Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have written such encouraging emails about the Story of Stuff and have shared it with friends. Thanks also to those who have shared alternative view points. A friend of mine likes to say: “if you agree with everyone on everything in your coalition, then your coalition isn’t big enough.” I understand that to mean that we need to reach out beyond our comfort zones to connect with people, to share our ideas and hear their ideas. I am happy to report that The Story of Stuff appears to do facilitating just such conversations.
Thanks to the power of on-line communities, including many of you forwarding the film to friends, the Story of Stuff has been viewed by over 100,000 people in this first week since its launch last Tuesday!
I’ve received emails from places as far a field as Argentina, Belarus, China, and South Africa. We’ve had offers to translate it into Arabic, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese and other languages. It has been screened in gatherings in the U.S., Spain, the Philippines, and at a civil society gathering at the climate convention in Bali, Indonesia this past weekend.
It is wildly reassuring to know that so many people, all over the world, share a growing dis-ease with the consumption-crazed, toxics-based models of production and consumption and want to chart a new path.
I am excited to discuss more of the specific points you all have emailed and commented on in the coming weeks. First though, I want to answer 3 logistical questions that a number of you have asked about references, on-line movie navigation, and using the film.
Sources: I’ve received some emails asking for references for¬†the facts in the film. There is an annotated and footnoted script on the webpage. The site also hosts a glossary, a fact sheet and helpful ideas for group discussions or activities after watching the film.
Movie Navigation: I’ve received emails asking if it is possible to just watch parts of the film, without going all the way back to watch the whole thing again. Yes! Just click on the headings on the top of the screen to play each chapter, get more information and contact organizations working on those issues.
Using Story of Stuff: Yes, please use it! You may view and download it free. Please go ahead and burn it (not literally), share it, give it away for non-profit educational uses as much as you want.
One person wrote to me that she hoped if enough people see the film, and start questioning the¬†out-of-control consumerism and the systems that perpetuate it, then hopefully next “Black Friday” people won’t be sleeping in Best Buy parking lots; they’ll just be sleeping in!
Onwards,
Annie Leonard
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December 10th, 2007 at 5:41 am
thank YOU for this great piece of work!
I have just created “Story Of Stuff” facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7927382141
Hope u have nothing against it ; )
December 10th, 2007 at 8:42 am
Annie,
Years ago when I was attending college and majoring in natural resource economics, I read an academic journal that described “the goal” of the consumer economy. That being, in essence, to minimize the time between getting natural resources out of the ground and dumping “used up” products back in the ground.
The message of that article was one of the most impactful of my college years. In the decades that have followed, I have tried to articulate the craziness of what we have created in our contemporary economy, but I must say that your film does a far better job of summing it up. Thank you.
A year ago I began a project to scale down my housing footprint to less than 250 square feet. To keep family and friends up to date on my journey I’ve been keeping a blog called Building Gypsy Rose – http://www.paddleways.com/blog/gypsyrose .
To date, I have not gotten around to including links to like-minded folks, but I was so inspired by your movie that I’ve created a “Links to Like Minds” section with “The Story of Stuff” as the very first entry.
Thanks again, and all the very best,
Kevin
December 10th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Hi,
Absolutely love the video! I live in Rochester, MN and I was wondering if Waste-to-Energy facilities are incinerator plants and if they are more or less harmful than traditional incinerator facilities?
Thanks, Cari
December 10th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Although well done, I think it’s a bit long and possibly needs to have two versions, one brief and one more in-depth. Also, since there is so much talking, a captioned version would be helpful to hearing-impaired people.
December 10th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I loved the “Story of Stuff”. I am currently working toward my teaching certificate in biology composite teaching. I thought the “Story of Stuff” would be a great thing to show my students when we get to the “how we impact our environment” section and then challenge the students to be more aware of what they use and throw away. So thank you for making it!
December 10th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Thank you very much. Do you have demographics for where the most people have ordered the DVD or where the most people have watched the video?
That’s where I should move to. I can’t get through to the people around here. Too much dogma, too many purchasing paradigms. I’m still going to try and host a screening for the community, though. Thank you.
I’ll put a link to you from my blog (not that anyone reads it, but …)
December 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
two words–excellent, bravo!
December 10th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Thanks, Annie. Very well done.
Unfortunately, knowing the technical details probably won’t stop our bad habits, but it might nudge them in the right direction.
Having spent a good part of my career doing global climate research I’ve come to realize that our human species is not very well adapted to mitigating impacts that are outside our tunnel vision – especially when the tunnel is longer than our life span. If it doesn’t affect our loved ones (including ourselves who we love the most) or if the impacts will be felt farther in time than the life of our grandkids, we generally won’t act. That‚Äôs the “us” part of the equation.
The “system” part of the equation is democracy and capitalism (i.e., motherhood and apple pie). We need a benevolent (altruistic) dictator that will force hard decisions on us. See how far that flies.
December 10th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I guess you hear and read this a lot: Thank you, thank you, thank you…
December 10th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
A major part of the problem is education, the educational system in the west is geared to turning out better consumers.
Take a look at any maths books, most questions will be geared around buying and selling goods.
We are turned into consumers from an early age, look at TV advertising in the run up to Christmas, there will be an increase in adverts which are specifically aimed at children, who in turn pester thier parents for the latest toy or gadget.
Some schools now receive funding directly from industry and the corporations.
If you asked where most kids today spend their weekends most would say the shopping mall, either with their parents or just hanging out with friends.
Consumerism needs to be taken out of the school.
December 10th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Well done Annie and friends! Our existense in a nutshell! We can either jump off a cliff or fight for to reclaim the world’s lost “happiness”. This is all such an emergency. We are doing our end on toxins with the movie “287″ but you really capture the big picture very nicely. I smell a documentary! Anything I can do to help just yell! Marie
December 10th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
someone should put a torrent of the movie up. The download is quite slow.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
You’ve done such a great job articulating what I’ve been observing myself but not quite been able to explain.
Someday I’m convinced we’ll be mining our dumps for all that stuff we threw out.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Mmmm, nothing new here. What are you proposing–peasant proprietorship?
December 11th, 2007 at 12:44 am
Fantastic summary of the materials economy. I’ve been educating myself slowly on this issue for a couple years, and yours is easily the best overall explanation I’ve yet come across. However, I’m less chipper about things; in fact, I’m still fairly despondent. Despite a lot of people ready to downshift, forgo, and relinquish (which seems to me the only ethical response), the consumer life is just so seductive, and I strongly suspect the corporate interests that established this awful system won’t let it be undone without a serious fight. How else could it have gotten to be a global phenomenon?
December 11th, 2007 at 2:22 am
Awesome film, thank you so much for making it.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:54 am
L’Histoire des Choses…
Depuis leur extraction, en passant par leur vente, leur usage et leur destruction, toutes les choses de nos vies affectent les communaut?©s d’ici et d’ailleurs, pourtant cela demeure en grande partie cach?©. En 20 minutes, l’Histoire des Choses port…
December 11th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Annie, I think the video is excellent and I just posted one of the youtube versions on my blog. But I have a question about the Victor Lebow quote. Did you look it up? I can’t right now because it is the middle of the night and the online data bases with that journal don’t go back that far. But in 1972 a Victor Lebow wrote a book called Free Enterprise: The Opiate of the American People. Unless he underwent an amazing transformation between 1955 and 1972, I’m guessing that the original quote was a critique, not a prescription. I think it’s a great quote – too good in fact. I still have to check if I can find the original, but if I’m right, a minor change in the script could correct the sense I got from the film that this was written by an architect of the policy rather than by a critic.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Reading the other comments, I agree that the download is a little slow and the video may be a little long for many people to want to bother with, but I thought it was brilliant. It was sent along to me by a friend on Yahoo360, and I know she sent it to all her contacts there. I’m going to do the same, plus put it up in a blog, and do the same on my Multiply site too. This is such an important message, and should be spread far and wide. I’ll send the link to everyone on my email list also.
Thank you for making this video ~ simple to grasp by adults and children alike. Well done Annie, and the whole team! More power to your elbow.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Thank you so much for providing this accessible resource. I’ll be sharing this with my students here in South Korea.
They are the ones who can make a difference. They will respond with action!
I’ll get back to you with their feedback.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:51 am
While I agree mostly with your film, I think it comes off as too partisan and too scold-y. A sea change is needed in the way we manage our material stream, but you’re not going to win over anybody new with a film like this. This is preaching to the choir – I would bet most people who enjoyed this film already agree with your morally and politically and are already aware of the changes that need to be made. They don’t need to be lectured again. The people we need to talk to are the ones who believe everything’s hunky-dory, and chances are many of these folks will not appreciate being talked down to like this. I’m as left-leaning as they come, but this is how I feel.
I also believe there are some serious oversimplifications in the film – all corporations are evil and money-hungry, every product ever made has toxins in it. Please.
I love your message, but I don’t think it’s going to reach anyone.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I am a horrible consumer. I shop at Goodwill, garage sales, and the Salvation Army. I sell my children’s used clothes on my website. I keep wondering when the government will knock on my door, not because I homeschool my children, but because I’m not spending enough money! This video comes at the most opportune time in my life. I am a 36 year old green conservative, newly separated with a house full of STUFF. A couple of months ago, I got a strong desire to get rid of all the stuff and travel the country with my two kids in a motor home. “The GAS!” one might say, but I promise it uses less gas than the 5 bedroom home that I now live in that swallows us up. I am miserable and I’m finding a way out. This video is not only inspiring to me, but it’s getting me moving because I’ve been piling the stuff up and not moving it out! I’m tired of waking up, walking past the stuff, and getting depressed before I’ve even eaten breakfast. It will be so liberating to send it all on its way! I’ve also gotten re-motivated in learning about recycling in my community. I’ve lived here for two years, and kept promising I’d make that call…. Thanks for the video, for the kick, for the reassurance that I’m not the only one feeling this way!
December 11th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Thank you so much for this film. I have been rereading Al Gore’s 13 year old book “Earth in the Balance” and many of your video’s points are echoed in his famous book. As an environmentalist and a watershed manager for Contra Costa County in the state of California, I thank you for your efforts and accurate information. I will be sharing this film with everyone I know professionally and personally.
Thank you.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Thanks for the good information–it bears repeating often….I think more needs to be added about the compulsory public schooling system and its intentional creation and constant nurturing of the perfect little american consumer. In your video, you acknowledge that the big corporations along with an ever more accommodating government PLANNED things to work the way they do, that this image we have of what it means to be Americans, was intentionally created. Well, please read a little John Taylor Gatto, everybody, and extend this awareness to public schools. The same “conspiracy of thought” is at work in our public schools. You really want to throw a kink in the system? Homeschool. Anyone who can, should. Let’s build our own communities, locally, and “indoctrinate” our own children. Radical? You bet. Necessary and potentially wonderful? Yeah, that too!
December 11th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
I stopped buying baubles and trinkets 6 months ago when I woke up to all of this. Till now I didn’t have a way to explain how I felt this way. Annie & Co, your video is perfect “intro” material to wake people up. I also recommend reading Naomi Wolf’s NY times bestseller book, “End of America” or watching Aaron Russo’s “America: Freedom to Fascism” to continue your education.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Annie;
The Story of Stuff was a sobering 20 minute look in the mirror for me!
My personal circumstances have tragically changed over the course of the last 8 years to the point where previous luxuries and indulgences are no longer possible (or desirable in many instances…). But no matter how much I try to reduce-recycle-reuse, I cannot shake the sense of guilt and feeling of hypocrisy that pervades my soul and leaves me thinking I’m not doing enough.
