I just finished reading Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff book, and I haven’t felt as jazzed about the future of our planet, nor as depressed about it at the same time since I read Cradle to Cradle.
The jazzed part: Annie does an amazing job at detailing the complex interactions of our Stuff. Simple, like the film, “The Story of Stuff” but packed with all the interesting and weird facts that the Story in based on.
The depressing part: her meticulous research shows how pervasive Stuff is, and especially how some people have used the so-called free market system to benefit at the expense of other people, and especially at the expense of our planet.
Her book is a triumph of investigative research, passionate arguments, and really good story telling. I get such a clear picture of the state of our planet and especially of our culture of Stuff that I begin shutting down emotionally. It is not a pretty picture, and it is so much easier to stick my head in the sand than deal with this mess – especially my own complicity in it (I love my Stuff!).
The good news is that with such a clear understanding of how our world is so tightly linked to everything else (hitched to everything in the universe, to paraphrase John Muir) it is possible to see, actually have faith that the actions of a few dedicated people (you and me and a few million of our like-minded fellows) can shift the tide of cultural habits and create a more sustainable world for everyone.
But that doesn’t let the politicians and CEOs off the hook!
Recent Comments