The Story of Stuff Reflections
Story of Stuff
By: Adi Elkarat, Alexis Weng, and Anna Hu
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a person making the world bad place? There is one brain wrecking film called The Story of Stuff written and narrated by Annie Read this response to and learn about this article that will change your view of the world forever.
This is a major problem, and it all started with the Government. All you people out there, do you think that the Government cares? Right now, the government thinks that business owners are one of the most important people on earth, they have risen after world war II to get people started all over again buying new products just so that those business owners could get their money. Do you remember all those ads you watch, telling you there is always a better choice and everything you do is all wrong, including your skin, your hair, your clothes, and basically your entire life. What’s more, they tell you all of this can be solved when you go shopping! There is one main item in the world that caused this whole problem the item is what started all the businesses, people with devastations, pollution, and the shrunken. Government is all created by the main item.
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What is the main “item?” you must be thinking. Well you can’t believe that that main item, is money $$! Money is what started everything. The Government thinks that money is what makes it help the owners of businesses. Every item is made by toxic and in fact, we are breathing 4,000,000,000 toxic each and every minute of our life?! Wow! Can you believe that you are breathing that much poison? Plastics made from mainly China is the cheapest items that can be put into items you use everyday, that you eat and on your face! You, some people even wash your pillow that you sleep on every night in toxic liquids and these items can cause your head to go on fire! You, so many people are buying and consuming these products that you don’t stop. Here’s the cycle. You go to work and then you become tired, go home and open up the TV. Now, here’s where ads come in. They tell you that your life is horrible making it that you get really scared that others will hate you because of your ugly items. They tell you to buy things in the commercial that you have to shop because all they want is money as that’s the way things are. Here’s another thing, why do people listen to these things? People will think that their life will be somewhat better because their trends. Peer pressure can come in as others buy awesome items and make you buy that too so you don’t feel that you are useless.
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What happens after you use those items? You wouldn’t want to store them all in your house. Your house would be filled! To fit all those things, your house must be a mansion. Well, since you can’t keep all those things in your house, you would throw it out into the garbage. You put your unused items in the trash, and they put it in the landfills. They either burn it or just throw it in, but either way, it lands in the landfills. And then the landfills grow and grow and grow even more. And when they burn it the toxic fumes would come out and pollute. Thats when the most harmful toxin comes in that is created by man, Dioxin. That is not only a normal toxic, but it’s a super strong too. So, you think that recycling helps don’t you? But no. It can’t help. Well, it does, but it is not enough. That is because some things can’t be recycled, but some things can be recycled. Sometimes, stuff has too much toxic, so you won’t be able to recycle it. But some things are recyclable, but majority of of the things don’t help what-so-ever. Some things, they just don’t have the recycling sign on it, so you can’t recycle it.
The United States is one of the main reasons the entire world is suffering. We only have 5% of the world’s population, yet we use 30% of the world resources. 1% is the only item that is around in 6 months. basically, 99% of what you own is all old and you would buy new stuff whenever they come back. 40% of our water is undrinkable! WOW! What if we ran out of even MORE water? We would have to drink the poison but we can’t! So we basically may die of no water. 80% of what we all use to buy is gone because everything is changing. Everyone wanted the newest items which made others get newer ones! Finally, one thing that we want to tell you is that most of the items that we have to recreate are basically thrown out and then remade.
It’s just sad how much WE cause this planet to die. Not all of ours will volunteer to help now but if you think that you can change the world go ahead and do it! Try it! It wouldn’t hurt to try. But you know what? It’s also upsetting at how much the Government doesn’t care. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! GO AHEAD AND TRY! No matter how young you are, go ahead! Everyone can make a difference. The video shows much we don’t know about this problem. How much it’s hidden behind the “good” ways to help. So, don’t just believe it, do it! Now we encourage you to watch this whole film made by Annie Leonard! Help make this world better and brighter!