I believe that we as a society will have to find a way to counter-balance these emotions as they can overpower one’s righteous intent and action and as well, give rise to questions like “What difference does one person make to the Big Picture?”
We all know the answer, so what stops us from making significant progress? It may not make a lot of sense, but I suspect that the fear of feeling guilty or believing oneself to be a hypocrite may actually prevent someone from getting more involved at the personal level. Just my $0.02 worth!
Thanks for the movie, and even more thanks for caring…
Sincerely,
JT
December 11th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Annie. In a word.
Awesome.
Thank you for caring enough to create it.
-Patrick
December 12th, 2007 at 2:21 am
This is a WORLD LEVEL MODEL of how educating the masses, including me, should be… Annie Leonard, you are a teacher at this… The reaction you’re getting from all over the world shouldn’t surprise you… I will happily spread this effort to the most I can…
A GREAT THANK YOU FROM SAUDI ARABIA…
December 12th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Annie:
This is something I think about all the time, and especially this time of year, when we seem to get caught in an accelerated avalanche of garbage-made-in-China. You are truly doing God’s work to research and present this complex of environmental challenges as you have.
December 12th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Annie,
it’s us all who have to say thank you to YOU!
and while the movie is downloading in another tab, let me tell a bit…
here in my hometown, after a successful anti-racism event three sundays ago, me and some friends are now planning an WSF-like event during the respective days in January. I’m looking at how to insert a presentation of The Story of Stuff into the events. well, due to language, and regrettably I don’t have the time left at this moment to translate it into Brazilian Portuguese. but the issue will be touched, specially since here in Brazil we are among the world champions in producing garbage.
once in France a lady observed to me she had never seen things going so easily into litter boxes like in Brazil. and I could only agree with her, no chance to even try to defend anything related to that behaviour in my country.
so stuff, garbage and litter boxes are an issue to be raised during our local WSF events, together with environment, pollution, agrochemistry, forestry of course, racism, GMOs, free software, preservation of species and varieties, ways of exchanges, etc., etc., etc., all those issues globalization causes: some make the money and the rest of us face the problems.
things go hands in hands. it doesn’t help any when everybody makes his/her personal or movement’s fight at his/her own corner, we must think transversally, as the famous Kanak independence activist Jean-Marie Tjibaou expressed it. or like agroecolgist Jos?© Bov?© wrote it pretty accurately, one’s fight for saving and preserving Alaska’s salmons – hmmmmmmm! :p – is directly linked to another’s fight for having the debts of poor countries annulated. and so on and so on. and here in Guaran?©sia, my fight for the preservtion of natural corn varieties is directly linked to my friends Fl?°via’s and C?©sar’s fight for their rights as black Brazilian citizen, to Jorge’s – a friend of mine with the same name – fight for the despollution of the local river which passes beside town, to D?©lia’s and her neighbors’ fight for ther right to put their horses in front of their carriages again in order to return selling their fine natural cheeses through the town’s streets, something they’d been forbidden from doing because a conservative mayor wanted to attract an Argentinian multinational corporation to produce milk derivates industrially here. the Argentinians first had made the condition of any kind of concurrence there might be to them being eliminated, and after that they found our town to hillbillied and desisted. but our local peasants continued forbidden from making and selling their cheeses…
well, transversal thought, hands-in-hands activism worldwide, issues linked to each other, that entire context the French have a fine word for it: ALTERMONDIALISME. one could translate it literally as “Anotherworldism” into English, as “Outromundismo” into Portuguese; one could even keep it as “Altermundialism”/”Altermundialismo” from its French original.
in my point of view, that word describes better than our respective English and Portuguese expressions Anti-Globalization / Anti-Globaliza?ß?£o would do it.
the expression ALTERMONDIALISME includes what we shall not desist from: the knowledge that another world is possible, that we all are part of it, that we all must have the right to make our passage through this dimension of being in dignity.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I appreciate what you are trying to do here, but isn’t having a dvd of the movie available to purchase sort of weird? Why not have it as a free on-demand movie or free pay-per-view. (Still not 100% great, but better overall.) You’re basically selling a disposable item on your site – a site that is showing a movie speaking out against disposable living. Something to consider as you march on…
December 12th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
You rock. You might find my blog, marysojourner.com, another intersection in this web. Used to be a NPR commentator, have a few books out, been writing on eco-system/human links for a long time. ms
December 12th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Thanks for translating the life cycle of our products to consumers who are unaware of the true cost of their consumption. I am an industrial
designer dedicated to turning the tide of mass production toward a sustainable system.
Industrial designers need the people’s help to start demanding greener products!
When our big bosses realize that the demand and the money is in sustainable products, taking time (and it does take more time)to work on LCA Life Cycle Analysis for every product will be granted. Industrial Designers are aware of the issues facing our planet because we know where products come from, and we know where they end up. We feel responsible to make the change. The change is not only in choosing greener material or reducing weight, the change comes through designing better ways of living, more efficient ways of brewing your coffee that uses less energy and a million other ways. The difficult part, and the reason the government won’t back change is the threat to our economy which is wrapped around consumption. A solution is to raise the price of products to their real cost so that consumers buy less! Nobody wants to hear that their I-pod now costs $1000 but you can be sure they won’t upgrade it in a year, and apple still gets paid so the economy doesn’t collapse.
Humans are unhappy because they are out of touch with nature, with their food, with animals and with the earth in general. People want to find that balance- farmers markets are exploding in popularity and organic is becoming wholesome instead of hippy. Just by having a garden or buying local produce to make fresh meals reduces the amount of packaging consumed. I have started carrying a Rubbermaid collapsible container in my purse so that when i go out to eat I don’t waste the food i didn’t eat, (because you should not eat all the food they give you) and so that I don’t have to waste further by getting a to-go box. I learned that on http://www.treehugger.com
Lets start talking about the solutions!
December 13th, 2007 at 3:35 am
I have read all of the comments here and agree with parts of all of them…I think you did a terrific job in telling the ‘terrible tale’ in “laymen’s terms” which helps, because I feel some people’s attention is in deficit and this “cartoony” approach will appeal to those types. The other types, myself included, may find it amusing, because we are well aware of these problems and are the ones right there with you!
I too feel it’s a tad hypocritical to sell DVD’s of this movie because of the waste factor, but I also know, (and this is for those who think that without seeing the other side of the coin)…activism takes time, time=money, and if you take a lot of time and make a movie such as this, there will be costs incrued as well as the potential need for some profit for yourself and “staff” (if there are any, because unfortunately, we do have to make $$$ to survive in this system. But maybe it would be easier to swallow if you make the labeling very modest, and reduced the price…although you’re probably having it massed burned through some company that has it’s prices you must pay. So to that end…buy the DVD to support people like Annie who take a lot of time to inform the rest of us. And to the other end…it is available for FREE which ANYTHING WORTH WATCHING IS…and is given to us with blessings to distribute as we see fit. So, thank you for that.
It IS the time of a NEW CONSCIOUSNESS arising and thankfully, it may NOT be too late! It’s up to us to take a moral and ethical STAND in our lives!
I remember working in the resturant industry,and I’d get so mad at the end of the day when I saw the garbage full of these thick plastic “kids cups” that SHOULD have been RECYCLED. I talked to management many times about recycling them…but to no avail. No one seemed concerned. I got so sick of the wastefulness of JUST that ONE restaurant, that I left it and have never looked back!
I EMPLORE other’s when out in life and at work, to try to be conscious of what we each use, and throw away. It’s just NOT NECCESSARY to be so wasteful.
Bring your OWN KID’S cups when out to eat!!!
Let’s really try to make changes! Starting even with the small things is going to eventually lead to bigger steps and then leaps, then bounds. I have always felt guilty about even using garbage bags because they are plastic…and paper bags are not good either because they are from trees…we must bring our own! BYOB Bring Your Own Bags. Cute huh?
I also believe in LEADING BY EXAMPLE. If we teach others by showing them a better way to live they’ll take it more as the “norm” because no one wants to feels singled out! So, let’s encourage others by WALKING THE TALK!
I believe in Marches, and activism, and being TRULY EDUCATED! LET’S TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY AND OUR PLANET!!!
“They” are NOTHING without “US”!–(my quote)
They can’t MAKE US buy things…BOYCOTT!!! SUPPORT LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES and ethical GREEN COMPANIES!!! Make Holidays about families and even though people have thought in the past that giving CASH for CHRISTMAS is tacky…I think it’s easier and better than giving them a bunch of novelty crap that they probably throw away! Make your own gifts or buy a REUSABLE giftard-with a note inside and maybe a DVD of “The Story Of Stuff” movie so they’ll understand where you are coming from! I am doing it this year! I’ll never buy a bobble again!!!
STAND TALL AND NEVER FAULTER!
December 13th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Awesome! Maybe this website will help add an extra dimension to your schematic…
http://www.consumeraware.org
Working on the prototype now.
-Brian in Vienna – Austria
December 13th, 2007 at 11:03 am
So clear, so true!
I really enjoyed your video. Please, translate this and spread the word in every country. I would even suggest to make different versions for the various countries, as the facts and figures you give can be adapted to relate better to the country it is broadcasted in.
I believe in people’s impact to change things, I believe in the power of the masses. Thank you for making us more aware and contributing to the global mind’s shift this planet needs. This video is one of the drops (quite big I have to say) that will make the big wave!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I would love to buy a DVD of this but I don’t need more stuff.
Dave
December 13th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Thanks Annie! Your video is perfectly timed for the season. It’s a long and difficult struggle, but every bit of education helps even if it just begins with a little preaching to the choir.
JC
December 13th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
This question is probably asked many times. But where are the sources for all these claims?
I watched the video and there are so many factual errors, actually so many, that it almost looks like deliberate lying.
December 13th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Finally, a generation who batches ‘it’ all together with the best wordsmiting possible: ’stuff’…..yes, I like that.
Downsize and just keep the stuff you can eat, keep one foot of clothes in your closet, three sock, three undies, a mat and slightly puffy pad, great blankets, a fold up light you buy at Staples…
And then, check in with me to see if you need to get advice about whatever else you need to keep yourself away from stuff. HollywoodMoviescriptWriters@gmail.com aka Susan Louise Darnell aka Tiffany Steal!
December 13th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
That was absolutely brilliant Annie and team! Its everything I’ve been thinking about lately but couldnt quite explain all the different elements to friends…etc etc.
Keep up the fantastic work and I’ll be sharing this with all my friends an posting it to my blog!
cheers,
JON.
http://theradblog.com
December 13th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Thanks Anne ! Please share you great video, make it available for Youtube or facebook or for social networking to get the word out! I see you got a CC license great start… come’on RSS Php are the way.
and it your really interested in making a difference check out http://www.acosanti.org and start thing about ARCOLOGY!
December 13th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Annie I would like you to come and speak at my company. I sent a note to your contact email address earlier today. Please reply to it.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
[...] has graciously responded to such criticism: Thanks also to those who have shared alternative view points. A friend of mine [...]
December 13th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Hi; watched the video, well constructed and easy to grasp message that is more than thought provoking, it is in fact a call to action. So, well done. I have forwarded the site address to some friends here in HK, where there is seeming awareness and strong commitment.
I was pondering some responses (particularly Kyla’s). It seems, as Thomas Schelling notes, that we are dealing with a divergence between what people are individually motivated to do and what they might like to accomplish together; a compromise of conflicting wishes & perceptions?
However, while we may debate modes of aggregate behaviour, the wider challenge is surely whether or not we recognise the central message of the video? To put it another way, again resorting to Schelling, how well each person does in adapting to their social environment is not the same as how satisfactory a social environment they collectively create. And, we’d have little argument surely that what we have collectively created is a long way from ideal or sustainable. Reprise Rachel Carson and Silent Spring, sadly too I don’t imagine many remember her or the book.
