The Story of Stuff 

♻️ The plastic crisis gets a lot of attention as pollution, but the environmental impact of plastic’s life cycle starts long before it ends up in our waterways and ecosystems. Watch our latest animation, The Story of Plastic: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iO3SA4YyEYU.html

Online schooling really be making this channels career

Who is still watching this video from 2009 because of online school due to covid 19?

"Recycling is not enough. Recycling will never be enough." Awesome lesson. Feels empowering to understand that reducing and reusing come before recycling.

For anyone doing the Canadian assignment Distribution: 8:20 Production: 4:45 Disposal: 18:30 Consumption: 10:36 Extraction: 2:40

Why're the pictures so high quality when she's stuck in like 140p

People who are watching this: 1% random dudes 5% Teacher 94% pupils who have to watch and summarize it

A professor in college showed my class the Story of Stuff Video and it changed my life. Fast forward 5 years and I am a municipal recycling coordinator. Thank you for spreading the word Story of Stuff Project!

no one: the photos graphics: 1080pHD Her graphics: 100p

the saddest part is that this video is 11 years old, so people are aware of this problem for 11 years now, and so far it's only getting worse instead of better

who is just here because of school?

After watching this video, I can confidently say that it is one of the most eye-opening things I’ve seen in a long time. Not only does the woman state her case by explaining and describing, she also adds a motivational aspect to the story by stating different methods we can use to solve the issue. I could not agree more with what she had to say. The video does a very good job of showing just how the government has come to focus more on the consumption and production of goods and services, rather than the people. Annie’s voice is very inspiring in that she makes you want to continue learning more about the subject even after finishing the video. Even though consumerism is a very complicated subject, they seem to have found a way to explain the problem in a manner which is interpretable to everyone. Well, I can’t say that for sure but I certainly learned a lot. In the beginning of the video, Annie compares the government to major corporations, which to me seems like a smart thing to do. Not only did she describe the problem with governments and their so called “consumption-endured visions”, but she also stuck a figure of the government next to a hypothetical corporation, showing how little power the government has compared to them. In the animation, the “little” government looks fragile compared to the almighty corporation. This is supposed to symbolise that modern power comes from how much a country can produce and consume, which is a new phenomenon.

you can tell this video is from 2007 because she actually goes to radio shack, _and there's a line_

Need a summary? Here you go. The Story of Stuff is a short and interesting video that shows what happens to the stuff we buy and the set of events or the journey they go through. The video starts by pointing out the fact that all products in the world are controlled by a system that covers the storyline from extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and then finally to disposal. Extraction shows the process of collecting raw materials from natural resources, such as trees, rocks, soil, plants, animals, and so on. The part of extraction in the video displayed how different organizations are consuming materials irresponsibly and without considering that these natural resources need time to be replenished in order to sustain. The following step, production, cover the process that raw materials have to go through in order to be useful. This part of the video details how the production process releases toxins into the air and its impact on the whole planet. Then comes distribution which describes the packaging and delivery of products to vendors around the world. The next step, consumption, in which the consumer now has received the product and is ready to be used. After using the product for a certain life span comes the harshest part of the system which is the disposal of stuff. Throughout the above steps, the video emphasizes the impact of each step on the planet in general. The economy, for instance, is running out of resources to make products and to maintain life due to the extensive consumption of natural resources by us, the customers. The cost of sold products is externalized which means the amount paid to produce the item has no affiliation with its price, and that has a great impact on the economy as well. The production step shows the greediness of some corporations where they produce products that are designed to fail easily after a certain time or become obsolete/out of date in order to sell more annually. Finally, the video presented a rational solution or at least an encouragement to find safer ways to produce stuff and to consume them.

Her: "And do you know what the two main activities are that we do with the scant leisure time we have?" Me: "drink and sleep." Her: "Watch tv and shop." Me: "oh"

My math teacher subjected us top this at 8:00 AM the week before Christmas and we spent the whole day depressed

"We see almost 3000 ads a day" *ADBLOCKING INTENSIFIES*

Who is here because of a school assignment?! I'm in Brazil and I have to summarize the content of this video.

Almost 15 years later and the problem has only gotten worse. We need reformation.

