Source: Victor Lebow, quoted in Story of Stuff
Consumers are buying stuff at twice the rate 50 years ago, and only one percent of goods are still in use 6 months after they are purchased. Scary, isn’t it?
Policies and laws are designed to increase Gross Domestic Product, and the amount of production that each resident in the country spent over the last year (GDP per capita) is used as a primary measure of affluence. We could well say that as a society, we are obsessed with production as a measure of well-being.
But this obsession has led to an extreme and dangerous situation. Annie Leonard, an expert in sustainability and the environment with over 20 years of experience, has created a simple yet powerful video that explains the critical issues we all face. This short video takes us on a journey that begins with Extraction of raw materials and Production of goods, moves on to Distribution and Consumption of finished goods, and ends with their Disposal. Along the way, she explains in simple terms the traps that we’ve built into our current economic system.
Anne does not pretend the issues are simple; and certainly is far from having all the answers. But her video certainly explains things in simple terms, and helps us increase our awareness of the problems we have created. I hope you’ll watch the video and learn something about the sustainability conundrum.
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