December 13th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Thank you for such a fascinating presentation!! I am sure it will and has infuriated the advocates of the present system (i.e capitalists). The Catholic Church has a rich body of teachings which touch on some of the questions and problems in your presentation. You might want to look at some of these encyclicals:
Rerum Novarum – Pope Leo XIII(On the Conditions of the Working Class)
http://tiny.cc/jckhi
Quadragesimo Anno – Pope Pius XI (Reconstruction of the Social Order)
http://tiny.cc/Vlki7
Centesimus annus – Pope John Paul II
http://tiny.cc/LI5wr
And please forgive me but here is another site you might be interested in:
John Medaille’s site on Distributism
http://www.medaille.com/distributivism.htm
We really have to change the system. Thanks again!
December 14th, 2007 at 5:03 am
You may want to contact with the National Association of Professional Organizers (http://www.napo.net)and the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (http://www.nsgcd.org)
Members of both groups help individuals, families and businesses deal with *stuff* on a daily basis.
December 14th, 2007 at 9:41 am
How do I save the flash banner for my site? One cannot right click on a flash banner and save as…
Would love to put this on my StressFreeDesign.com website in support of your efforts.
Thanks,
Veronika
December 14th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Thank you for this!! I moved to the US from a country where waste management does not exist in a scale needed for the huge population we have, primarily because laws protect the corporations. I will make sure everyone I know in India watches this and make some contribution towards saving our planet and each other.
Thank you again.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
I would like to thank you for putting this together. Especially the part about waste in production and disposal. Just last week I heard the amounts of waste for one ipod, I beleive it was 16lbs.
What is that commercial; “you can do it we can help” can be changed to; “we can do it and we will.”
December 14th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
I have to think this blog must moderate comments as there are very few people challenging this woman’s comments – so many of them are sooooo wrong – and not by accident, but purposely. For example she say that the forest land in the US is only 5% of what it was when this country was founded – NOT true.
Anyone who does a quick search can find academic research on the subject – this is from the Dept of Ag / Forest Service:
It is estimated that—at the beginning of European settlement—
in 1630 the area of forest land that would become
the United States was 423 million hectares or about 46
percent of the total land area. By 1907, the area of forest
land had declined to an estimated 307 million hectares or
34 percent of the total land area. Forest area has been relatively
stable since 1907. In 1997, 302 million hectares—
or 33 percent of the total land area of the United States—
was in forest land. Today’s forest land area amounts to
about 70 percent of the area that was forested in 1630.
Her views are an amalgam of Utopian thought, poorly informed environmentalism and politics. Our water and air is getting cleaner, we are recycling more than ever and there are billions being spent on alternative energy and materials – this message is a day late and a dollar short.
December 14th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Great job.Thanks
December 14th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
You didn’t mention that there are more acres of forest on the planet than 50 years ago. If you want to be taken seriously you need to present a balanced view, not just one slanted toward you viewpoint.
December 14th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Thank you, Annie. This show is great. We already do many or most of the things you talk about. It is difficult to convert others, but we try to do what we can. Have you considered the issue of eating high on the food chain (meat, especially from factory farms) as opposed to eating healthier fruits and vegetables that are lower on the food chain and therefore less wasteful and better for our environment?
December 14th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
thx for this. reblogged!
December 14th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Love the video, can wait to share. As an organic product consultant and consumer advocate, this is a great tool. I will pass it on to encourage people to take action
December 15th, 2007 at 2:59 am
Annie, Interesting presentation!
Without a ‘radical’ change in our system of economy, the idea of sustainability is just a theory.
I’ll post a link to your site at http://feww.wordpress.com/videos/
Meanwhile, here’s an Excerpt from: The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
“The key to preventing mass species extinction and preserving human cultures is one of creating the opportunity for humans to evolve at very low rates of energy (and material) consumption.”
http://edro.wordpress.com/energy-dinosaurs/
December 15th, 2007 at 4:07 am
Big thanks for that website. The problem however is not only in United States. If you think that you are reaching the edge of the “consumers system” in your country – here in Bulgaria we just started on that road. It really sucks to be honest. I remember that about 17 years ago the whole block where I live used a small round trash can which was cleaned weekly. Now we have two huge cans which must be cleaned daily – it’s more than 20 times more trash than what was before the political system change… things are growing in huge dimentions
December 15th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Again, excellent piece of work you have done there…and it is very heartening to read that you’ve gotten 100,000+ views. What I like most about what you’ve done is the fact that you have encapsulated an overview of our horrific and doomed economic system into a length of time that even the post-modern attention span can absorb in one sitting. No small feat there. Personally, I think that the changes we need to make will be forced upon us by an abrupt and painful collapse, but it is nice to see that there are more than a few other people out there trying to raise awareness. The sad thing is that most people will take a myopic one-liner by a climate-change denialist far more readily to heart than the real and painful data as most people would prefer a happy lie that will eventually cause their extinction than a harsh truth that will force them to evolve out of their comfort zones.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:19 am
As a filmmaker who makes a point of seeing as many films as possible related to sustainability, I confer on this film my highest honor. This is THE best use of the power of film I’ve seen on this subject. Bravo!
As for the few criticims in the comments: For those thinking it’s hypocritical to offer a DVD (stuff) of this film for sale, I would say don’t throw this away. Show it to your children and grandchildren. Show it at a block party. Would you propose people stop buying books? This is just like a book, only it takes up less space. And $10 is a very modest price. AND you CAN download it instead if you’d rather, for free.
For those thinking it’s too long, I would say there is a place for a 30 second TV spot, and a place for a two-hour movie, and a place for everything in-between. Is Titanic too long? Is Les Miserables too long? Get over it. Order the DVD, sit your kids and neighbors down on Friday night with some non-microwavable popcorn, turn out the lights, and enjoy the show. The kids will watch the entire film.
I, for one, will be adding a link and promoting this film as much as possible from my website.
Dave Gardner
Producer/Director
Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity
http://www.growthbusters.com
December 15th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Hello,
I agree with many of the points made in this film however I don’t think many people who are not of the same political ilk will be able to connect as it is quite preachy and very left-leaning. I disagree fundamentally that every single chemical we use is a toxin and that corporations could care less that they are using toxins in their products. I work in industry and everyday it is clear that more and more people working in industry are looking at green chemistry, sustainability, closed loop production, etc.
Additionally I do not agree that the government is completely in the pocket of industry. It is clear to me that there are many government initiatives to reduce chemical exposures, wasteful production, and to encourage recycling, etc.
I won’t even go there on climate change at this point because climate change is no longer a scientific issue but an emotional issue and it is increasingly clear that scientists don’t even know enough about the climate system to make any judgments about potential climates in the future.
Overall I think you are doing a great job of educating and highlighting the problem and so I do commend that however I feel like you will lose many people who are not leftists. This is something to consider as you move forward because we are all going to have to work together to make a better future.
December 15th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
The Story of Stuff really struck a chord with me.
Loved it! Sent it to my friends who may think I am preaching again. Whatchagonnado.
One thing that is unfortunate and ironic is that I have a real hard time watching it on my ancient laptop.
Good thing I am patient and persistent. Did my dishes during the breaks.
December 15th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Hi Annie!
And thank you for the wonderful movie! Even though the facts are pretty grave, you managed to inject a lot of humor into your story which only made it better.
I think your movie can be a great tool for educating school-age kids. I would like to see it translated and screened in my home country Bulgaria. Under your Creative Commons license, is it possible to subtitle and/or dub the movie in Bulgarian? As much as I like subtitles, I acknowledge it would be more suitable for school-age kids, especially the younger, to be able to hear it rather than read it.
December 15th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Really, hyperbole and sensationalism will only get you so far. Where are the sources for all of these claims? I hope the next video goes beyond the ‘A linear model can not work on a finite planet’ and ‘We’d need 8 earths if everyone consumed like Americans, and we only have one’ banter and present something that can be scrutinized and used.
The video’s message is done a great disservice with the scare tactics involved. Very irresponsible, both to the audience and the message.
December 15th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
This morning I had gone to a Meijer retail store to by some food, and was kind of thinking about buying a cosmetic bag for traveling. Of course there were plenty of these items at the store, pretty colors and patterns. But looking at them, I thought, no way, I’ll just make my own. Because I am a fiber artist and almost always make all of my own bags and purses by knitting, crocheting, or weaving anyway, I came home and got some of the yarn that I spun and began making my own cosmetic bag.
As I was knitting, I decided to watch The Story of Stuff (a co-worker had sent me the link). So I’m watching it and knitting my own bag, and thinking “I made the right choice this morning not to buy something pre-made”. My bag fits with sustainability and environmental concerns, as the wool I buy is from a local shepherd, I spin it myself with a modern spinning wheel that uses my own energy, and then I knit what I need.
It would have been easier to buy something at the store, but it wouldn’t have been very nice at all!
My mantra to people is that we can make what we need, and if we all pool our skills and resources, and work on making it OK to not buy things, then we can indeed make changes. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, and about 2 years ago I took my spinning wheel, a refurbished wood chair, and some wool, and parked myself on a sidewalk downtown in front of the U.S. Bank building. I got some weird looks, and when people asked me what I was doing, I said I was spinning yarn. When asked why, I said to show people that we can still make stuff. Some were turned off by this statement, others thought it was cool. A taxi driver stopped to say the spinning reminded him of his mother who is a spinner and lives in Africa. After about an hour, the security officer of the bank was finally sent out to find out what I was doing and why. He shrugged his shoulders when I gave him my common response and went back inside. I don’t know how much impact this randam act of fiber arts had, but brought self-production into the public eye and resulted in a lot of verbal and non-verbal communication that we desperately need.
peace
December 16th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Holly
Your spinning wheel act two years ago was brilliant! My senior colleague calls it “flapping your wings.”
He says: “Flap your wings to bring about the ‘radical’ changes that are necessary to save humanity from total extinction.”
It’s to do with chaos theory where, “tiny variations in the initial condition of a nonlinear dynamic system could result in large variations in the outcome/behavior of that system. Put simply, a butterfly flapping its wings in China might create changes in the atmosphere that could ultimately cause [or prevent] a category five hurricane off the coast of Louisiana. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the system’s outcome might have been entirely different.
‚ÄúHumans, too,‚Äù he says, ‚Äúcould create initial conditions that would cause a massive corrective change in the system…‚Äù
You can read more about it at http://edro.wordpress.com/faq/
Peace
December 16th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Hello Leah
The government spends “52 cents in every dollar of Federal Funds (current military spending 29 percent; Iraq and Afghanistan 4 percent; past military 19 percent, including national debt created by military spending) while 35 million Americans live at or below the federal poverty level.” http://msrb.wordpress.com/
The money goes to the military-industrial-nuclear complex which is mostly owned [and almost completely influenced] by the international banking cartel, and their major shareholders.
It’s difficult therefore to believe that the government is anything, but in the pocket of industry.
Peace
December 16th, 2007 at 3:37 am
“Where are the sources for all these claims.”
Just a quick note to let folks know that Annie has detailed sources for all her facts in the complete Annotated Script. It’s available here on the site:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/resources.html
December 16th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Your video has made an error about Tetra paks, Tetra paks are recyclable, The following web page describes the process that is used to recycle them.
http://www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk/recycling.asp
December 16th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Is there a way to embed your movie in a website?
December 16th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
oh, and also, do you use WordPress? just wondering.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I have just visited this site. it speaks of me, my mind, my spirit for 51 years!