I'm watching this in 2020 and there's a lot of things that are wrong or handwaved in this video. I get the point they're trying to make, but a lot of the examples and word choice they use are so blatantly simple and vague to try and influence the opinion of the viewer rather than portray the situation in its entirety. I can't count the amount of times she said toxins and pollutants only to not elaborate on what kind. A lot of the examples seem intentionally misconstrued. I don't disagree with the overarching argument, it just seems scummy to try and manipulate the average viewer with incorrect examples. There's the computer example, at around 13 min, which is blatantly wrong. Some guy in the comments already talked about that, I can put it here as well: "Being a computer enthusiast, The Desktop computer example is blatantly wrong, She did not take into account the fact that even if the parts aren't compatible, it could still last years. Different devices use different ports so that it doesn’t fry itself. People like her take for granted the one cable that connects a phone to the world. Desktop computers can last for greater than 10 years and even more, and it is not planned obsolescence that technology will improve over time. Things like shrinking silicon is not planned obsolescence. This documentary was released in ‘09, where most newer hardware have settled and most ports are still in use today. For example, RAM, DDR3 was released in ‘07, and was in use until 2017 when DDR4 became mainstream. Even so, there are still computers using the LPDDR3 in 2020 laptops, just because they improved the generation so much, while maintaining compatibility. That is not planned obsolescence. And if the tiny little piece she was referencing was a BIOS chip, different brand motherboards usually have different BIOS chips, because the BIOS is what controls the first steps of turning on a computer and has to be made specific to a certain group of hardware." She mentions the national happiness level at 16:22, and literally blames the drop on consumerism. Now, I don't necessarily disagree. I'm sure the lifestyle of a first world country like the U.S definitely plays a factor. But happiness is complex. Shifts in cultural values and social values are factors. World events, the education system, everything an individual experiences can determine their mental attitude, and thus, happiness. You can't just say an absolute, like "consumerism *is* the cause", and portray it as a fact rather than an opinion about a topic that's incredibly complex and can be affected by an innumerable amount of factors. Intentionally misconstruing information in this way to manipulate viewers is messed up, even if the overall message is good. She tosses around the words "toxic" a ton. I think like 20+ times, but rarely delves into what these chemicals are, and what their individual impact is. She mentions bromine fire retardants and dioxin, but everything else is handwaved as a "toxic" chemical. Hell, you could consider CO2 a "toxic" chemical for it's impact on the environment. You could say the same thing about carbon monoxide, which, while toxic, also doesn't affect anyone's lives unless its in high concentrations. I.E accidentally burning plastic in your home. You're literally never going get carbon monoxide poisoning from being outside, there's too much air for carbon monoxide to ever reach a dangerous enough concentration. I'm sure there are a lot of toxic chemicals from our industrial process, but the term "toxic chemicals", is so broad and vague, it can encompass a ton of molecules simply based on your definition of what is toxic. Both of those molecules are released by burning plastics, but neither have the impact that "releasing toxic chemicals into the air" does. That's not to say that there aren't some chemicals that are definitely toxic when released into the atmosphere, but by tossing around large numbers and scary vocabulary, she seems to be exaggerating to scare the viewer, rather than portraying the situation clearly. The bromine fire retardant thing she mentioned? There's evidence of it being a carcinogen, but mainly only fire fighters are affected because they're the ones that are going in homes and inhaling those molecules that are now airborne. Unless you're actively burning clothes or eating it, the average individual is more or less fine. Again, I don't disagree with her point, I just hate how she misconstrues information in order to support it. She starts talking about this conspiracy that all businesses are trying to engineer consumers to purchase goods, and that we're all falling from some sort of massive scheme. Again, I'm sure some businesses are doing this. But no one is stopping you from using a paper or cloth bag instead of a plastic one, and no one is forcing you to follow fashion. Wtf was that heel thing she brought up?? The American generates 4 pounds of waste a day? I think I've generated a couple of grams. Yes, the U.S has a great consumerism problem. The start of the video demonstrated that perfectly, but a lot of the subsequent information and evidence used to support the video is intentionally misconstrued and manipulative. There are a lot of good points in the video, but I cringe every time she uses "toxic chemicals" and irrelevant examples, rather than go into specifics in order to make the issue seem even larger by telling half-truths.

I work at the recycling center and I'm sad to report the public is blissfully misinformed about recycling. 1.nobody sorts your garbage, it goes straight to the dump. 2. Plastics 3-7 are essentially never recycled so know they are going to the dump also 3. Even recycling takes a huge amount of energy to transport and reprocess (less than virgin) so don't trick yourself into thinking it is as good as reuse. It is very healthy if this video makes you feel like the system is out of whack, cause it is, but don't loose hope!

Not a student. Interested because mindless consumption is killing our planet. Thank you for this!

