Environmental Book Club: The Story of Stuff

The Environmental Team of the Justice Committee invites you to read The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health – and a Vision for Change, by Annie Leonard (2010, 352 pages). Available on Amazon

We have a problem with stuff. With just 5% of the world’s population, we’re consuming 30% of the world’s resources and creating 30% of the world’s waste. If everyone consumed at U.S. rates, we would need three to five planets! In her sweeping, groundbreaking book, Leonard tracks the life of the stuff we use every day—where our cotton t-shirts, laptop computers, and aluminum cans come from; how they are produced, distributed, and consumed; and where they go when we throw them out. Like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, The Story of Stuff is a landmark book that will change the way people think—and the way they live.

Leonard’s message is startlingly clear: we have too much stuff, and too much of it is toxic. It is a system in crisis, but Leonard shows us that this is not the way things have to be. It’s within our power to stop the environmental damage, social injustice, and health hazards caused by polluting production and excessive consumption, and Leonard shows us how. Expansive, galvanizing, and sobering yet optimistic, The Story of Stuff transforms how we think about our lives and our relationship to the planet.

We hope you’ll read the book and join us for discussion on Thursday, March 12, 7 pm, in the Trustees Room. For more information or to tell us you are coming, contact Nancy Heastings at n.heastings@comcast.net.