1) Thank you for this site.
2) Please support your site and this set of concepts with:
books—
CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN
THE ECOLOGY OF COMMERCE
NATURAL CAPITALISM
THE LAST HOURS OF ANCIENT SUNLIGHT
sites–
http://www.naturalstep.org (since 1986)
http://www.globalmind-shift.org
Consciousness is rising! Assist others to awaken. Look at what the IPCC members and corporations are doing. It is always about “The Money Trail.” The World Bank was created for profit and economic manipulation only. See and act from …Economic Hit Man!”
Thank You!
PeterW
December 16th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
This is from http://www.naturalstep.org and the 4 Natural Systems Conditions are approved by Nobel Laureates as of the early 1980’s:
4 System Conditions to Maintain Nature’s Sustainable Balance
1* Substances from the Earth’s crust cannot be systematically increased in the biosphere. This means that fossil fuels, metals and other minerals cannot be extracted at a faster rate than their re- deposit back onto the Earth’s beyond natural levels and phase out persistent man-made substances not found in Nature.
2* Substances produced by society cannot systematically increase in the biosphere. This means that substances must not be produced at a faster rate than they can be broken down in Nature. This requires a greatly decreased production of naturally occurring substances that are systematically accumulating on the Earth’s crust.
3* The physical basis for the productivity and diversity of Nature must not be systematically deteriorated. This means that we cannot harvest or manipulate ecosystems in such a way as to diminish their productive capacity or threaten the natural diversity of life forms (biodiversity). This requires that we critically examine how we harvest renewable resources and adjust our consumption and land-use practices to fall well within the regenerative capacities of ecosystems.
4* In order to meet the previous three system conditions, there must be a Fair and Efficient use of resources to meet Human Needs. This means that basic human needs must be met with the most resource-efficient methods possible, including a Just Resource Distribution.
A Litany of Confession
I was downtown shopping for designer sheets . . .
When an old man said,
I have no bed.
I stood at a store comparing consumer reports on microwave ovens
When an African woman wept,
I have no food.
I hired a decorator to remodel my kitchen and to add more cupboards
When a Cambodian child sobbed,
I have no cup.
I dreamed of building a getaway place, a cabin in the woods, a country place
When across the water came a cry,
I have no country.
I bought a new big-screen color TV for a loved one’s pleasure,
When a war orphan murmured
I have no loved ones.
Forgive us when our ears won’t hear and our eyes won’t see what is real.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
So, What Is Ecofeminism?
By
Peter W. Earley
Ecofemenism is a confusing label placed upon a base of philosophy. The “feel” of the word makes some, in fact many, automatically conclude that it is about the radical feminist movement. It must be about extremist environmentalists. You know, it must be about those “tree huggers.” It’s got to be trouble though it is not clear why. What it actually is about is a spirit of thought, not about suffragettes. The spirit of thought is simply about calling for the rights of the Earth’s Ecology.
To those steeped in the outlook of the industrial age, this philosophy is silly. It even appears to be Outlandish! To others, the concepts are just not understandable because the language of thought is too foreign. Yes, backlashes are happening, but slowly the awakening is taking place.
This discussion must begin with an awareness that our vocabulary of thought has been built from a foundation of images created by our educational systems, socialization and lifestyles. Here in the early 21st century, we are a society that learns and communicates through images. These are images of lifestyles, images put in place through policy actions in industry, commerce, the media and even the government and the military. Images, of course, are mental pictures. And these powerful sources of influence have created our mental pictures of how things should be.
These mental pictures, our image vocabulary, have been built by our various leaders, business advertisers, the media and even schools. These forces of influence have become and remain our guiding references. They have become and remain our educators. Ecofeminism is a philosophy that offers perspective on the influence of our vocabulary of thought, which does lead to action.
Think of the images created by our mass media. Particularly television, Hollywood and the irresponsible press have created irresponsible representations of technoviolence, aberrant sexual behavior, purposefully sensationalized news and irresponsible uses of business, political and even religious powers. These images help to stimulate and motivate the acting out of what is originally seen and absorbed from a 2-dimensional format. It says what “is” or “what should be” real life. The entire setting of our society is magnified by these media images. Next, society literally begins to act out this magnification in real life. Then, a newer, grander magnification comes through the media, which stimulates an eruption of more explosive behavior and on goes the cycle. This phenomenon no longer is new to us, but the cycle continues to expand, to spin and to twist.
This image factory strongly influences how our society is taught to think. How we think dictates how we live out our lives. The lack of human values seems to be easily cited and it is important to cite this numbing malaise. Our universal need is to re-establish our social and private awareness of life through a new vocabulary of positive images. A new way to look at ourselves and out neighborhoods, our nation and our place in Nature.
Ecofeminism really begins with the observance that there are two energy centers that exist on Earth. The Far East sees them as the Yin and the Yang. They are Male and Female energies that affect the natural events on our Earth. These are energies, not necessarily about individual people. Certain energies are found in humans in varying concentrations. The Male energy is described by words like; aggressive, war-like, competitive, power loving, controlling, given to linear thinking and reasoning. Male Energy is “left brained” in quality and sort term goal oriented.
The Male energy looks to be very negative, yet it serves a necessary purpose in our human history. Philosophically, the need to compete and clash was needed for the first periods of human history. The genetic need to compete and conduct warfare were the seeds to create scientific thought, world exploration, industrialization and even religion. These are activities that did help advance dimensions of the human species.
Female energy is given to qualities such as nurturing, loving, mothering, holistic, in approach, genetically in need of maintenance and repairing, long term goal oriented. The Female energy has acquiesced to softness, to subservience. Yet, in the last few decades a more cohesive force has led the beginning of a female emergence on many levels. The Feminist Movement began this century and strengthened in the last few decades showing that this Female energy is coming alive and gaining strength. There has been male oriented backlash in response, yet the rebuttal of the Female energy will not work. There is a New World Order and it is shifting from the Male to the Female emphasis.
We are now at the end of and past the 20th Century. It is the century that gave birth to a period of exponential growths in scientific technologies and massive, uncontrolled destruction. Of course, as we entered into the 20th century, we created the Industrial and the Atomic Age. Advanced industrial production and military armament build-up have created inordinate nuclear wastes, hazardous wastes and just garbage. The alarming result has been of the entire planetary environment. Only in this last decade has there risen a global cry to stop this unchecked, irresponsible, destructive behavior. The aggressive male oriented rush to have the biggest and the best nuclear weapons, the biggest industrial complexes and “damn, who cares where the waste goes” mentality is ending.
What is taking place is a global unification to stop destroying our home. Arising is the call for ecological values and for accountability to be exercised for this massive abuse. Environmental abusers are not subject to litigation and fines as well as to environmental legislation that will simply force new ways of conducting business. In fact, the greatest environmentl battles will be won and lost here at the turn into the 21st century.
“The only new idea that could save humanity in the 21st Century is for women to take over the management of the world. I believe that male hegemony has squandered an opportunity of 10,000 years. We have belittled and ridiculed feminine intuition and on the other hand, we have historically sanctified our ideologues, almost absurd or abominable. The masculine power structure has proved that it cannot impede the destruction of the environment, because it is incapable of overcoming its own interests. For women, on the other hand, preservation of the environment is a genetic vocation. The reversals of power is matter of life.” . . .Gabriel Garcia Marquez
From a broader view, it can be said that a new human perspective is now taking hold. Philosophically, it is labeled Ecofeminism. It is now time to re-create our images; the images used as the reference guide for our conduct as individuals and as a global society. Ecofeminism has evolved from the concepts of the Feminist Movement, but it is NOT the Feminist Movement. It is about the plea that places the roots of oppression of Women, Minorities and the oppression of Nature as one in the same. Women, Minorities and Nature are interlinked. When one is freed they all are free. Women, Minorities and Nature are one. Ecofeminism is a philosophy that calls for the reorganization of methods and thinking. The core premise is that there are other ways to understand and respond to organizations, problems, challenges and images about what life can be. As Indira Ghandi put it, “It is a requirement, not a luxury to protect our environment.”
There is coming validation of Natural Knowledge that is a validation of intuitions as a viable force driving this broad based re-establishment. This comes from a value systems of ethics. Ethical conduct is critical to the action one takes in life situations, and most assuredly, it is critical to the philosophical outlook of Ecofeminism.
Regarding values and ethics, a new “3 R’s” can be suggested. At the foundation of our social learning needs to be the teaching of Respect, Responsibility and Reuse. Giving respect to others, including to Nature. Be held responsible for the effects of our actions. Reuse as many materials as we can to avoid waste and abuse of resources.
Ecofeminism is based on ideas that call for ethical thinking. It says our social fabric, our economic and political institutions need a new orientation in order to discover new, positive values. Values that see the values of community (values of quality) vs. individualism (values of quantity and competition). It looks at and questions the things our society produces, how they are produced and how these things are distributed. Ecofeminism does not want to throw out capitalism. The desire to think about human values in concert with economic values. It calls for a study of the economic scale, human values and justice. It is a self critical view. Thoughts that reflect this inner conflict come paraphrased from Aldo Leopold, “He who has environmental awareness is condemned to a life of wounds.”
Let’s look at different schools of Ecological Thinking. The central question of every school of thought is the primary need to answer, “Who speaks for the land?” There are two primary schools of thought labeled as Deep and Shallow Ecology. Shallow Ecology deals with popular ideas. It has created Green Washing (Marketing). This is about creating new product imaging without really creating an environmentally friendly improvement. The Hefty Trash Bag, claiming to be biodegradable all the while knowing that trash bags are buried in landfills and are not given the chance to biodegrade, is an easy example. The main point is that people’s fundamental relationship with nature is not changed with this outlook. The philosophical concern created about Shallow Ecology is the core attitude . . . is there a sustainable environmental value system in place here? Without this establishment, no success is achieved or sustainable.
Deep Ecology looks at the Earth Systems this way. The Earth itself does not produce. However, the Subsystems of the Earth are alive. They do produce. The Earth does behave like it is a huge, living cell. See, naturalstep.org . . . an international pedagogy of learning and knowing the Earth’s Four Natural Systems Conditions. 1) Resources cannot be extracted from the Earth’s core and crust to be deposited in the Biosphere faster that Nature can take it back; ie. fossil fuels. 2) Man -Made substances cannot be deposited in Earth’s Biosphere faster than Nature can receive and adjust to it. 3) Earth’s systems cannot be removed or destroyed faster that Nature can rebuild and replace it ie; clear cut foresting, industrial fishing, etc. 4) ALL Earth’s Resources must be used in a Just and Efficient Manner for ALL HUMAN NEEDS.
This knowledge is acknowledged by Nobel Laureates and taught to large multinational companies and organizations as well to regional and local private and public organizations. Examples are: Electrolux, Scandic Hotels, IKEA Furniture-Sweden, McDonald’s-Sweden, Cargill Dow, Shell Oil-U.S., the U.S Congress under the directive guidance of Al Gore, Co-President of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development with the CEO of multi-national manufacturer, Interface, Inc. Office Systems, the other Co-President of PCSD with Gore.
Environmental Activists justify their actions based on Deep Ecology Analysis. They argue for the rights of Nature itself. Activists argue that these portions of the Earth have the same rights as minorities (ie., women, children and the disenfranchised). It also challenges the view of Private Property Rights set up in society. It asks the question, “Do you have the right to destroy land because you say you own it?”
