The video, “The Story of Stuff” is about the linear system of consumption in our society today. The system consists of 5 parts- extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. The system is known as the materials economy. The problem with the system is that it is linear, and the world itself is finite.
Behind the system is Government and Corporations. Governments are supposed to be by us and for us, but have become partial to corporate powers. The corporate powers account for 51 of the largest economies in the world. They control the methods used on this linear system and decide how it functions. They have put research into how it works and the best ways to keep it functioning.
Extraction involves the use of resources (renewable, and more so, non-renewable) to process and mine what goes into the products passing through this system. The rate it occurs is depleting the planet of natural habitats rapidly. A third of all resources have been used in the past three decades. 80% of the world’s forests are gone.
Production is where these resources are made into products. Most of the production is done outside our country. Toxic chemicals are being used in the manufacturing and are coming out in the form of products, and pollution. 4 billion lbs of toxic chemicals a year at least are pumped into the environment. They accumulate in the environment and move up the food chain into us. Breast milk of a mother contains the strongest concentration of these chemicals. Garbage in, garbage out you could say.
The products then move to distribution, where they are sold to us. At this point the costs of labor, wastes disposals, and other resources have all been externalized as much as possible to save the corporations money. This has resulted in lower wages, more pollution, lower standards of living, and the over-all consumption of resources outside our country as well as in.
Consumption is where we get the products. 99% of these products are in the trash with in 6 months of purchase. In the 50’s, an idea was formulated to make consumption the driver of our economy- our very way of life. Marketing, product design, and production were all made to insure we would buy more stuff, more often, and let it become the focus of our lives. The national happiness plummeted, leisure time decreased, people worked harder…. all just to purchase more.
Once the stuff moved to trash, it is sent out of country or put in landfills or incinerated- both of which leak more pollution into the environment. Recycling helps, but products are not all made to be recycled, and it is not enough.
For every one can of trash, 70 cans go into its production and distribution.
Three things I can do to help would be:
1) Limit Consumption to necessities only, and only those of the highest quality that will last the longest. And make those purchases from companies with green practices.
2) Increase my awareness as to how the system works, and where it intersects my daily life.
3) Spread the word about the system and become involved in the community. Work to change the system from the inside, and not just complain or be apathetic.
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