The Story of Stuff

[ The Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard ]

             Annie Leonard is an advocate for sustainability. In her video,  " The Story of Stuff " she explains that products that we purchase are put through different systems, which cycles as the life of a product. These systems are : extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, these processes are called the "Materials economy".


             The life span of a product may look like it is from when the consumer starts to use the product to when this product breaks or  is replaced, however there is more to this cycle, and this phase is only a small section of the linear cycle of the materials economy and a linear system cannot be run on a finite planet. 


            The first process in the Materials economy is called extraction,  the world is running on natural resources to produce products for the consumer, however over the last 30 years alone, naturals resources have been depleted by a third. From looking at the statistics in the USA alone,  there is only a shocking 4% of natural resources to be consumed not only does the states only have such a low level of natural resources left, they out put 30% of the world's waste. This is an example to show if, all economies were running in such fashion, there would be not enough of natural resources to use, little alone have enough area to dispose our wastes.


            The second process in the materials economy is called production, this is where people are using energy and toxic materials to create consumer products, this not only uses natural resources to produce goods it also produces large amounts of toxic wastes and other by products through this process. The people that run these production factories are also victims of this linear system, because they have no other options to work or live, they have to function as the "sacrificial lambs" to the material economy in this phase. "Toxics in Toxics out " is the catch phrase of this phase and is exactly how materials, products, resources and people are being treated ing the production process.


             The third process in the materials economy is called distribution, this is where the corporations (which have more say in the about consumer products than the government does) work to maintain consumer product prices are low, so the consumers continue to purchase and consume their goods. This process is mainly done by externalising the costs of the making the product, which correlates to cheap labour to sell the product, outsourcing to third word countries to make products which accumulate to an external cost that is almost invisible in the final selling price.


              The fourth process in the materials economy is called consumption, this the process that people are most familiar with, a century ago, the average consumption of a person was half of what it is now, this is because this rise in consumption was designed to happen. Around the 1950s, designers started a new trend  to "design for the dump", this mean that things were designed to be replaced or thrown away.  Designers now played with a thing called "preserved obsolescence"  which mean things were being replaced and thrown away though they were still working. The lifestyles that we lead today also play a large factor into how this obsolescence works. People unconsciously respond to this and keep on consuming products, much like how fashions come in and out of date.


              The final process of the materials economy is called disposal, this is the end of the system, where products are thrown out into landfills and when landfills are filled they are taken to another country and thrown into some other persons backyard. This process is where the most harmful toxins that are put into our consumer products are let back out into the atmosphere and subsequently is were this linear system stops, these toxins can not be put back into the natural resources to be made into renewable energy or the like.


             Leonard suggests, that it is not time to change how the products are made or sold, but it is time to change out this linear system, and change it into a renewable and recyclable one so we can help the planet and lead happier lives. As a designer these are the mind sets and invisible guidelines to run by, to create  sustainable and renewable products that can cycle a different materials economy which can circulate itself.