Know that the CEO of Green Peace, the Natural Step (naturalstep.org) and others support business. What they urgently strive to do is to teach higher efficiency of creating, making and distributing products and services in concert with Earth’s 4 Systems Conditions. Companies who are beginning to embrace and manage the change of their infrastructures are realizing higher profits and making less of an Ecological Footprint on the Earth! See the books, “Natural Capitalism”, “The Ecology of Commerce”, “BioMimicry and “The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight.” See the Earthwatch Institute’s quarterly magazine. The CIA uses them for national strategy and security studies as the CIA sees direct links to global resources and environmental health and our American strength and peace.
Harvard Ph.D., E.O. Wilson proclaims that our 100 to 200 years of unchecked consumption of Earth’s resources has deeply threatened the Earth’s living systems. If all 6.3 billion people on Earth consumed as Americans consume, we would need 5 Planet Earths to supply the resources necessary to produce the things we consume on a daily basis.
Ideas, philosophies images have been shared here. These have been words wanting to create new images in our society. New images held in our mental and philosophical core would create new ways of thinking and doing things. New images create new potentiality. Words and images without deeds are empty and without lasting meaning. Ecofeminism calls for new values, new ethics, new actions, a new vocabulary for the issues at hand. Issues that cannot be denied.
Nature is a language, and every new fact that we learn is a word; but rightly taken all together, it is merely a language put together into the most significant and universal book.” . . . Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Ecofeminism is a base of philosophy that calls for a unilateral freedom of the rights for the ecology and for women and minorities. This philosophy states they are one in the same. It is not against men. It does call for the lifting of harsh oppression. Ecofeminism encourages economic advancement in industry, yet it calls for new integrity, ethics, new knowledge and new, innovative processes. There is no more room for unethical, environmental oppression.
A concise summation by Baba Dioum serves powerfully to clarify a view of our core of philosophy that needs to be our daily thought and our daily action plan; “In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand and we will understand what we are taught,” Ecofeminsim calls for a new way to understand and a new way to love.
Until he extends the circle of his compassion to ALL living things man himself will not find peace.
. . . Albert Schweitzer
December 16th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
WHAT I LEARNED IN THE RAINFOREST, by the retired CEO of Mitsubishi Electric, U.S. . . .
The following is a keynote address to the World Future Society on July 19, 1997, by Tachi Kiuchi, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, General Manager of Global Communications, Former Chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric America, and Chairman of the Future 500. Mr. Kiuchi heads the Global Communications and Industrial Ecology Programs of the Mitsubishi Electric Companies.
by Tachi Kiuchi
Thank you for the honor and privilege of speaking with you this afternoon. I have been fascinated by the global perspectives I have gained at my first World Future Society conference, and I appreciate all that I have learned from you. I come to speak on the two issues most vital to the future of my business, and perhaps of the world: (1) the environment, and (2) the emerging information economy. To me, these topics seem intimately linked. Perhaps this is partly because I work for an electronics company, and I see our impact on the environment. But my most important lessons about the link between business, environment and economy did not come from my company. My most important lessons about business and environment I learned in the forest. Let me explain. My first lesson in the forest happened 37 years ago, days after I graduated from the University of British Columbia. I was asleep when I got my lesson. This was unfortunate, because at the time I was driving a little British car through the forests of the Canadian Rockies.
It is not advisable to drive a car through the Rockies when one is asleep. You might drive off a cliff, which is exactly what happened to me. When I woke up in the hospital, I had plenty of time to reflect upon what I could learn from this incident. I remembered advice that my father had given me a few years before. He knew I was an adventurer, and a risk-taker. He liked that, but he didn’t want me to have too much of a good thing. So he took me aside and told me: “Do whatever you want. But don’t die.” I wanted to call my father to tell him that I had taken his good advice, but my jaw was clamped shut. So I couldn’t. He found out anyway. The Japanese Consul General saw an article on my adventure in the local newspaper, and sent it to him.
I have since passed along my father’s advice to others. I think about it when people ask me what I think about sustainability. To me, this is what it means: “Do what you want. Follow your purpose. But don’t die.” For a young man, driving off a cliff in the Rocky Mountains teaches a valuable lesson.
________________________________________
LESSON #1
________________________________________
Stay alert. Watch where you are going.
It seems to me that the global business community is driving quickly toward a cliff, and we have our eyes closed. If we opened them, here is what we would see: Today, 600 million of the Earth’s inhabitants-in Europe, Japan, and the United States – enjoy the material benefits of industrialism. Soon, 2.5 billion more-China, India, the former Soviet Republics-will join us. And after them, the final 3 billion will seek the same. They demand and deserve to share in the benefits which we enjoy. To do that today, we need three planets. But we have only one.
We must learn a new way of life. We must learn to provide affluence without effluence. We must develop prosperous human communities, with meaningful work and social equity between various groups. And, we must do so by consuming less from the environment, not more.
Population explosion. Habitat destruction. Resource consumption. Those are signs that may worry us. But as we approach the 21st Century, I wonder if you all see, as I do, positive signs as well, signs of the dawn of an entirely new era, an era when all our businesses, yours and mine, will undergo dramatic change. That new era could move us beyond the industrial era, where we used machines to expand human muscle. It could carry us into a new era where we expand the human mind.
To excel in this new era, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed a long-range business plan. We call it Vision 21. Vision 21 challenges us to excel in several emerging business domains, all based on the use, not of raw materials and fossil fuels, but knowledge. For example:
‚Ä¢ We make some of the world’s most efficient solar cells.
• We make fuel cells that turn simple hydrogen to electricity, with no pollution.
• We make microchips for companies like Hewlett-Packard and Sun.
‚Ä¢ We introduced the world’s first CFC-free refrigerator, and won the US Environmental Protection Agency’s award for our innovation.
• We design and engineer technologies of the Internet, that allow us to communicate without paper, to travel without going anywhere.
• We make the satellite systems that can continuously monitor the global environment, and feed that information back to nations, businesses, and people who can take action in response.
Through Vision 21, we are shifting our investments away from the ecologically harmful practices of the old economy, toward the information-based technologies of the future. We are shifting from growth based on consumption to growth based on knowledge. The pace of change, however, is extremely fast. To succeed, we must be agile. And we must be creative. And that requires that we operate our businesses in bold new ways.
In the old days, we operated our businesses like they were machines. But machines are not agile. They are not creative. They do not respond well to change. In the future, we need to operate our businesses according to a different model. That brings me to how I got my second lesson from the forest.
Around Earth Day five years ago, I received a small stack of letters from a class of elementary school students, asking me to do what I could to stop harming the rainforest. The letters confused me at first. We are an electronics company. We have no timber holdings. We make no forest products. We use very little paper or wood. What’s the connection? It turned out they were talking about another company that shares the Mitsubishi name. We’ve been separate companies for 50 years, since 1946. Not subsidiaries, not divisions. Separate. But no one knows this except us. Everyone thinks they own us, or we own them, or somebody else owns us all. So long ago, we stopped trying to convince people we are separate companies. It’s much easier just to try to do something about the problem, instead of worrying about the name confusion.
Solving problems and fulfilling needs, after all, is how businesses discover new markets, and generate new profits. It’s even better if the company isn’t invested in whatever caused the problem-so there’s no trapped capital to lose. So, on my next trip to Asia, I visited the Malaysian rainforest. I met with expert foresters. I visited timber cutting sites, as well as reforesting and research operations. I spoke with visionary environmentalists and executives. What I learned changed my life as a corporate executive.
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LESSON #2
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I learned that saving the rainforests– in fact, saving the environment– is more than an environmental necessity. It is a business opportunity. In our case, it is an opportunity to further advance Vision 21, to pursue business opportunities that use creativity and technology to substitute for trees, for resources of any kind. After I visited the rainforest, we spoke with Amory Lovins, the famous expert on resource efficiency. We asked him to lead a global study team, to discover what opportunities business had to save forests. He agreed, and established the Systems Group on Forests. In a few weeks, his Systems Group will release a series of reports that show how businesses like yours and mine can help to reverse the systemic causes of forest destruction. If you want to take advantage of these opportunities, and invest in business pursuits that could help save the rainforests, please give me your card.
But I learned something else in the rainforest, something more profound. I learned how we might operate our company not just to save the rainforest, but to be more like the rainforest. Let me explain. As I said earlier, today’s fast-changing business environment requires that we be alert, and responsive. Agile, and creative. To do so, we must structure our company so we are a learning organization. Not top-down, but bottom-up. Not centralized, but decentralized. Not limited by rules, but motivated by objectives. Not structured like a machine– which cannot learn– but like a living system, which can.
When I visited the rainforest, I realized that it was a model of the perfect learning organization. A place that excels by learning to adapt to what it doesn’t have. A rainforest has almost no resources. The soil is thin. There are few nutrients. It consumes almost nothing. Wastes are food. Design is capital. My model for Mitsubishi Electric. An organization that is like a rainforest.
Here is what a banker would say if asked to make a loan to a rainforest: “No way!” After all, it has no productive assets. Yet rainforests are incredibly productive. They are home to millions of types of plants and animals, and more than two-thirds of all biodiversity in the world. Those plants and animals are so perfectly mixed that the system is more efficient, and more creative, than any business in the world.
Imagine how creative, how productive, how ecologically benign we could be if we could run our companies like the rainforest? How can we begin? By operating less like a machine, and more like a living system. An Industrial Ecosystem. That is why, at Mitsubishi Electric, we have begun to adopt an environmental management system founded on principles of Industrial Ecology. For us, this means two things: First, we must have our eyes wide open, and see the environmental costs and benefits of our business. Second, based on what we see, must take action.
See costs — reduce them.
See benefits — increase them.
See needs — fill them.
Not just inside the company, but throughout the community, locally and globally. We must take responsibility for the impacts of our products, from cradle to cradle.
So, instead of keeping environmental affairs separate from the core operations of our company, we are integrating it. For example: We recently combined our Environmental Management and Quality Management programs. From now on, it is not just quality of product. It is quality of the Earth. We also combined our Product TakeBack effort with our Design for Environment program. The United Nations awarded us the Habitat II award for this initiative. I have copies of an article on this program, for those of you who are interested.
We combined ISO 14000 — the new international environmental management standard-with our Natural Step program The Natural Step is a program developed in Sweden to help companies avoid products and processes that violate principles of sustainability in nature. We recently trained all our North American managers in The Natural Step, the Swedish-based program that helps companies operate within nature’s limits. I am told I was the first CEO of a major company to take The Natural Step training. Now we are working with Paul Hawken and Karl Henrik Robert (row-BEAR) to help bring the training to Japan.
Finally, we are looking for ways to combine our efforts with those of others. Maybe some of you. To do that, we are sponsoring a series of roundtable discussions about Industrial Ecology and advanced resource productivity. We call the participants in these discussions The Future 500. Time will tell whether the name is correct. I invite you now to join in this process.
If The Future 500 and Industrial Ecology are subjects that interest you, I hope you will join me at two events-write the dates in your calendars now:
‚Ä¢ September 18 to 21, 1997 — the Ecotech Conference, in Monterey, California.
‚Ä¢ April 24 to 26, 1998 — Industrial Ecology III, in San Francisco. California.
Through these discussions, we intend to find business opportunities that will help preserve the Earth. We intend to redirect our investments in ways that will be as productive as a rainforest. Which brings me to my third lesson from the rainforest.
How can rainforests be so productive when they seem to have no capital assets? They are productive because their capital is hidden in their design.
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LESSON #3
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True profit comes from design, not matter. In fact, the most important Natural capital is its design. Its relationships. Like those we see in the rainforest, or in our communities, or in our companies. In Japan, we have two terms to describe this: omote and ura. Omote is the surface or front of an object, ura is its back or invisible side. Omote and ura . External reality and underlying reality.
