemployment, intoxication, contamination, physical attacks to push them out of their ancestral lands and to be left excluded in poorer areas. All of our communities in Argentina are suffering the consequences of contamination of our soil, air, water natural resources with mining and agribusiness activities of multinational monopolies. Our yet fertile soils will become deserts in not so long term… What goes on in this world that is driven by selfish madness and ilimited greed of few people that have power …??? The Economic Power of the First World is taking out all our natural resources and destroying our ecosystems, killing LIFE in the vulnerable biodiversity, contaminating our water natural resources, our soil, intoxicating our people, etc.etc.etc.
GREED, SELFISHNESS, LIES, HYPOCRISY, are the values and principles that push people of economic power in the First World since ever.
This is the only truth that explains everything pretty much.
Whoever doesn’t want to see or understand this… it’s simply because he or she feels the same and shares with them the same purposes: to earn more and more BLOODSTAINED MONEY, to hoard PROPERTIES insatiably, etc.etc.etc.
We need to multiplicate our voices exponentially. We have to awaken more and more people all around the world from the basis of this feudal social pyramid. We need to be more and more people all around the World to take notice of this dramatic situation, that makes us feel this same anguish and distress in order to try to change this suicidal way straight to an abyss without return…
Please, you have to visit these other web sites for more information given by suitable professionals of all around the world.
http://www.crisisenergetica.org/
http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse/
http://oilsmokeandmirrors.com/
WE HAVE TO , WE NEED TO CHANGE THIS SUICIDAL WAY STRAIGHT TO AN ABYSS WITHOUT RETURN…!!!
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Heard the same communist propaganda back in the 1970s. I can remember videos in school showing everyone in the future wearing gas masks.
I argue Capitalism is freedom… It allows you and i to choose. Socialism/Communism says don’t worry the government will take care of you..
Look at the pollution issues in Eastern Europe, China and the nuclear disasters in USSR.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt of being wrong instead of bad intentioned. We have more forests now than ever before. Trees have these things called seeds see and so loggers re-plant forests. Old trees are not any more moral than newer trees so I’m not real sure about the tree thing.
Also the government’s job is most decidedly NOT to take care of us. That is Marxist claptrap — and a common misperception, but is in no way constitutional. That is something Hugo Chavez might advocate.
I hope you personally succeed and wish you well. I hope the DVD bombs.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Only morons would believe this propaganda.
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:05 pm
This video is a poster-child for private schools. Feeding kids such a naive view about such complex issues as global economics, production using ‘toxic chemicals’, supply chains, and the environment (breast feeding?!), and an astonishingly IDIOTIC interpretation of the role of government is itself toxic. The kicker is the application of sheer *lies* in order to convince an individual whose brain is not even fully developed… 50% of our tax dollars *do not* go to fund the military (in fact the portion of military spending compared to other government spending – currently around 20% – is at 60 year lows), we *have not* depleted 96% of forests in the U.S., and globalization (consumerism) has done more to *improve* lives around the world than any other notion in the last 400 years.
Journalism is in a sick state, and I am SO glad I was not indoctrinated into this nonsense when I was young. Please – send your kids to private schools, and do your own research… If you prescribe to this garbage (and worse, force it upon your children) you are the mindless majority, you are the thoughtless masses, you are the fuel for the destruction of individual freedom in our once great union.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
The teacher’s that are “supplementing” this in the curriculum should be fired. Chances are they aren’t making sure it fits the approved district curriculum as it is not objective in ANY WAY.
I’ve been calling my old district in Omaha and the Sioux Falls school District and they will not be showing this DVD in any way. Even the curriculum director who had not seen the video said it was full of bias and indoctrination. That from a card carrying union teacher who is a registered Democrat. There’s hope yet.