Summary: This document outlines some of my class notes to accompany The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard. These notes help set up our reading of The Story of Stuff.
This project of supplementing The Story of Stuff began as simple note-taking for classroom lectures, but has quickly evolved into a more systematic commitment. My goal has moved to the use of the materials economy as a cycle, a set of interrelated stages within which to grasp the practical meaning and substance of Ecology, Economics, and Ethics.
I frame my public policy course around a cycle which provides containers that allow an orderly, dynamic, and coherent development of both the content and the theory of public policy. The materials economy presents a big picture industrial ecology process that seems to offer the same opportunity to take on a life of its own. 10/12/2011
Why use this book?
Note that The Story of Stuff reinforces the article by Wolfgang Sachs, Fairness in a Fragile World. Sachs calls for restraint, restoration, and rights. This book specifically explains how we, as citizens and consumers, can practice restraint.
The Introduction deserves close reading. Here, many of the essential concepts and the orientation of the The Story of Stuff is explained. Some key points:
Annie starts with extraction, which makes sense. BTW, Annie does not examine agriculture (or farming) or even have that word in her index. Trees are, however, often farmed as if they were an agricultural commodity. Annie's choices are meant to illustrate but are partial. These are equivalents of case studies, a valid method used in business and law schools.
Introduction, p. 1: Brief set up, but she says that the materials economy gives us a "map of the world." What does she mean? Note the reference to synthetic compounds, many of which may be toxic. She decides to simplify by examining three items here: trees, rocks, and water. She will include fossil fuels, particularly oil and coal, under rocks, which are really non-renewable resources. Look at the graphic, p. 1.
Trees, pp. 2-10, provide a good place from which to begin to tell the The Story of Stuff.
Water is up next, pp. 10-19. Water, as a cycle, is everywhere and is basic to life. Water reveals interconnections. (BTW, as a resident of an official disaster area (flood), I can vividly speak to water.)
Rocks, pp. 20-29, such as metals, gems, minerals, typically underground non-renewable resources that must be mined.
Petroleum, pp. 29-34: Remember the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico? Annie begins with Peak Oil, so see my supplementary notes on energy, focusing on Peak Oil. She does not paint a pretty picture of how oil companies. Oil is the key lubricant and fuel of our civilization, and it is perhaps running out. We need to think this through to understand Ecology, Economics, and Ethics.
Coal, pp. 35-36, is not used as stuff, but to provide electricity to make stuff, so Annie gives coal a sidebar. Mountaintop Justice explains on how this all works. For many, a moratorium on coal is the single biggest strategic move for climate change. I suspect that Annie knows her audience is aware of fossil fuels, so does not concentrate on these issues.
Rethinking Extraction, pp. 34-40: See the important concept of resource curse, p. 37. Note the impact on indigenous communities. pp. 37-38.
Transforming Extraction, pp. 40-43: Note the three steps she advocates.
Look around the classroom and in your wardrobe. Lots of cotton garments. Annie slyly takes on a familiar and largely taken for granted product (that which is produced, as in production). Annual cotton production is 25 million tons. In the American South, cotton had been King. (I have a personal story to tell of cotton in Alabama.)
Cotton is thirsty, polluting, and, not mentioned, heavily subsidized --- perhaps among the most controversial crops in the field. The subsidies to American farmers hurt African production. Cotton workers are exposed to toxins such as chlorine and formaldehyde. A famous case of an externality of cotton production is the Aral Sea. So, in addition to the implicit right to produce harmful side-effects, rendered as externalities in economic theory, cotton production obtains subsidies.
Annie takes us to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she meets with women who work for Disney. Yes, she names brands. She discovers that some women (described as better off) make $15/week for a six-day, eight-hour per day job --- I calculate 30 cents/hour. The women earn but 0.5% of the sales price --- which makes your cotton garments cheaper, for you.
Annie does not tackle the cotton subsidies, so see a fact sheet that tells some of the story. She considers fair trade in cotton, a useful model for Ecology, Economics, and Ethics.
Like Annie, I own a lot of books --- but I have a knack of purchasing used books. I try to use the Internet in my courses and remain sensitive to the price of books that I ask students to buy. Annie gives a brief history of paper, but remember where she started The Story of Stuff: from her beloved forests to the Great Kills dump, largely paper. Indeed, half the trees cut in North America goes for paper. Each year, 30 million trees are used in the USA for books alone (53).
