The Story of Stuff

by Celes on Jun 1, 2009 |

The Story of Stuff has a very informative 20 minute flash video which unravels the hidden truths behind our consumerist culture and the far reaching consequences which we are not exposed to in our day-to-day lives.

Here’s a summary excerpt from the site:

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view.

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.

It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

The video is highly engaging and insightful, so I highly recommend all of you to watch it. Even though I considered myself aware of implications of consumerism, I still received many insights on consumerism from the video.

As you watch it, you will find several themes on materialism/consumerism similar to my previous article on Materialism Breeds Unhappiness. While the latter is about the implications on your inner self, The Story of Stuff focuses on the implications of consumption externally, on our communities, our resources, our environment and our world.

After you finish watching the video, think about the things you can start doing as an alternative Let us make a real difference by starting with ourselves and joining our hands together in a common effort