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Do you know your neighbors? Annie Leonard, creator of the viral video The Story of Stuff thinks you should.
In fact, she thinks it’s the number one thing we can do to take back our power as citizens and solve our environmental problems. In this interview, she explains why, and insists that all of us need to be comfortable with speaking up and letting our voices be heard.
I sat down with Annie in her office in Berkeley two weeks ago, just before the launch of her new book, appropriately titled, The Story of Stuff, for a conversation with the woman who has inspired millions around the globe. If you happen not to be one of those millions because you haven’t yet seen the video, please take twenty minutes out of your day to watch it. Annie is intense, engaging, and explains where all our “stuff” comes from and how it affects us in a way that powerful in its simplicity.
"Some analysts say we have less leisure time than any time since feudal society. And do you know what the two main activities are that we do with the scant leisure time we have? Watch TV and shop. In the U.S. we spend three to four times as many hours shopping as our counterparts in Europe do. So we’re in this ridiculous situation where we go to work, work two jobs even, and we come home and we’re exhausted. So we plop down on our new couch and watch TV. And the commercials tell us, “You suck!” So we gotta go to the mall to buy something to feel better. And then you gotta go to work more to pay for the stuff you just bought, so you come home and you’re more tired, so you sit down and you watch more TV, and then you go to mall again, and we’re on this crazy work-watch-spend treadmill. And we could just stop."
It’s simple. We have too much stuff, it’s trashing the planet and making us unhappy. What if we just said no?
Some viewers have criticized The Story of Stuff video for being too simplistic. So, to flesh out her ideas, Annie has written The Story of Stuff book, just released yesterday. Following the path our stuff travels: Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Disposal, Annie explains that the one-way system in place now is not sustainable. The planet simply doesn’t have the resources to support the creation of new stuff each year that will simply end up in the landfill at the end of its life. From oil to minerals to trees, we are running out, and our earth and its people and animals are suffering in the process.
Sound heavy? Chatting with Annie is anything but. Preparing for her book tour and nervous about her upcoming appearance on The Colbert Report (She needn’t have worried. She did a great job, answering questions, like “Are you saying my bean bag chair is gay?” and “Have you thought about putting out plastic action figures?”), Annie nevertheless took some time to rap about plastic raincoats, glowing neon body wash, and the kampung in which she lives. But first, I asked her about “stuff” and the criticism that she is anti-business.
Annie: I'm not anti business, but I'm anti Schmucky Business. Not all businesses are schmucks, but some of them are, and there's just no need to be.
Sending Stuff Back
Beth: In your book, you tell a story about a raincoat that you ordered for your daughter. When it arrived, you realized it was made from PVC [polyvinyl chloride, aka vinyl, one of the most toxic plastics] and how you returned it and demanded a refund. What was that like?
Annie: Yeah, I went back and forth on the phone with them until they finally gave me credit.
Beth: And you also sent back an extension cord after realizing it too was made from PVC?
Annie: No, I didn't send that one back yet. I have to send that one back.
Beth: Are there any cords that are
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