Scan barcode
femke495's review against another edition
4.0
The information in this book is a bit outdated since it’s been written in 2010. Unfortunately it should have been way more outdated than it is. The problems described in this book are still ongoing ten years later. We still produce too much, too fast, too unsustainable and too wasteful. And even though this book focuses mostly on the US (and uses the Netherlands a few times as an example of how it could be done better :) it kinda scares me that the author, at the end of the book, writes an image of the future of how we could live as a society, as humans, together and not use 5 earths in a year to sustain our way of life like it is right now, that everything she describes could be possible right now. She doesn’t come up with futuristic ideas or impossible things that still need to be invented. It’s so simple to make our way of living, of spending our money and time and of our producing of stuff, sustainable; Sharing, leasing, lesser working hours, greener and cleaner energy, less production, more quality etc... still, ten years later, not much has changed...
shannoliver's review against another edition
3.0
A few misleading comparisons, but overall a well informed and entertaining book. I especially liked the Appendix 2 on page 260 where she discussed individual actions one can take, and why to even bother in such a vast system.
Although we probably won't make a dent individually, every purchase we make reflects our individual values. And if we all do it, then it's our community's values, and not corporations, that are reflected in the world.
Although we probably won't make a dent individually, every purchase we make reflects our individual values. And if we all do it, then it's our community's values, and not corporations, that are reflected in the world.
materialambition's review against another edition
3.0
horrifying. should be mandatory reading in high school. fuck catcher in the rye
shelley_pearson's review against another edition
4.0
This book kind of reminded me of Gone Girl, because it was well-written, but I didn’t really enjoy reading it. And both books left me feeling pretty bummed about the state of humanity. I listened to this one on audiobook, and it was read by the author, which I usually like. But I wish Annie Leonard had chosen another reader, maybe someone with a more soothing voice? I honestly don’t know if I would have finished the book if I were reading it, since listening is so much easier, but even still, I never looked forward to getting back into it. Starting at about hour 10 (the audio book was 14 hours) I pretty much always felt like, “oh great, I have to listen to that lady yell at me again.”
I mean, I know it’s not Annie Leonard’s fault that humans are using more resources than the Earth can replenish, and that US Americans especially are treating the planet like our personal plastic factory/garbage can. And at one point, she referenced people feeling overwhelmed and like there’s so much to do and so much wrong that you end up feeling like “What’s the point?” I don’t think that was her goal with this book, but it did make me feel like that. Often, when I read environmental books, I feel like individual people can’t make that much of a change, because the big polluters are big corporations. This book had plenty of nasty stories about corporations, like how they’ll go into a country and completely wreck their* ecosystem and drain their resources, and then refuse to take responsibility or compensate the residents. One sentence in the first chapter really stuck with me, something like that we should be living in harmony with the planet, but instead we treat it like an endless supply of resources and like it’s just something we can mine and drain like that won’t be a problem.
I recently read Junkyard Planet by Adam Minter, and it was interesting how differently the two authors viewed the global system. Adam Minter had this attitude like “Yes, people in other countries are recycling our crap with toxic chemicals and without safety guidelines or equipment, but they like it! They can make much more money this way than by farming! And Americans keep buying stuff and having junk to recycle, so at least someone will deal with it!” But honestly, I appreciated that Annie Leonard didn’t stop there. She pushed it further, like looking into WHY people couldn’t make as much money farming, and questioning how the USA treats the whole world like it’s cool for us to come in and steal resources and grossly underpay workers, and then ship our toxic trash back when we’re done with it. From the introduction, The Story of Stuff is pretty straightforward about challenging capitalism, which is cool but also made me feel pretty overwhelmed. Like “I’m sorry, you’re not just going to tell me which brands of shampoo I should buy, but you’re going to talk about how we have to take down the entire system, cut military spending, AND switch to a 20-hour work week?” It’s a lot. It makes sense, but jeez.
*I say THEIR, but I know it’s all connected, and the book did point that out. The toxic rivers just flow into the oceans and into the water system and we all just end up screwed.
I mean, I know it’s not Annie Leonard’s fault that humans are using more resources than the Earth can replenish, and that US Americans especially are treating the planet like our personal plastic factory/garbage can. And at one point, she referenced people feeling overwhelmed and like there’s so much to do and so much wrong that you end up feeling like “What’s the point?” I don’t think that was her goal with this book, but it did make me feel like that. Often, when I read environmental books, I feel like individual people can’t make that much of a change, because the big polluters are big corporations. This book had plenty of nasty stories about corporations, like how they’ll go into a country and completely wreck their* ecosystem and drain their resources, and then refuse to take responsibility or compensate the residents. One sentence in the first chapter really stuck with me, something like that we should be living in harmony with the planet, but instead we treat it like an endless supply of resources and like it’s just something we can mine and drain like that won’t be a problem.
I recently read Junkyard Planet by Adam Minter, and it was interesting how differently the two authors viewed the global system. Adam Minter had this attitude like “Yes, people in other countries are recycling our crap with toxic chemicals and without safety guidelines or equipment, but they like it! They can make much more money this way than by farming! And Americans keep buying stuff and having junk to recycle, so at least someone will deal with it!” But honestly, I appreciated that Annie Leonard didn’t stop there. She pushed it further, like looking into WHY people couldn’t make as much money farming, and questioning how the USA treats the whole world like it’s cool for us to come in and steal resources and grossly underpay workers, and then ship our toxic trash back when we’re done with it. From the introduction, The Story of Stuff is pretty straightforward about challenging capitalism, which is cool but also made me feel pretty overwhelmed. Like “I’m sorry, you’re not just going to tell me which brands of shampoo I should buy, but you’re going to talk about how we have to take down the entire system, cut military spending, AND switch to a 20-hour work week?” It’s a lot. It makes sense, but jeez.
*I say THEIR, but I know it’s all connected, and the book did point that out. The toxic rivers just flow into the oceans and into the water system and we all just end up screwed.
kristycreads's review against another edition
1.0
did not finish - audio book and the author sounds like she is reading out loud to a child - very annoying.
jesshuff's review against another edition
4.0
Given my occupation there were some parts of this book that made me feel immense guilt or extreme defensiveness, but everyone can learn to live with less to improve the environment and the social world. I think there was just the right amount of alarmist, rather mostly pointing out facts. Good read.
charley0796's review against another edition
4.0
This was such an important and interesting read! It made me think deeply about the deeper impact of consumerism and the way society has set itself to be driven by this. Whilst parts are outdated now - for example some companies have changed etc, it is still spot on and relevant in so many ways (which is depressing on so many levels!). I normally spend a lot of time reading fiction dystopian style novels, this gave a scary reality check by making me realise how the world is already in many ways a dystopian setting. I was appalled by the many things big companies have done and are still doing to exploit minority groups and third world countries! It has made me want to read more, to really think through alternatives for shopping and make me more aware of how influenced one can be to shop.
The reason it is 4/5 stars was because at times I did get 'oh it's the paranoid mum again' vibe at times (such as the repetition of organic foods and anti PVC). I understand that both are important things, it was just quite repetitive which meant I did struggle to engage with some areas of the book.
The reason it is 4/5 stars was because at times I did get 'oh it's the paranoid mum again' vibe at times (such as the repetition of organic foods and anti PVC). I understand that both are important things, it was just quite repetitive which meant I did struggle to engage with some areas of the book.