Vido:reflection-the story of stuff

The story of stuff is an excellent film about the effects of products on the environment and the people. It is extremely interesting to know the steps that go into ever product from conception to disposal. She puts the ideas into simple, easy to understand language and visual imagery. And the main focus of the film is to inform about the things most people don’t know about their products of to put it into perspective for them.

 The Story of Stuff explores consumerism and the consequences it is having on our lives, our planet and our future. It looks at the production cycle of products that are: Extraction -Production - Distribution - Consumption - Disposal

Leonard claims that “Extraction is a fancy word for natural resource exploitation, which is a fancy word for trashing the planet” Basically this is chopping up trees, destroying mountains to extract materials. Sending the message that we need to change the world we live in, in order to sustain our current lifestyles. Production is the manufacturing of goods, this stage in the system puts toxics in and toxics out. Leonard claims that “We don’t know the full health impact of the synergetic chemicals we put into our everyday products and our bodies”, for example BFRS which are Brominated Flame Retardants are a neuron toxin (toxic for the brain) which we actually cover (some) pillows in and then sleep on every night. Distribution is where goods get shipped to “big buy marks” and the goal is to keep the prices down, keep the people buying and keep the inventory moving. Consumption is the next stage in the cycle. Americans are known as a nation of consumers, Americans consume only 1% of the products that are produced which means that 99% of all products are trashed within the first 6 months of its manufacture advertising is the main reason for this consumption and waste in America and cannot continue.

The Story of Stuff reveals the ugly nature of consumer products and as an aspiring Industrial Designer; I believe that we all need to be aware these consequences in the design, manufacture and purchasing of consumer products