It’s just sad how much WE cause this planet to die. Not all of ours will volunteer to help now but if you think that you can change the world go ahead and do it! Try it! It wouldn’t hurt to try. But you know what? It’s also upsetting at how much the Government doesn’t care. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! GO AHEAD AND TRY! No matter how young you are, go ahead! Everyone can make a difference. The video shows much we don’t know about this problem. How much it’s hidden behind the “good” ways to help. So, don’t just believe it, do it! Now we encourage you to watch this whole film made by Annie Leonard! Help make this world better and brighter!
The Story of Stuff
by Justin Murdock and Jayden Perez
You get a computer from 2010. It’s the year 2013. When you try fitting that oversized computer chip into the 2010 computer version it doesn’t fit. So you go down to the electronic store to get a new one. Now, as you walk to the store, what will happen to your 2010 computer? It’s not like you’re going to use both at the same time. That would be a bit awkward. So, I guess you have to throw it out. It’s no biggie, right? You are... wrong. It’s a giant biggy. Thousands of people everyday do this, and not help at all. When this old computer goes to the trash, it goes to the dump. Either it would get incinerated, or thrown into a deep hole. Either way, it would emit these dangerous chemicals which would harm animals, the environment, and the worst of all - YOU! Sometimes, the chemicals are more than toxins, they might be DIOXINS! The damage done to us was made by the cycle we know - work, watch, and shop is lowering our happiness, health, and the world’s health. Don’t believe us? Read on, and learn to true story of stuff.
Pollution is a big effect of the stuff. About each day, 2,000 new people go to a job that they can work at because there is more demand. Most of the time, they work at these not so fabulous factories that poof out pollution. There are about 4,000,000,000 lbs. of toxins per year that factories emit, but people are sure that there is more pollution. Some people even get harmed in these horrible factories but the corporations don’t care. The big corporations, think of people as resources. The government is allowing this for what shouldn’t be their number 1 priority. The number one priority is business is money or business. It should be the environment, but N-O. So they let the corporations release dangerous chemicals, and we’ll surely get ill. One of the top-hit chemicals are Brominated Flame Retardants or BFRs. You could probably guess that these prevent fires, but they have a teeny-weeny affect. They can cause major brain damage and is overall dangerous to health. From newborn age, you have been possibly exposed to this, and the craziest thing is that it might’ve been on you’re head.
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Another problem to the stuff is demand. In Congo, 30% of the kids are taken out of school to assemble your 3ds. Also, we keep going in this endless cycle of buying stuff from your local shop and we usually just throw it out. We throw out trash about 4.5 lbs per day. In 1970, it used to be about half of that. Our government helps the big fat business guy that’s much bigger than the government guy. He helps the business guy instead of our beautiful Earth and it leaves us with more demand and pollution. It’s then gets sent to the store where it’s really cheap, because you really didn’t pay for it! We are only 5% of the Earth, but we use 30% of it.
The final problem is us, and pressure to fit in. The cycle starts like this. We work to pay for things we brought. Then we get home, and watch tv. Tv tells us “YOU SUCK GO GET THIS!” So we get go shopping to fit in, and then we work to pay for it, and then we get back from watch tv go shop work, watch. This makes us live in a unhappy circular life just to fit in. The corporations also want us to shop more so they purposely tell the media to do this to make perfectly good stuff seem useless, so that we will go shopping more, and get them more moolah. Unlike making the world go round it’s making the world go unhappy. Then where does all this thrown out “thrash” go? It goes to the dump where it will be burnt, and create super toxins such as Dioxin. The cycle isn’t just making us unhappy, it also makes the world unhappy too. We need to help make people escape this cycle. This documentary is not just happy cartons, and pac man charts! This is true! That is the true story of stuff. We need to live in a more eco friendly world, where the stuff made is recyclable so we can help the health happiness, and world health.
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In conclusion this documentary may be a bit biased. We are ruining so many people’s stuff, and we don’t care. We are a nation of consumers, and the corporations are hurting the workers. The corporations are dropping health insurance. If we can escape the evil work, watch, shop cycle and enter an eco cycle, than we can help the world. The government has come to think that the ultimate job for us is to shop. That is scary. We need to help the government realize that we are strong, and that we matter more than the silly corporations. We need to turn the cycle green. We have the power because we are the people who can stop this.