When I visited the rainforest, I thought: As business people, we have been looking at the rainforest all wrong. What is valuable about the rainforest is not omote — the trees, which we can remove. What is valuable is ura — the design, the relationships, from which comes the real value of the forest. When we take trees from the forest, we ruin its design. But when we take lessons from the forest, we further its purpose. We can develop the human ecosystem into as intricate and creative a system as we find in the rainforest. We can do more with less. Grow without shrinking.
Ura , not omote .
We are beginning to learn the value of this in business. Consider the microchip. A microchip’s omote -its physical content — isn’t very valuable. Silica is the cheapest and most abundant raw material on the planet — sand. But a microchip — its shape — is design, its unseen artistry – is extraordinarily valuable. Yet it comes from a source that seems almost unlimited — the knowledge and inspiration we draw from the human mind and spirit. That is the most valuable resource, and the most abundant.
This becomes the most important question for today’s corporate executives to answer: How can we redesign, reinvent our corporations, so that they fully harness the human mind and spirit? How can we transform our top-down hierarchies, our conformist monocultures, to engage the magical creative qualities we see in the forest? That brings me to …
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LESSON #4
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To succeed in the new economy, we must operate by the design principles of the rainforest: the design principles of nature’s most advanced learning organization. There are at least five of these design principles– and no doubt many more that I have yet to learn. Listen to them carefully. See if you agree, and see if you can tell what connects them. They are:
1. Get feedback.
2. Adapt. Change
3. Differentiate.
4. Cooperate.
5. Be a Good Fit.
Let me explain what I mean.
1. Get Feedback. I know from my drive over the cliff that there are two kinds of feedback: “advance” and “direct”. “Advance” feedback is when we see the danger, and have time to change. “Direct” feedback is when we don’t see the danger, drive off the cliff, and are hurt or die. This is the path chosen by 99% of all species who have lived on the earth, and are now extinct. Needless to say, I like advance feedback better.
Humans have the best individual feedback systems anywhere in nature- our eyes, our ears, our minds. But our collective feedback systems — at the community and company level – are nowhere near as developed. This is now my #1 personal priority. To create at Mitsubishi Electric the best system of corporate feedback in the world so that we know the costs and the benefits of every product and service we create, and the social and environmental needs we can help fulfill, better than any other electronics company.
We will do it by listening — like I am here, today and yesterday. But even more, we will do it by measuring, in ways I will describe in a moment. This — getting feedback, by listening and measuring — is Step#1 to being the most effective electronics company in the world, I believe.
But it is still just a start. Design principle #2 is:
2. Adapt. Change. It is not enough just to look ahead and see the cliff. We must turn. We must change. For that, at Mitsubishi Electric America we will create incentives. When people are creative and innovative-when they find ways to reduce costs and enhance benefits — they will be rewarded. We all know that what gets measured gets done. So we will no longer just measure quarterly profits, return on investment, and GNP. Beginning in 1998, we will also measure three new things: pollution intensity, resource productivity and quality of life.
We will create systems that reward people whenever they think and act to reduce costs or increase benefits — inside or outside our company. We have already begun — our decentralized management and team-based structure encourages people to be creative about reducing costs internally. Now we want to do the same to reduce costs for the environment, for society as a whole. We want to eliminate the last vestiges of our machine-age structure, and apply the principles of Industrial Ecology to become as creative and innovative as a living system. We will also share our methods with every other company, through The Future 500.
3. Differentiate. Be yourself, be unique. In the rainforest, conformity leads to extinction. If two organisms have the same niche, only one survives. The other either adapts, or dies. In today’s economy, the same happens. If two businesses have the same niche — make exactly the same product — only one survives. The other adapts, or dies.
So what are most companies today doing? They are trying to be the one that survives. Cutting costs. Downsizing radically. Desperately seeking the lowest cost. We think it is much smarter to differentiate. Create unique products, different from any others. Fill unique niches. Don’t kill our competitors, or be killed by them. Sidestep them instead.
Be yourself, Be. Only then — after we differentiate — is it time to reduce costs, and grow more efficient. We have learned this the hard way. We sell millions of televisions, stereos, and appliances. We cannot compete by being the lowest-cost operator. Instead, we must offer products that are different, distinctive. We must choose and fill our unique niche.
This is new for many in Japan. The philosophy used to be: Don’t differentiate. Don’t be different. If the nail sticks out, it will be hammered down. Now, I say our philosophy must be: Stick out, or you will rust away.
By being different, we are also better able to fulfill design principle #4:
4. Cooperate. Today, many people think “competitiveness” is the key to business success. Their thinking is out-of-date. In the old economy, when we were all the same, we competed. We had no choice — we all made the same products. We filled the same niche. We could not coexist peacefully in the same community. In the end, only one of us could survive.
Today, as we grow different, we learn that none of us is whole. We need each other to fill in our gaps. For example, at my company, we no longer look to grow bigger simply by acquiring more and more companies as subsidiaries. Instead, we are engaging in cooperative joint ventures with many others. Each company retains its independence, its specialty and core competence. Together we benefit from our diversity.
Which brings me to design principle #5:
5. Be a Good Fit. We used to say, “Only the fittest survives”. There is only one winner. But in the rainforest, there are many winners. The same can be true in our economy. In the old, uniform, monoculture economy, only one form wins, only the most fit survives. At least until a new invader wipes him out.
In this new, diverse, rainforest economy, it is not a question of who is most fit. It is a question of where we best fit. If we fit — if we solve a social problem, fulfill a social need — we will survive and excel. If we only create problems, we will not.
I am often asked whether the needs of the corporation and the needs of the environment are in conflict. l do not believe they are. In the long run, they cannot be. Conventional wisdom is that the highest mission of a corporation is to maximize profits. Maximize return to shareholders. That is a myth. It has never been true. Profit is just money. And money is just a medium of exchange. You always trade it for something else. So profits are not an end. They are a means to an end.
My philosophy is this: We don’t run our business to earn profits. We earn profits to run our business. Our business has meaning and purpose-a reason to be here. People talk today about businesses needing to be socially responsible, as if this is something new we need to do, on top of everything else we do. But social responsibility is not something that one should do as an extra benefit of the business. The whole essence of the business should be social responsibility. It must live for a purpose. Otherwise, why should it live at all?
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LESSON #5
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That suggests the final lesson I learned — so far — from the rainforest: The mission of business — the mission of civilization — is to develop the human ecosystem, sustainably. To take our place in the global ecosystem. In all our diversity and complexity.
What I learned from the rainforest is easy to understand. We can use less, and have more. Consume less, and be more. It is the only way. For the interests of business, and the interests of environment, are not incompatible. They are the Japanese omote and ura , the Chinese yin and yang, product and process, economy and ecology, mind and spirit — two halves. Only together can we make the world whole.
________________________________________
Copyright © 1997 The Future 500
335 Powell Street, 14th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
USA
Email: info@future500.org
Tel:+1 (415) 294-7775
Fax:+1 (415) 520-0830
Visit their website at: http://www.future500.org/
posted with permission by New Horizons for Learning
http://www.newhorizons.org
E-mail: info@newhorizons.org
December 16th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
My boss sent this around to everyone in our Earth Day Canada office and we each sent it around to our personal and professional contacts. I will also feature this to over 2,000 elementary schools across Canada that are part of our EcoKids (www.ecokids.ca) club. I know that they will all watch this and start changing the consumer mindset…or at least nag their parents next time they go to shopping as a “family activity.”
Great work!
December 16th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
PeterWesley
The spamming tactics you are using on this forum are well known to some of us. By posting large chunks of text, you are trying to disrupt the forum deterring other people from expressing their ideas.
Had your intentions been benevolent [not malevolent], you would’ve posted a link to your source adding a few lines of explanation.
Dear Annie
Excellent video, please moderate the comments to prevent blatant disruptions.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:28 am
I won’t be able to sit down for a month… you’ve given me such a kick up the backside. How guilty do I feel? Time to change. Thank you.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:40 am
With only one concern of mine, the Tory is an excellent work. Here is my concern, however.
At one point the film says, essentially, Why not spend money on health care etc. rather than on stupid Stuff? The problem is that health care would not be as good as it is (technology has a huge role in its development) without the availability of money generated by profits made from stupid Stuff.
So, since health care is one element of standard of living, we would have to ask how much reduction in things like health care would we be willing to accept if we choose to improve the now-wasteful stream of extraction through disposal.
I know; it’s a big question…but your film makes slight it too much.
Please look into it; it would make your very good film truly excellent.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Corrected typo – - -
With only one concern of mine, the Story is an excellent work. Here is my concern, however.
At one point the film says, essentially, Why not spend money on health care etc. rather than on stupid Stuff? The problem is that health care would not be as good as it is (technology has a huge role in its development) without the availability of money generated by profits made from stupid Stuff.
So, since health care is one element of standard of living, we would have to ask how much reduction in things like health care would we be willing to accept if we choose to improve the now-wasteful stream of extraction through disposal.
I know; it’s a big question…but your film makes slight it too much.
Please look into it; it would make your very good film truly excellent.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:40 am
It’s really a shame. I am sure you had many good points in the video but they were over shadowed by your off topic little digs. Your video will have zero impact on anyone that doesn’t already agree with you. The whole “tank” comment….how do you expect anyone to take you seriously. You could a good credible informed source but reduced yourself to liberal whacko.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Don’t know if you have “discovered” Ivan Illych but he has (had, he’s dead now) lots of good things to say about this subject.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Absolutely fantastic! Congratulations for making this film.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Hmm, I wonder if the dvd is made of recycled soda cans and packaged in used diapers? Why not follow your own mantra and leave this piece of work solely available on the net to reduce energy consumption in creating and packaging, transporting etc. the dvds, and waste? Seems to me like you are making “stuff” just like everyone else.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Wow, I am 14 years old and I my ENGLISH teacher showed me this. Though I agree with a few points I think it is a little to biased for school. It wasn’t even suttle about it like at my school. The totally open comments about Bush (oh and by the way, Bush did say to pray and have hope. He also said for us to go back to our normal lives and do things like go to the mall. That quote was taken way out of context). I agree with bbagg you have reduced yourself to a liberal whacko, and I feel bad for our school and students having the nerve to show this to students; especially in English class!!!!!!
December 17th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Sorry for the double-post, but I forgot to talk about the anti-capitalism mindset. Capitalism and free enterprise are the reason for our good economy; it is also the bases on which our nation was founded.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:39 am
although this is a great work; i tend to agree w/ bbagg above.
you have alienated the group that needs this information with the preachy liberal format. most of those who agree are in the choir.
i guess the best option would be for this to be high school classroom debate material. i will share this with my daughter and get her vibe.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:15 am
My daughter’s science teacher is using this as part of her curriculum; I’m hoping that the religion teacher will integrate it with the materials we’ve sent her from fair trade organizations (it’s a religious school where ethics are stressed). I’ll be interested to see if there is feedback at this school from other parents whose daughters shared the site with them, as I know that there are parents who do not share the “political” views expressed so eloquently here.
Thank you! We will share this presentation with others.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:12 am
Love the movie. Well done! It makes you think while avoiding the old song about “hugging trees” that turns off most people from watching these kind of movies at the first place. I promoted it on my blog. I would suggest that you allow people to embed the movie into their own blogs, websites and so on to maximize viewership.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
I started to watch this piece and ended it when I realized it was just more twisting of alleged facts and statistics used to sustain a political agenda. A case in point is the alleged fact that “we have used up on third of the worlds natural resources” Natural resources are replenishing themselves all the time. We are finding huge oil reserves that we didn’t know existed six months ago. The logging industry plants new trees in harvested areas and have been doing so as far back as I can remember. Be weary of people that only give you half the story. Josh DeVore/North Canton,OH
December 18th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
thanks for the sobering reminders- i was moved to forward it on to even some people who will be offended… because of their cooperation in this activity of consumerism.
