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The Story of Stuff
Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” is a book that offers criticisms on the consumerism in the American society that values novelty, accumulation, and low prices rendering it unsustainable. In the book, Leonard illustrates how overconsumption has affected human health, happiness, and the entire planet regarding the available resources and environmental costs. Leonard insists throughout the book that the only way to save the planet is by adopting means that will enable less consumption in every sector. In the introductory part of the book, Leonard begins with his childhood experience of how he witnessed deforestation in the name of urban sprawl (Leonard ix). She also describes how she visits Staten Island to study garbage and waste disposal.
In the first chapter, “Extraction,” the author examines the primary sources used for extraction, including rocks, water, and trees, which are extracted and taken under processing that changes them to consumer goods. The chapter starts with the trees, whereby Leonard provides that “more than 7 million hectares a year or 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of forest are lost to deforestation each day.” The destruction of forests creates a significant problem for the planet’s health, considering they play a significant role in creating oxygen and other essential aspects of human existence. As per Leonard, “the cost of deforestation is $2 trillion per year” (Leonard 8). She describes the impact of water scarcity and how water privatization limits access of people to water. On rocks, Leonard focuses on the impact of mining on the environment, human health, and society by examining four types of mining: petroleum, coltan, diamond and gold, and conflict minerals.
The second chapter, “Production,” examines the production, which creates products by exampling the extracted ingredients. In the chapter, she discusses the synthetic chemicals and the environmental and health risks they are associated with. She focuses on some of the synthetic materials such as cotton, pesticides, and books, which negatively impact human and wildlife health. The chapter also covers computers, such as PVC, that are made of plastic polymers that release carcinogens that form hydrochloric acid. The author provides that humans should always consider the cost and benefits of buying new stuff, regarding them as stupid stuff. She provides that “The U.S. consumes about 100 billion aluminum cans per year, about 340 for each of us, or once per day” (Leonard 64). The chapter also examines why these problems occur and the state of current regulations provided by the government.
Chapter Three, “Distribution,” examines the distribution of products from one place to another. The chapter provides an overview of globalization, trade policies, and supply chains that are important in distributing products around the world. She also discusses super-retailers, such as Amazon.com, H& M, and Walmart, and their business environment. She concludes the chapter by providing a local alternative to economic globalization. In chapter four, “Consumption,” Leonard examines consumer product consumption behavior. As much as consumption is essential for the economy, the author is concerned about consumerism and overconsumption (Leonard 142). The culture, especially in America, creates a big concern. For instance, Americans spend two-thirds of their earnings on product consumption, such as cars and food, but still, they are unhappy compared to other nations that spend less on consumption. She notes that developed countries, such as Germany and Japan, face the same situation, whereby the citizens want to consume more Stuff than necessary. The chapter provides other ways to live, including designing products that are to be replaced or thrown away.
In the last chapter of the book, “Disposal,” Leonard discusses the value of products and how their value depreciates immediately the consumer buys them. People are afraid of reusing products, and they tend to dispose of them because they want new stuff. She also discusses the concept of waste management by highlighting its categories that include industrial waste, packaging, medical waste, municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, and electronic waste (Leonard 185-206). She provides that recycling has so far not achieved the needed efficiency, with the option being “reduce, reuse, then and only the recycle” (Leonard 232). In the epilogue, she provides that societies should focus on the quality of life rather than the quantity of stuff through the sharing concept. She elaborates four themes at the end of the book; redefining progress, doing away with war, internalizing externalities, and valuing time over stuff.
The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard brings support to the treadmill of production theory in various ways. The treadmill of production theory highlights how the search to achieve consistent economic growth results in advanced economies stuck on a “treadmill” that, despite the economic growth, their well-being and the environment are affected. Leonard, in her book, highlights the treadmill of production theory with regard to consumerism and overconsumption (Leonard 142). She provides that the theory was popular after World War II as most economies were driven by consumption, which led to a huge demand for natural resources and energy use due to new technologies. She also supports the theory by highlighting how developed economies like the U.S., Japan, and Germany are caught in a “work-watch-spend” (Leonard 157) treadmill whereby most of their citizens work hard to acquire stuff only to sit and enjoy the surrounding full of stuff they do not require. According to Leonard, consumerism, and overconsumption lead to unsustainable environmental damages. According to Barbosa’s theories in environmental sociology, every new product becomes more complex and harder to manage, something that Leonard tries to bring out throughout the book as she analyzes the culture of consumerism of the U.S. economic system that produces more products without laying extensive measures to manage their environmental and health impact.
In conclusion, the Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard proves to be essential in the understanding of environmental problems. The book’s structure covers essential aspects and how they impact the environment, starting with extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of the products. Each aspect covered per chapter also includes workable solutions to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact. For instance, in chapter one of the book, when discussing the negative impact of mining on the environment and human health, she suggests that governments need to come up with regulations to protect people and the environment (Leonard 40). The use of regulations is an effective solution as it will help in reducing the negative impact of mining on both human health and the environment, at the same time allowing extraction to continue.
Work Cited
Leonard, Annie. The Story of Stuff. Simon & Schuster, 2011.
NUR2115 ATI System Disorder
ACTIVE LEARNING TEMPLATES System Disorder STUDENT NAME _____________________________________ DISORDER/DISEASE PROCESS __________________________________________________________ REVIEW MODULE CHAPTER___________ ACTIVE LEARNING TEMPLATE: ASSESSMENT SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS PATIENT-CENTERED CARE Alterations in Health (Diagnosis) Pathophysiology Related to Client Problem Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Risk Factors Expected Findings Laboratory Tests Diagnostic Procedures Complications Therapeutic Procedures Interprofessional Care Nursing Care Medications Client Education
