The Story of Stuff is the personal message from an environmental activist who spent 10 years unpicking the layers in the stories of manufacturers and industrialists who told us that more consumption is good for us; that economic growth is not at the expense of the environment.
Using simple cartoons, the message is very powerfully illustrated. The true story of the ‘buy, buy, buy’ syndrome was hatched by industrialists who made a pile from WWII and found that business was slow when the war ended. To shore up the sales, they created the myth that we need to keep changing our handphone models to catch up with the times. They also discovered that sales went up if the shelf life of products is short. That explains why our grannies often complain about how easily our stuff breaks down and how her old radio is still playing music despite its outdated design.
It was also shocking for all that product innovation to get us to shop more ferociously include fire-retardant pillow that is supposed to stop your head from going on fire in the middle of the night that also poses health risk (Is that on the small print that says buyers’ beware?)
Earlier, we put together a living museum of products that help to promote greater environmental sustainability. By turns, each of us did our ’show and tell’ with our items.
I offered our NEWATER, much to the amazement of the group, who learnt that we even took the trouble to recycle and re-use what we flush from our toilets and bottle it! Francesco who has probably drank our NEWATER spoke highly of it as theoretically Singapore’s supply of water is almost endlessly sustainable. However, he questioned whether in the whole scheme of environmental sustainability, NEWATER is really so sustainable. Think of the energy consumption needed to treat and purify the water.
It is interesting upon reflection the general approach that different parts of the world have taken to create greater environmental sustainability. From the North, they are researching and providing information on how we can adapt our current lifestyle to reduce the negative impact on our environment. Whilst in Netherlands, you can keep a little pocket-size phamplet that recommends the types of fish that are harvested with greater care for the sustainability of the fish stock, in France, you can subscribe to a bi-monthly magazine that gives you information on how to calculate your carbon footprints, where to buy eco-friendly products and how to renovate your home to make it eco-friendly!
From the South, they are doing product-innovation from locally available natural products. Joy from Philippines explained how a coconut besides quenching our thirst can also be used in 10 other ways including using the husk as fuel. The same husk can also be used as a sponge for cleaning. Raji from India showed us how her countrymen use the lalang-lalang leaves to household as well as decorative items.
