My Kingdom for Some Stuff

A friend of mine recently sent around the following link: http://www.storyofstuff.com/. This short movie, complete with some awesome animation that helps illustrate the creator's points, transforms any laymen (or women) into a relatively knowledgeable person - at least as far as our consumption patterns are concerned - in about 20 minutes. That's less than one episode of 30 Rock (my favorite TV show)! Not much time at all and there are even cartoons. So, really, what do you have to lose?

The short is a pretty concise explanation of where our stuff comes from and where it goes, but, more importantly, why so much comes and goes and so quickly. These latter two points are the most important of all. For some time now, whenever I have to replace something I think to myself, "With all of the technological innovation this world has produced, how come I can't find a pair of jeans that will last more than a year or two? You'd think that the people who produced the space shuttle, pacemaker, and bionic leg could figure out how to create a pair of pants that can withstand the awesome force of my washing machine." The Story of Stuff answers precisely that question.

We don't really like to hear that we use too much stuff or that stuff is running out. That's understandable, such concepts take aim right at the very core of our lifestyle – that which many of us have come to identify as our very purpose for being. What makes less sense is why we use as much as we do. Could there be another way? Sure, just ask your parents or grandparents. They’ll tell you that things used to last longer and when they broke down people’s first instinct would be to fix them not replace them. The most important point that this little film addresses is the most absurd fact about our consumption patterns, whether or not it is actually making us any happier. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'll bet you know the answer...no, it isn’t. In fact, the more we have consumed over the past fifty years, the less happier we have been. Now if that doesn’t make you take pause the next time you’re strolling through the mall, I don’t know what will.

Check it out.
I’m gonna go find some pants.

Till next time.

O.M.