SPIRITUALITY, FAIR TRADE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
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23	October 2013

The Story of Stuff and The Story of Change Post

�The Story of Stuff� Actual Text:
Annie Leonard�s differentiation between planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence was very eye-opening to me. The significant distinction between the two, yet the same underlying goal is an important concept to be aware of as consumers in a materialistic society.

Response to the �The Story of Stuff�
Planned obsolescence is stuff that is intrinsically designed for the dump. The products are made to be useless within a short amount of time so that consumers can throw it out and buy a new product, so as to stimulate the economy. Perceived obsolescence is the notion that people throw away products that are still useful. This occurs because people are tricked into thinking that products are outdated and useless because new models are rapidly coming out, so people are under the impression that they need to buy the latest and greatest product. Annie Leonard also presented the statistic that 1% of most products are still in use, 6 months after they have been purchased. This means that 99% of these products are trashed within 6 months, and the cycle continues. I think that this is a crime to produce products with such low lifecycles, and also to produce so many products that are not intrinsically different from a previous edition. This is deceptive and focuses on the bottom line. A sustainable method of business would focus on people, the planet, and profit.

�The Story of Change� Actual Text
The statistic that 74% of Americans support tougher laws on toxic chemicals in products is an overwhelming amount of people who demand change for the betterment of the planet.

Response to �The Story of Change�
This movie focuses on changing policies that are the sources of the problems. The changes to these policies cannot happen at the supermarket. Rules that work require real change from the source, and often by identifying the heart of the problem. The problem needs to be changed so that the right thing becomes the easiest thing to do. Everyone must work together until the problem is solved. Like leaders before us such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr., we must take a big idea and blend it together with our commitment to change, and then take action that is unwavering. This percentage of Americans who want change is very impressive and I am confident that if these people worked together for real, committed change, this problem with sustainability and wastefulness can be overcome.