Week8: The Story of Stuff

One of the aspects of being sustainable is looking at the three aspects that feed off of one another. These are social, economic, and environmental factors. The video we viewed in class, and discussed for most of the class period was "The Story of Stuff" This talks about the life cycle of items, or "stuff" from its beginnings, which is from the earth, to its end...which is usually harmfully disposed of-therefore hurting the earth. Some interesting things I did not know about was that certain chemicals are so involved in our world that even mother's breast milk is contaminated. People mindlessly following what marketers tell them about needing new stuff, and throwing out the old, even when there is no real reason or need to. People tie their happiness to something created to keep you dissatisfied. This is a recipe for an unhappy life, and since this type of marketing has driven behavior, the overall happiness of our nation has steadily gone done. (Leonard)
There are different ways to approach these issues in a social entrepreneurial way. One would be to form a business that is interested in truly keeping people healthy, and toxin free (or as much as possible). There has to be a way to keep babies healthy through not introducing them to toxic breast milk. There are toxins in lipstick, deodorant, and many other things. One such venture could help raise awareness, get support and demand that the government pass laws to help this occur. This is how the social aspect would be addressed. They could sell "clean" products that were produced at the most base level in a natural way, this feeds the economic aspect. And it is clear how the environment would benefit from using cleaner items, which would eventually go back to the earth- keeping our earth and our bodies happy and healthy.
This video really made me think of the decisions I usually make without thinking in my day to day life. It is easy to really make a difference for yourself, others, and the planet as a whole if you simply think before you act, and decide to look at the big picture instead of what is simply right in front of you.

Works Cited

Leonard, A. (n.d.). The Story of Stuff. Retrieved March 17, 2010, from The Story of Stuff Project: http://www.storyofstuff.com/