I was primarily writing to ask how to spell victor lebeau- you print a quote by him in the movie, but i could find no more info…
please email me back with this info.
thank you.
-josh.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
i just got the name- thanks- lebow; 1955. thanks again for your tremendous work.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Increible.
Necesitamos la pel??cula en otros idiomas, porfavor.
Espa?±ol. urge.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
When I was growing up in Canada we had a separate class for “Environmental Studies” along with reading and math. My family now lives in the States and my little brother (age 12) has heard next to nothing about environmentalism. I played him this video today and he wants to share it with his class at school. Kids are smart enough to understand this stuff…it’s the parents we need to get through to.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Thanx for this beautiful and useful “tool”, Annie. Compliment to the FRS too, for the the nice drawings.
I’m working to the italian translation (subtitling).
Best regard from Sicily, where they’re trying to build four mega and obsolete (!!!) incinerators. They SUCK!
December 18th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
I started to watch this piece and ended it when I realized it was just more twisting of alleged facts and statistics used to sustain a political agenda. A case in point is the alleged fact that “we have used up one third of the worlds natural resources” Natural resources are replenishing themselves all the time. We are finding huge oil reserves that we didn’t know existed six months ago. The logging industry plants new trees in harvested areas and have been doing so as far back as I can remember. Be weary of people that only give you half the story.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Annie,
How’s the weather in Oz? There are so many lies in your video. For example, global forest cover in 1950 was 30.0%. In 1994, it was 30.9%. Do a little more research and tell the truth.
You should read “The Skeptical Environmentalist” by ex-Greenpeace member Bjorn Lomborg. See also Peter Huber’s “Hard Green-Saving the Environment from the Environmentalists.” Huber wrote that book about you and your ilk.
Dennis
December 19th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Thank you, Annie. Brilliant job.
Even though I try to practice green principles, consuming less is a constant struggle for me, and the Story of Stuff a great reminder and motivator to do so.
Thanks again.
December 19th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
OUTSTANDING – I sent it to friends & added to my blog http://www.orange-tree-international.com/blogger/
We’re also Seattle based business & so impressed with your presentation and message.
Congratulations on all your successes
Happy Holidays
Lyndi
December 20th, 2007 at 1:36 am
Thanks for your video, which I found most illuminating.
However, I was very surprised to see no mention whatsoever regarding the greatest tool we have to combat the problem of consumption and limited resources – population control. If the global population was one tenth the size it is (especially in the third world), the quality of life would be infinitely better, and we’d have ten times longer to figure out all the sustainability issues.
What happened to the zero population growth movement of the last environmental age (the 1970’s)? Why don’t we hear people talking about the biggest issue of all – the one overriding factor that touches on every other single one?
December 20th, 2007 at 5:21 am
It\’s a nice piece of work and very well presented. Might I ask where you come up with your numbers? That\’s a lot of tossing around of 1/3ds and 1/5ths and all kinds of numbers with pie charts that make everyone say \”Wow\”.. And, when you say it with a straigh face and no inflexion in your voice, then it must be true and everyone can believe that you didn\’t just make it all up. I hope Al Gore buys your video and you get a big check. That\’s what it\’s all about with him and that\’s what it\’s all about for you.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I forward your wonderful video to other teachers and they love it. Thanks for considering an easier version for younger students (e.g., grades 1 to 6).
Recently I purchased a Brita filter cartridge to avoid buying plastic bottles of drinking water. Then I found out that the cartridge can’t be re-cycled or re-generated because “it’s not economically viable”. Inspired by your video, I forwarded my comments to head office in California and told them about your video. Hopefully others will feel compelled to do the same.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Rita, even if these numbers “were” wrong, even if the author “was” just out for money, the current system *is* being accurately depicted. We have an unsustainable solution, and we owe it to ourselves and our kids to find a better way.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
To Blogger #49 and others
If you are from any third world country, they are already doing very well with recycling and living the old way……until the fat Corporate moguls and Hugh Heffner-likes are looking to create middle class consumerism models/concrete streets/and ofcourse tight T-shirts.
Read the latest National Geographic, on how the West is dumping waste into third world nations to clean up in the name of recycling!!!!
December 21st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I am just not quite comfortable with many of the simplifications illustrated in this presentation. (I am also not quite comfortable openly saying in this blog either…) I think many people may share the same feeling.
Besides the ironic DVD thoughts mentioned earlier… I needed some stuff to watch this, and reply to this- as well.
December 25th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
While I don’t agree with everything, I do agree with the principle of it all. A couple clarifications and things to think about.
Regarding Computers, monitors, and cost of ownership. That fancy new flat screen monitor that you were comparing to your washing machine… That fancy new flat screen may use only a fraction of the power that your big white monitor uses.
As for toxics in electronics. You mentioned that in europe that have put forth laws to eliminate certain toxics in electronics. I am happy to report that electronics companys do NOT produce one version of an electronic item for the USA and then a cleaner version for Europe. I’ve worked in the electronics industry and have watched US based companies make changes to manufacturing processes to accomidate Europes new policies. Nobody builds electronics exclusivly for the USA. The same process and material used to make that IPOD for sale in Europe is used to make it for sale in the USA.
As for upgrading a PC -vs- replacing… There are a number of standards in the industry. Yes new standards are developed on a regular basis to improve efficency be it performance, or power consumption. There is a whole new market for low power computers. Your average laptop uses 1/3 of the power of a desktop computer. I personally have upgraded my computer where I might replace just 1 item in my computer. Not all upgrades require you to throw the whole thing out.
It is also possible to recycle complete used systems. Often older systems can be recycled and sent to places that do not have the resources to buy new cutting edge equipment. Many of the “outdated” systems in the USA are still very good at doing the basics. The primary reason for getting the latest and greatist is to support activities such as gaming and multi-media (such as DVD Movies, music, and video recording on your computer).
There is a lot that can be improved to make things more green. However currently it typically costs more to go green than it does to go traditional. If we as consumers were to reduce our spending, then companies would have to cut expenses. Where is the first place they cut? Most of the time it is in employees. Employees loose their jobs, and then not only can they not afford green products, now they can’t afford traditional.
One can argue that in times of strong economy our country has been a world strength. At times of poor economy, we are not a strength to the world.
~Will
December 26th, 2007 at 2:18 am
I have to agree with Mark M, on Dec 21st. There is just a bit too much breathless simplification which made me think that this piece had been made in the 1970’s or 1980’s. It adopted the cartoon style in its visuals, and its words end up being a bit of a cartoon/caricature of life as well. How easy it is to put it all together as Big, Bad Capitalism…
The narrative is written by someone who seems not to sit down with industrial designers, with scientists, with business people, with governments. She only sits down with the folks who want to blame everyone else… ie. the problem with this film is that it operates with a CONSPIRACY mindset in its analysis and I think that can easily end up being bloody-minded or even terroristic (Yes, I just read about the Green Party folks in France firing rockets onto a nuclear power plant back in the 1980’s I believe it was). One has to watch out for becoming very negative and oppositional and over-rebellious. Rebelliousness can get self-righteous and unselfcritical and potentially time-wasting in a situation where we need clear thinking and a lot of co-operation. That is what Sustainability needs. Not a lot of preaching and talking down to us all.
Re. Facts. The writer/producer says that American Forests are down to 4% of what they were before Europeans came here. The reference used (see the Resources section of this website) is a Worldwatch Institute paper and a GRIST piece by someone called Josh Sevin. Well, I went to the USDA website to check on this and they say that of the 1 billion acres of forest that pre-existed European settlement, some 740 million acres are now in existence. See: http://fia.fs.fed.us/ and download their TRENDS pdf file.
So, who is right about this key fact about the United States’ Forests? If it is not that easy to be so categorical, either the Forest Service is talking through its … or there is something wrong with the sources quoted. Or there is something more complicated to say about American forests than that they have all been cut down, bar 4%…
I agree that we have to look at our society and our consuming etc but I don’t want to come at it in this LIMITS – Hairshirt – anti-technology, anti-invention, anti-science, anti-fashion (god, who is going to listen to this stuff about not following fashions. We are birds, Ms Leonard! We love shiny things! It is biological!! – check it out) Who is Ms Leonard to tell me that I must sit with a horrible dishwasher computer monitor when I could have a nice thin one??!! Come on, Annie, stop being simplistic!
Why could it not be possible that eventually our computers are put into the compost bin – once the metals have been dissolved out of them and the general mess cleaned up by some willing bacteria, probably genetically engineered but still within nature? In other words, the premises of the film rest upon a certain state of technology and energy supply today which are NOT going to remain the same, no matter what Ms Leonard and the Producers of this film want to have happen. The possibilities are changing all the time… So, be ready to include this in the next version of this film, if there is one!
So, my verdict is ‚Äì this film is helpful to get us talking and thinking but it needs a lot of additional input in the way of questions, references and attitude analysis. Ultimately, there might be another film on offer (by another film-maker, I hasten to add) as part of the same general field of discussion which feels more 21st century and less ‚Äúna?Øve lefty‚Äù.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I did not agree 100% with everything in The Story of Stuff short. It seems simplistic at times. However, I agree 100% with its overall intent and message. There is absolutely no doubt the West consumes an enormous amount of stuff with little conscience or consciousness of what impact it might entail. Deep thanks to you, Annie, for your important contribution.
December 27th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Thanks for that. Highly enlightening.
I was influenced to write this post:
[ http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com/2007/12/28/i%e2%80%99ll-tell-you-what-i-want-%e2%80%93-what-i-really-really-want/ ] in response to the depiction of the advertising cycle.
January 1st, 2008 at 4:53 am
arabic celebrity…
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts…..
January 1st, 2008 at 11:59 am
While i was entertained by the video, and was delighted in the great arc of connections you made, i do think that it was far more of a pep rally for folks who are already concerned than a good introduction to thoughtful folks who have a different focus in their life. It strikes me, though, that perhaps this was directed at preteens and teens.
I was a bit frustrated that you didn’t give a good example of planned obsolescence. You picked on an area where dramatic innovation is occurring, and worse yet, used an example of CRT (energy hog) vs LCD (energy miser). I admit, it would be delightful if more people bought cases and replaced the components as needed, but it does seem laptops have made the custom case market less attractive. (Also, the argument about the chip size changing is quite misleading.) (I had bought a case some years ago which i intended to keep for years while replacing components as needed, but then quit using anything but a laptop.)
For me, the insidiousness of planned obsolescence is in the $20-$100 purchase range: toaster ovens, coffee grinders, blow driers, vacuums, luggage. Planned obsolescence is not the leaps of innovation shown in the computer industry, as you should know, it’s the choice to design an object with a limited life, say a piece of luggage, and instead of offering a replacement for that piece that experiences the wear (say, the metal bracket that holds the handle on), make it cheaper or make the only choice be to replace the whole piece of luggage.
I know designers can’t design things to last forever, but the change in design and manufacturing practices should be a design awareness that that the wear, stresses, and strains should be managed so that repair, renovation, and reuse are possible.
eWaste is a horror, and there’s need for much more conscious design in the field to support reuse, but it’s not an example of planned obsolescence.
January 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Annie, you’re a modern-day prophet. The best part for me is your clear, direct presentation. You didn’t dilute your messages to keep those not ready to accept them comfortable and thus render the information meaningless.