I can’t believe I have to write a whole paper about this video

so like everyone else, I'm here for a school assignment. but I'm honestly surprised this video has been up since 2009 and things are still the same-- even worse-- than they were. I guess people really aren't listening or thinking. I find it astounding that there were people radicalized to these concepts back in 2009 and still nothing has been done to course correct our progress as a species. honestly, we're probably all fucked thanks to corporations with governments wrapped around their fingers, millionaires and billionaires just looking to line their pockets even though it won't mean a thing because they've razed the planet so that the rest of us suffer. eat the rich.

"The government is by the people, for the people" (2009) Me, in 2020: (Laughs, then cries) Me in 2021 making this edit: (stops crying to laugh at the Capital, then continues crying)

It'll be ten years soon - can you do a decade update: have things gotten worse or better since then??

I see a lot of people in the comment section being cynical and ignoring the video topic as a whole. But personally, I thought this was a great video, you didn't try to pander to the audience, or try to be quirky or random, your team animated this entire 20 minute video and you explained your topic really well, at least for me. Thank you for making this cool video, and for making studying it much easier.

13:20 many factors contribute to the performance of a computer, not just a singular chip. While computer manufacturers are restricting repairability, computer performance is influenced by the RAM, CPU, GPU, cooling system, power supply, and more. Having the most powerful computer doesn't matter if you don't have a cooling system, and the best CPU and GPU on the market won't help if you don't have enough RAM. Furthermore, the internals of a computer are different depending on their form factor. Is it a laptop? An all-in-one desktop? A tower? Was it custom built? The thing is, computers aren't like cars, where it's the same format but refined. Cars today have the same core elements as cars from 50 years ago - four wheels, some seats, a steering wheel, braking system, windshield, etc. Everything today is just a refined version of the stuff from yesterday. But a computer is different. Computers change formats in the way they're designed. The way we store data on computers has completely changed over the years. The solid-state drives today are not refined versions of the punched cards from the 50s. The way we think of computers and make computers constantly changes. Just last year, Apple changed the way they built the computer - instead of having separate computer components, they combined them all into one chip.Their new computers are built on a completely different architecture than Intel Macs, and none of the parts are interchangeable. They didn't just swap out the chip. Please, this video is good, however please try to use proper arguments instead of making shit up.

So like 6 million summaries have been written about this video...

2019 school projects be like.......

I landed here as part of an online course about product lifecycle analysis. But since I have been working in the information technology field for 20 years I cringed when the presenter basically explained that computers evolutions are just about the chips and flat screens are just more fashionable screens. The environmental impact of information technology is real, but the evolution of hardware and software also enables us to do more things. Like generate calculations faster to build safer buildings, develop medicine like the vaccines that are protecting us right now from Covid, and enable us to track the supply chain and optimize it to save money and save resources. So an updated version of this video with a less biased vision about IT would be appreciated. Cheers !

Been 12 goddamn years and this is still more relevant than ever. Got played in a university lecture hall a few days ago, noting the fact that resource depletion stats got much worse since then :((

Holy shit. I never wanted to be a minimalist more than ever.

Video: Your computer only lasts 2 years Me: **Laughs in PCMasterace**

i hate my sose teacher for making me watch this when i could've done actual productive work

i was three years old when this video came out, now im studying it for a highschool assignment lmfao

13:03 This is wrong, Being a computer enthusiast, The Desktop computer example is blatantly wrong, She did not take into account the fact that even if the parts aren't compatible, it could still last years. Different devices use different ports so that it doesn’t fry itself. People like her take for granted the one cable that connects a phone to the world. Desktop computers can last for greater than 10 years and even more, and it is not planned obsolescence that technology will improve over time. Things like shrinking silicon is not planned obsolescence. This documentary was released in ‘09, where most newer hardware have settled and most ports are still in use today. For example, RAM, DDR3 was released in ‘07, and was in use until 2017 when DDR4 became mainstream. Even so, there are still computers using the LPDDR3 in 2020 laptops, just because they improved the generation so much, while maintaining compatibility. That is not planned obsolescence. And if the tiny little piece she was referencing was a BIOS chip, different brand motherboards usually have different BIOS chips, because the BIOS is what controls the first steps of turning on a computer and has to be made specific to a certain group of hardware.

What could go wrong if profit-driven corporations gained control your city's public water systems? Watch our latest animation, The Story of Water! 👉🏽 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-04jTleV0gK0.html

Online school be like: *I'm about to make this mans whole career*

And 14 years later, we don’t even need to be watching tv for them to tell us what new stuff we need to improve our lifestyle and happiness, now it’s in our pockets and on our wrists and our glasses, right there waiting and demanding your attention so it’s AI and influencers can tell you what you need next!!!

