Today I watched an extremely interesting video that I can honestly say has changed my way of thinking about our government and the environment. I would encourage everyone to watch the video, The Story of Stuff. I can openly say that before Colloquium, I had not done much research on the production or consumption of products. This video simply gave the facts. It showed how our world is using its resources and where they go after we throw them out. Stuff goes through a linear system of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal, known as the materials economy. The problem with this system is that it is linear, and running a linear system on a finite planet means we will someday run out of resources to use.
The first step in the story of stuff is extraction. Extraction is when we take resources out of the Earth. These resources include oil, trees, fish etc. We basically trash the planet to get what we need. Since the US does not want to destroy its own land, we do this over in third world countries. A staggering statistic is that the United States is only 5% of the world’s population, but is using 30% of the world’s resources. This again, is not a good thing when we have a finite amount of resources to use.
The second step in the story of stuff is production. We take resources and add chemicals to them. This makes them toxic. If we are adding toxins to our own products, then we have toxins going in and toxins coming out. This is extremely sad to think about. We are actually polluting and injuring our own species by the production of stuff. For example, human breast milk is at the top of the food chain with the highest number of toxins in it. Yes, I know when I heard that statistic I was speechless too, so let us move on.
Next we have distribution and this is where stores sell products at cheap prices so consumers will buy them. Stores can do this because they externalize the price of products.
Consumption is the fourth step in the story of stuff. Our country has become a nation of consumers and this is the heart of the system. As long as we keep consuming products more and more the whole process will keep occurring. In North America, after 6 months of consumption, only 1% of products bought are still in use. This is not the peoples fault; the system has been designed this way. The government has actually designed products to fail in order to ramp up our economy. Two of the main strategies to get people to keep buying are planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. Planned obsolescence means that the product will actually fail so you have to buy a new one. An example of this is ever-changing new and improved computers and cell phones. Perceived obsolescence convinces us to throw away stuff that is perfectly useful. An ideal example of this is fashion. Fashion changes so quickly that people could literally buy shoes one month that are out of style the next month. These strategies put in place by the government are actually feeding consumption and the overall materials economy.
The last step in the story of stuff is disposal. Products are disposed in landfills. Some products are first incinerated, which increases the amount of toxins in them.
This video stresses the idea that the materials economy cycle needs to be continuous. We need to find a new way of producing and using stuff that will not hurt our environment. I really believe this video was useful in helping me understand what is truly going on with this kind of “stuff” around the world. This blog is just some of the highlights and statistics that really impacted me. I strongly recommend everyone to watch this video and draw their own conclusions!
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