Far from “preaching to the choir”, this is an important, articulate and powerful tool to combat the usual controlled discourse that “all is well”, “we really don’t know the full story” or at least “we need to study this some more” (allowing the vested interests valuable time to figure out another way to maintain control).
There will always be people afraid to change their addiction to stuff and privilege who will condemn efforts like this for all the usual reasons (many of them repeated in these replies). There are also many folks who will inexplicably demand unattainable perfection from efforts like this (the DVDs are needed as an alternate forum to the FREE downloads, jeez, give her a break).
The crucial, incontrovertible fact is that this is a FINITE planet with indeed, LIMITED resources. As many others have noted before, the system works when we spend the INTEREST from a regenerating Earth, not by spending down the CAPITOL as we currently are.
Twizzling over details like how much ancient forest cover is gone, how maybe in the distant future we could compost a monitor (!) or whether global warming is an emotional issue is missing the point.
We are exceeding the planet’s ablility to support our species and unless immediate, drastic change is made, it will be beyond our control. This is hard to accept from the land of comfort-uber-alles, but thankfully we have a few brave messengers willing to help us understand what needs to be done in a direct, authentic manner. Bravo! and thanks!
January 6th, 2008 at 10:56 am
ramy ayach new…
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts…..
January 7th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I wanted to let you know that I’ll be teaching a course called “Ad Awareness through Collage” with Shen Saturday Scholars, a program for Gifted and Talented elementary school students, and that I’ll be kicking off the first class with a viewing of The Story of Stuff. We’ll take it from there and dissect advertisements so that students will be more media literate. Thank you for such a valuable resource! I’ll do my best to spread the word around the web as well – this is probably the quickest and most widespread way to convey a message and I applaud your thinking in making this an internet video!
January 8th, 2008 at 4:51 am
marwan khory…
Man i love reading your blog, interesting posts !…
January 12th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
You know for sure the “stuff emergency” in Italy at the moment. Maybe you don’t know the Italian government choice to solve this waste emergency is to build new incinerators. A famous show man in Italy, Beppe Grillo, fights against it. Your movie with his presence and Italian language would help a lot the cause. Why don’t you get in contact with him and make together and Italian version animation?
http://www.beppegrillo.it
February 10th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Hello Annie:
I am posting here becouse my wife and I have made a home-translated version for spanish of your excelent video.
We are posting the video on YouTube.com, and we whant to make a screening on the library of my son´s school. We hope this kids take this seriously.
We have sent by e-mail the .src archive of the translated text, we start the work a couple of months ago, in our spare time, and we hope this could help to spread the word.
Please, feel free of using and abusing of our translation. I hope you found this interesting.
I salutes you and all the members of free range.
Pablo Maril
Argentina
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:13 am
Hello Annie.
The story of stuff movie is very good because we learn more about the true of the production of the stuff we use. Apologise my bad english
I live in Sweden and me and my class have work with this website. But it’s not just my class who watch this website. Many other classes have seen this.
I go in secondary school in programme natureprogramme. So I think that the environment it’s very important because we have only one world to live in. We youth know that we must safe our world. But my parents and many other adults have growth with no knowing about how the world is changing.
Keep with the good work and change peoples mind!
Desirée from Sweden
March 5th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Learn facts about the life insurance industry…
Information on the life insurance industry…
March 11th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Thank you so much Annie for your wonderful conversation at The New School at Commonweal. It was a pleasure seeing and hearing your tireless energy that you’ve obviously put into this. Thank you for putting it out there. It was an honor to meet you and record your conversation.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:02 am
through the presentation you have used the adjective toxic(s) where you mean to say toxin(s),the noun.
April 25th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Hi Annie et al–
I have just found your site and the movement it is inspiring–wow!!
I just wrote a post on my website about it: http://virtualteahouse.com/blogs/beth/archive/2008/04/25/the-story-of-stuff.aspx
Thank you, thank you.
Beth, Virtual Tea House Host
June 27th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
the role of horses in the civil war…
I am thinking of doing a blog, how many times a week do you think I should post?…
September 30th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I follow you always, this post is excellent.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Oh Dear David ! Suzuki that is. With me being an atheist, he is my god.
Listen to some of you people. Babbling about percentage of forest and over simplification.
1. If there were too many more facts and figures, all you thickies would get bored and complain about the length….puhlease ?
2. What are facts anyway. Scientific revelations peddled by people (yes real people not demi gods) working for a lab or company that has vested interests in finding one result or the other. When you are talking about facts, ask yourself who is supporting these scientists and what have they got to gain from their results. We are not talking “Conspiracy Theory” we are talking vested economic interests.
3. Who gives a toss what percentage of forest is left in America? Look around you, does the situation look good? Are we or are we not losing animals at an alarming rate due to habitat destruction ? Do not confuse forest with ‘plantation trees’ or ‘managed forest’ as they are not the same thing. Forest companies use alot of chemicals and cause measurable soil erosion with their so called “managed forest activities”. Plantation or managed forest is significantly more depleted of biodiversity than true untouched forest. Number 90 are you serious? Do you know anything about this planet? Natural resources do not just recycle themselves, and if they do it takes hundreds of thousands if not billions of years to do it. Its not really about the earth anyway actually. It will be fine, and rebalance itself eventually once we have gone the way of the dodo. Its more about whether we want to continue living with all its natural wonders as they are now in a relative degree of comfort. The reason why we are finding more oil deposits is most likely due to the fact we are getting better at looking and finding. Not a great accolade anyway.
.
4. All those nuts who say environmentalism affects our economy need to pull their heads out of their proverbials and remember where our economy comes from, i.e. resources, i.e. the earth, a finite chunk of rock spinning through space. The economy is based on supply and demand, so whatever we demand, they must supply it if they want to make a profit. We need to ignore the mind numbing advertising and demand what we really want (that is if we even remember?). And number 86, Levi, I’m sorry mate but you’re going have to do some more homework. If you read the news, the American economy is actually up the spout (to put it nicely) due to free enterprise (read unregulated spending and ridiculous credit) and capitalism (read greed). Capitalism means generating capital or profit, usually by screwing the seller to the wall on his price so you can sell it for more than you paid. Its not ingenious, its just plain dirty.
The reason why we can have all the luxuries we have at such cheap prices is because the companies that make them do not have to pay for the resources they extract or the environmental destruction they cause to make them. Why is everyone so scared of carbon taxes? Because items will finally cost what they should and we probably won’t want to buy them anymore. Yes there may be some ‘big’ corporations being reasonably responsible, but I’m sorry, the REALY BIG overarching ones are still, Oil, coal, forestry, mining, fishing, beef, military, utilities and media or are at least fronts for or receive funding from these industries
5. Whats all this rubbish about liberalism and leftyism. Honestly who cares. Are you a human first and foremost? Can you honestly tell me something isn’t drastically wrong. Do you have eyes? Do the right wing and the conservatives have the answers ? If so lets have them. We all know whats right in our heart of hearts. Yes we do. We just have so much noise ( social upbringing, peer pressure, advertising, schooling etc.) heaped on us, our hearts are being drowned out.
Lastly, everytime somone bravely does something like this, its like a scene from the “Life of Brian”. Annie is not holding herself up as the new prophet of the 21st century. She just got off her bum to shake the cage a bit and I salute her. I just wish I had done it first
Bravo blog 59 and 113. Nice to see some sense and even mindedness.
But the award must go to Art Glick #100 for hitting the nail on the head. I’m so glad he said it because everyone seems to miss it or doesn’t want to talk about it. There’s just too damn many of us, we are out of control. If you reduce the numbers, you reduce all the other problems. Some people have said, “so ok, lets start with you then” and no jokes I have thought about it. When I discovered how hard it was to fight the system while trying to live in it, I too became despondent. Every job I did, all I could see was pointless waste in the name of marketing and consumerism. It made me sick when I realised I had to buy in to buy out. So now I can’t wait to ‘capitalise’ and make enough money to drop out, be self sufficient and as ‘Green’ as I can be, because it does take money to do it. In the mean time I will do what I can. Educate myself, keep my eyes and ears open, look for the vested interests, talk to people, challenge their views, lobby my government, do the R’s when I can and support online activism.
Just try to think about the ramifications of all your actions and purchases, like the Butterfly effect. Ask yourself why do you want that stuff? Do you NEED that stuff. If the answer is yes, then don’t feel guilty, just try to make the best choice possible, not just for you, but the whole planet, because while you are doing it for yourself and avoiding those “savages” in other countries (previous blog), you are also forgetting your family, friends and future generations in the equation.
Oh yeah. Nice work Annie !
October 13th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I love how after misquoting and distorting facts and jumping to conclusions with no support or sources, the video says we’re unhappy because the media tells us we suck. Yet, your video, a product of a Fast 50 media/marketing LLC, is telling us we’re wrong about being wrong because we suck. Then, your website offers to sell us a DVD for $10, even though the video on the DVD tells us not to buy DVDs because we’ll throw them away in 6 months. Tell me, I’m dying to know, where do you source your DVD’s from? Why not do podcasts since those will fit on the small portable iPod which is made in Taiwan for a giant conglomerate corporation that also trades on hypocrisy? I see you have one. But, you don’t have the touch model. Your’s is obsolete!
To think that I could never have seen any of this hypocrisy if I wern’t connected to broadband via my wifi on my new computer, which I bought because it has the latest and greatest stuff, to enable me to see streaming videos of other consumers and marketing people that tell me I suck because I’m a consumer, instead of a teacher or farmer as if the 2 were somehow mutually exclusive, as I sip my late at Starbucks.
If you are making money off of this, then you the queen of consumerism . . . selling nothing for something. Its the commercialization of socialism and hypocrisy, produced by Free Range Studios LLC, a company that uses the shelter of its US legal structure to protect the Stuff of its owners from litigation, as it casts stones from deep within its own glass house by becoming a marketing conglomerate involved in the other side of the coin it despises. I love that its founders are in Wired, Food and Wine, and the company is a Fast 50 company.
I love irony!
Keep up the good work of consumerism. Your contribution is small, but we capitalists appreciate it none the less.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Hi Annie:
Incredible job! You are certainly right about who is running the show and it is long past due for the people to take control and make the changes that are needed. Our greed driven,expansionistic, Capitalistic system that promotes USE, ABUSE,SQUANDER and WASTE can not survive in our closed finite world. Although your video is certainly bang on and part of a needed approach for long term survival, I feel that world population reduction and control is the key to mans survival on our little planet. We now sit with almost 7 billion and should only have about 1-2 billion. I believe that word population is the common denominator for long term survival. Of course it will take a lot more than just population control.
Reducing and controlling world population is a problem that I have no answer to and doubt can be done.
November 7th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Wonderfull! People like you should be in power !!!
I sent it to the most of people I was able too.
I have a portuguese translated version, do you have more language translated version???
I want to suggest that corruption in the third world should be fought in order to improve actions in these countries too. I’m from Brazil, and to have more and serious actions, we should fight the tree powers to take over the responsability to get in order and clean ( I mean in all directions)!
November 19th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Thank you Annie. This was awesome. I went to the dollar store today and was overwhelmed by “stuff”. I couldn’t believe it! I kept thinking of you $4.99 radio and as I looked at a Christmas Ornament that I wanted to buy for my staff memebers, I said to myself: “What is the real price of this?” I decided that even though I was paying only $1, the real price was too high. I have now decided what I am giving my staff for Christmas. I making a donation in their name to a chartiable organization I love, and writing them this story, while sending them the link to the video. Thank you.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Thank you for this amazing work! I’ve posted your banner at the top of my site. I hope that I can help you spread the word. Keep up the great work!
Duke
http://thedailyduke.com