Anyone else get some serious "down with the bourgeoisie!" vibes from this??

I watched this video for the first time at a Lunch and Learn at my place of employment. It has stuck with me for the last 10 years and it literally changed the way I look at consumerism. Before this video, I didn't even realize there was a problem. Now, I'm an advocate for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repair and I am a conscientious consumer. Thank you Story of Stuff for changing my impact and the way I think of our world.

I would kill for a citation on that claim " 99% of all Items we buy are trashed" Ahh yes the Computer I bout from 2020 and currently using is in the garbage, I forgot! How silly of me! I need to make my consumer quota, it's not like 95% of what I buy is food!

My teacher: watch this clip so you learn more. me:

That was the longest 20 minutes of my life

"Do you have one of these?" M'am that iPod is from 1973.

Ah yes... Radioshack. The good ol' days when you could go to your local town plaza and get small electronics easily. Resistors, transistors, really all the sisters, were yours for the taking. Miss those days. And circuit city was aight I guess

Breastfeeding is not bad for the baby is can help to build immunity and actually contains a shit ton of good nutrients as well as essential minerals

The computer she's talking about must be a MAC.

Video: People are everywhere Corona: *Laughs*

sad how so many people say how they were "forced" to watch this...

What's the source of the claim that 99% of the stuff we buy is trashed within 6 months? Not to deny that consumerism has become a huge problem but people shouldn't say things just for the shock effect.

COVID-19 is putting a stop to this at the moment.

Can't believe I need to watch a 2009 video 11 years later

15 years has gone by and the world has only gotten worse. 😔

watching this for the first time in 2022; im less than 2 minutes in and it’s already making me sad

I have had to watch this video for college before. Two years later, and I have to watch it again now.

I liked the time when we didn’t have money, we just traded stuff for other stuff, like a bucket for ten sandwiches.

Watching this 13 years later feeling dread in how much worse it’s gotten. Not to mention I had 6 30second ads during telling me to buy stuff, the irony. We’re doomed

Despite this being an assignment, this is a really good video. And it shows how capitalism really is the core of the inability for us to be sustainable. At every point of the way, people suffer. Every item, every product, someone was doing labor. Some of it long and gruelling labor. Dangerous labor. One thing I've learned as a science major, (this was assigned to me in an ecology class) but if you're here for a sociology class, this is a widely applying concept too: it takes a lot more energy to build something rather than to break it. In your life, try to help build or contribute toward a system that works, whatever stage of Stuff you do it in. Every ounce of effort matters. Unionize. Advocate. Organize. Protest. Vote.

I like how there are so many comments pointing out small errors in the description of a computer's CPU. Like if they can poke one hole in what she is saying then they can continue to ignore the whole message of the video. I guess it is just easier to criticize others than take responsibility for our own behavior.

I'm intrigued that so many people in the comments are just focusing on a certain sentences instead of commenting the whole idea she's talking about.

This video stressed me tf out--the fact that everything is still relevant nearly 14 years later is mind boggling and not in a good way

everybody in the comments is like "who´s watching this cause of school and quarantine", I think most of us are but really think about it: 11 and a half years later and almost nothing has changed. To be honest, this is just sad, we don´t need to live in a world where we don´t know if our children, grandchildren could live, we shouldn´t have to be worried about that! The materials don´t grow as fast as we want them to, so we use chemicals to make them grow faster, in fact, they don´t even grow much faster and are just destroying them. 11 years ago we knew we had to make a difference and yet not much has changed over a DECADE, a DECADE! Really we can do better and we definitely should!

16:24 I like how she implies that every time we see an ad we buy the thing, and the only reason we go to work is to pay for it, just saying. And we fill our houses with the garbage and just throw it out.

LOL did anybody else cringe at 13:20 when she said that only one piece of a computer gets outdated each year and you cant just replace that piece. It is many different pieces that get outdated and yes, you can change individual parts

lmao I got an ad when she was talking about how bad ads are. ironic

POV: you watched this because it was an assignment (im from philippines and this was our assignment too HAHAHA)

ok, to see 3000 commercials in a day we must see a comercial each 20 seconds. Considering you sleep 8 hours for a day

National happiness also went down after the 50s because of the Cold War

I'd love to hear this with recent stats. This is 12 years old from when I'm watching it... a LOT can change in 12 years

