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A review by rodterez07
The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and our Health—and a Vision for Change by Annie Leonard
4.0
I happened upon this book by chance while browsing at the library and I'm so glad I did.
'The Story Of Stuff' is a passionate plea for us to wake up to the high price we are paying for our current culture of unrestrained conspicuous consumption.
What is the price we are paying? The very well being of our precious planet, the Earth itself.
Topics covered in detail in this book include how big industry (by the almost non-stop barrage of sales and marketing campaigns) has convinced many of us our self-worth is tied to owning ever-increasing amounts of what author Annie Leonard simply refers to as "stuff": bigger houses, fancier cars, trendy clothes, the latest electronic gadgets which become outdated almost the moment they are purchased, and the list goes on and on.
In order to feed our voracious hunger for more and more stuff to consume, an inefficient, corrupt and wasteful industrial production process has developed over the decades. These processes not only pollute our environment but also help to sustain gross economic inequalities both domestically and abroad.
The author asserts that if we continue on our current course of endless consumption, the end result will be a planet no longer able to sustain us.
However, this book is not all doom-and-gloom. Throughout the text, Ms. Leonard presents case studies of alternative solutions which can be enacted both individually and corporately to reverse the environmental damage being done to the planet.
These alternative strategies would afford people across the globe the opportunity to enjoy a higher quality of life which will not come at the expense of the environment, our health or the economic well being of our communities.
'The Story Of Stuff' is a passionate plea for us to wake up to the high price we are paying for our current culture of unrestrained conspicuous consumption.
What is the price we are paying? The very well being of our precious planet, the Earth itself.
Topics covered in detail in this book include how big industry (by the almost non-stop barrage of sales and marketing campaigns) has convinced many of us our self-worth is tied to owning ever-increasing amounts of what author Annie Leonard simply refers to as "stuff": bigger houses, fancier cars, trendy clothes, the latest electronic gadgets which become outdated almost the moment they are purchased, and the list goes on and on.
In order to feed our voracious hunger for more and more stuff to consume, an inefficient, corrupt and wasteful industrial production process has developed over the decades. These processes not only pollute our environment but also help to sustain gross economic inequalities both domestically and abroad.
The author asserts that if we continue on our current course of endless consumption, the end result will be a planet no longer able to sustain us.
However, this book is not all doom-and-gloom. Throughout the text, Ms. Leonard presents case studies of alternative solutions which can be enacted both individually and corporately to reverse the environmental damage being done to the planet.
These alternative strategies would afford people across the globe the opportunity to enjoy a higher quality of life which will not come at the expense of the environment, our health or the economic well being of our communities.