The Story of Stuff

Today I want to recommend a short film called The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard. It is about 20 minutes long and free to watch. I thought it was very enjoyable, enlightening, and infuriating! It's infuriating to know that our consumer society will act like mindless sheep and constantly buy and dispose of all the stuff that is pushed on them. More infuriating is the thought of the corporations that are orchestrating this global disaster, simply for their own gain.

One of my favorite parts is when Annie talks about products that are "designed for the dump". A common phrase to hear when something wears out or breaks down is "They don't make 'em like they used to." And why? Shouldn't society be getting better, not worse, at making quality stuff that will last? Well, we're not. And it's not just because we are taking shortcuts and using cheaper materials to make things. It's because things are specifically designed to break (or go out of fashion) so that you will go out and buy another one. That's the way that companies make more money. Take sewing machines, for example. If you can find an old quality-made all-metal sewing machine, you can bet that it will still work. If it's broken, you would repair it. Old sewing machines are worth their weight in gold because they can last forever with proper care. In other words, the sewing machine manufacturers would not be making any money from you if you sew with a machine that you inherited from your great-grandma. Most of the machines you find on the market today are made with plastic and are meant to break down after five years of moderate use. So then you buy a new one and it's "cha-ching!", another sale for Singer!

Shortly after watching this film, one of my friends told me that whenever her kids leave their board games, card games, or puzzles on the floor, she'll just throw them away because she can't stand the clutter. Then she buys them new ones every Christmas. Not a big deal, she said, they're so cheap anyway. I didn't say anything at the time, but I wanted to scream, "No! That's just what they want you to do. You are one of the victims!"

Watch the movie, it will change the way you look at everything you purchase.

Ditching the Entertainment Center

We had been talking for many months about getting rid of our entertainment center and everything in it (TV, DVD player, surround sound, VCR, Nintendo). It had always seemed like such an essential piece of furniture that everyone should have. But one day as I was surveying our overcrowded living room (too many super cool thrift store couches that we can't live without!), I realized that the entertainment center took up WAY too much room. We didn't even use it that often (maybe watched a movie once or twice a week), yet it stood there 24 hours a day as a massive monument to the art of wasting time. So I said that we should get rid of it, but it seemed like such a daring thing to do! What would we do without a TV? There was something inside of me that said it was necessary and we should hang on to it. I should know better because my parents didn't even have a TV until I was 7 or 8 years old. Most of my formative years were gloriously spent reading books instead of watching TV. We finally got a small TV for the sole purpose of using it as a computer monitor. It was the best monitor we could get for our new (awesome!) TI basic computer. Eventually we started using our television for its intended purpose, not just for learning basic computer programming. We didn't watch THAT much TV as kids, but I got used to having it around and came to depend on it for various reasons (namely Dr. Who, the Dukes of Hazard, and Night Rider. Not to mention the Monkees!). I haven't really watched TV for years (no cable, no reception of local chanels) and couldn't explain why I wanted to hang onto the entertainment center.



So finally we just did it. It's been at least two months since we said goodbye and I haven't missed it for a minute. It feels rather nice, in fact. I admit that my three-year-old protested at the time when he realized that we were actually giving our TV to someone else, but he hasn't mentioned it since. We can still watch DVDs on our laptop if we ever feel the need, and that has been working just fine. And to further save space, we bought a couple of those binders that hold compact discs. The smaller binder now holds all our movies, and our music collection is in the larger binder. Now we can get rid of our CD tower, and it freed up a large space on one of our bookshelves. I had resisted storing movies & CDs that way before because I liked having them displayed in the cases (easier to see what you're looking for). But then I realized how much space they took up and how unimportant they are. We threw away all the cases and it's so much nicer now in our living room.

Now that we are without a TV, people come over, look around the room, and assume that we must have another family room in another part of the house that houses our TV. When we explain that we don't have one anymore, most people look at us incredulously with awe and sometimes respect. "Wow, how amazing, I could never do that!" It's as if we said we were going to dress in gunny sacks and eat only carrots from now on. Why is TV such a big deal in this culture? It's so meaningless. . .

Now all we need to do is find a small corner computer desk to house our laptop and printer. That will be a great improvement from this gigantic metal (but good because it was free) desk from the 1970's. That would certainly free up another large chunk of the wall in our living room.