When you say advertising is bad and I get advertising on your video. lol

13:12 as someone who loves and knows way too much about tech, this pisses me off. Yes, its one chip - on the outside. On the inside, everything is completely different. Forgetting that you probably weren't even talking about the CPU, which his hidden behind the cooler, or the GPU (can't blame you, most computers don't have one), you're missing the fact that motherboards are designed to look the same year after year in order to make it easy for the end user to recognize problems and repair PCs. If you were to look at one of Intel's b75 motherboards from 2012, you'll realize that it looks almost exactly the same as one of AMD's current x570 motherboards. Even ignoring the fact that they're from different companies, AMD's latest offering supports PCI-E 4.0 (4x faster than what was on the b75), USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 3, and, arguably most importantly, proper overclocking support. So your point is invalid here. Now, if you're somehow actually talking about the CPU, which I seriously doubt, that's even worse. Yes, a current AMD Ryzen 9 3950X looks the same as an AMD Athlon 64 from 2003, the underlying architecture is completely different. On the outside, the only visible difference is a change in the number of pins, but on the inside, they are nothing alike. In 17 years, AMD has sliced the silicon size down from 130 nanometers to 7 nanometers. That's right; modern CPUs are built on a scale 1/10000 the width of the average strand of hair. It's no wonder they look the same. Beyond that, the new CPUs have 16x the number of processing units, or cores inside, alongside hyper threading, allowing each core to "act" as 2, so we can (technically) say it has 32x as much power (not really, that's another story). On top of even that, the clock speed has doubled, and the IPC (instructions per clock) has been multiplied. All of the above adds to a processor that is at least 100 times more powerful, despite looking the exact same. Lastly, you said you can't replace parts yourself. That's a lie. Anybody with the money to buy the necessary upgrades (Most commonly a CPU/Motherboard combo or a GPU), half a brain cell, and a screwdriver can replace parts themselves. In not doing the research and just telling people that the only way to keep up is to buy a new PC, which is most often one of the most expensive purchases you can make, you're not just lying to them about the problem, you're actively being a part of it.

I can't get past toxic in, toxic out. As a biochemist, I can assure you that this is simply not true. It's a simple fact of chemistry that if you mix two chemicals, you can get something with totally different properties. Take table salt, for example. Chlorine gas is highly toxic, sodium is highly explosive in water, but when you combine them they make something that we eat every day, even need.

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race

I am here because of one homework. But this video helps me looking at the world in different perspective.

Who else is here because of school? :P

Who got mad at her about buying a new computer thing

Thank you for sharing this! Awareness is Key!

would you believe I've seen this video at least five times within my entire academic career

My "bullshitsense" is tingling.

School forces me to watch

Best video couldn't believe what we are actually doing in the name of development. It's a great reminder for us to remember that we are here just on temperory basis and have to pass on the same to our future too.

I bet she bought the radio anyway

The facts may be inaccurate but does that mean that the message of exponentially increasing consumerism is something to be ignored? I think the important takeout for me - is to consider what each of us can do to reduce the amount we "buy" and reduce the amount we "waste". And to be mindful of the what and where we "buy" and most importantly the why of our buying patterns as well as the potential for external affects from our buying.

What this world needs is a revolution.

I hope this lady doesn't find out I was bottle fed... Lmao

Sad to see comments only talking about this for school. It’s an incredible video talking about some of the worst environmental and ecological problems in the US in a very digestible manner. It’s why it’s still so good 15 years later.

"The piece that changes each year is just a tiny little piece in the corner..." This is not how desktop computers work.

Korean war: Jun. 25, 1950 - Jul. 27, 1953. Vietnam War: Nov. 1, 1955 - Apr. 30, 1975. World War II: Sep. 1, 1939 - Sep. 2, 1945. Gotta wonder why people started feeling a little down in the 1950's

The fact that this video is 12 years ago but it's sad that it's still the same and even became worse 🙂

I am still watching this video in 2021 due to online schooling. Guys where are you from? I am watching this from Sydney, Aus.

Excelente! Aprendo mais a cada vez que assisto.

7000 trees a minute in the amazon?!?! well now its burning. oops.

I am absolutely enthralled by the enthusiasm in the presentation of this story. A big part of the issue in the climate crisis in inaccessibility of information, and I feel the heartfelt urgency of this particular video does much to make plain and easy to understand the vital information that should be disseminated to every person on Earth, especially those participating in the linear economy. Fantastic creation!

Although I had to watch this for online school, I sure did learn a lot.

I might be the 1% of random dudes. School ended for me in 1995.

A great lesson presented in an easy to understand timeline of how our stuff is made and goes through the system of our consumption based economy. The social implications could be expanded upon.

"Stuff is stuffed with stuffing." ---Albert Einstein

"You have to chuck the whole computer" 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