Annie reviews the production process for paper, that includes mercury, chlorine, and volatile organic compounds. Better inks are available, from soy, and more can be done to reduce, reuse, and recycle paper. She provides a useful alternative on page 307, where she offers a sort of environmental impact statement on her book, The Story of Stuff. This provides a better alternative. There are also e-books, or, what I like, just putting what you want to say on the Internet.
While computers are amazing devices, they soon become junk. Cell phones are more likely to be quickly discarded for upgrades. More stuff. Annie describes e-waste as a "nightmare," pointing to 5 to 7 million tons of such global waste per year. A great online source of doing better is the Good Guide web site.
Aluminum cans, pp. 64 - 68. The U.S. consumes about 100 billion aluminum cans per year, about 340 for each of us (64), or one per day. Juan Rosario comments: "I don't understand my countrymen (Puerto Rico). The import this product, drink the garbage, and then throw away the valuable resource." The aluminum cans take much electricity to produce and require extensive mining of bauxite. This is why poor nations will dam rivers for the sake of subsidized aluminum production. Subsidies for extraction and electricity detract from recycling. Note the aggregate electricity production (67). And a simple solution is to switch to refillable bottles. As the price of the raw material and the electricity increases, expect changes. This should be an easy win for a more sustainable economy with no loss to the consumer.
PVC, pp. 68 - 72. This ubiquitous product, says Annie, is "the most hazardous plastic at all stages of its life . . . (68)" We discard 7 billion tons of PVC each year (69). And we use PVC for shower curtains, despite the off-gas of toxic chemicals. Just stop making it, says Annie. Don't buy a number 3 plastic, she advises. (Ask your plumber.) Bans are growing in Spain, Sweden, and Germany (71). Reports suggest that PVC is falling out of favor in construction, especially in schools and around children. PVC rattles and teethers (72)?
Annie asks two important types of questions:
Consider especially the case against mercury (74-75). She discusses make-up (76-77), other personal items (78-80), and exposure to babies (82-83). The graphic Exposure Pathways of Toxic Pollutants (81) reveals how our exposure to toxins is all around us. Scary stuff! So see the Clean Production Action web site.
The discussion of The Front Lines and Fence-line Communities (84-94) is an informative overview of the issue of Environmental Justice, essential for Ecology, Economics, and Ethics. A significant case is the Union Carbide tragedy at Bhopal in 1984, illustrated in the story of Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla.The Goldman Prize web site explains many case studies of folks and civil society organizations that are responding to such situations, such as Hilton Kelley of Port Arthur, Texas. Annie provides an overview of the administration of public policy over pollution and toxins (94-101).
Annie Leonard concludes the chapter on Production with a savvy discussion on how to get production right (101-105), which should be read closely.
You know why they are, such as Amazon and H&M. View what Dara O'Rourke writes about Walmart and Target. Big box stores don't make Annie Leonard happy: too much stuff!
Here, Annie tells an important story, which begins in July, 1944, at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. I have provided notes on the important Bretton Woods meeting that set the stage for the explosion of world trade following World War II. Later, this arrangement of world trade became known as the Washington Consensus. This lead to a backlash, culminating in the Battle of Seattle. This is one on the most important sections of The Story of Stuff.
This important sections ends with the pathos of Annie's visit to Haiti to report on what passes as economic development as supported by the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
In another important section of The Story of Stuff, Annie Leonard provides an alternative to economic globalization. See my slide presentation based on Deep Economy by Bill McKibben. A fine example is The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).
Introduction and the Sanctity of Shopping, pp. 144-8: Consumption takes center stage for Annie. This is what The Story of Stuff is all about, and where we can directly intervene. Sure we all consume, but her concern is about consumerism and overconsumption (142). It is the culture of consumption that bothers her. And with less consumption comes less production. Problem. What do you think?
In polls, America reported the highest level of contentment in 1957. Annie's lesson: more stuff does not make us happy, plus we need to work more and harder. Worse, community life has dwindled as we have become more commodity-driven (see top of 150). She quotes psychologist Tim Kaiser that materialism actually makes us unhappy (151). Obesity and credit card debt is way up. While this discussion of consumerism contradicts conventional belief, it may open up a significant opportunity for sustainability. How might this be?
The New Economics Foundation publishes the Happy Planet Index. The results on page 4 and 5 of the report are worth a look, or have a listen to Nic Marks. Note the contrast between the USA and Costa Rica. Can this be?
The Earth is not happy, says Annie. Humanity has overshot the carrying capacity of the planet (152-3). This foundational concept has been developed in my working paper that tries to explain the underlying model and dynamics. The Global Footprint Network web site offers superb tools for understanding the concept of the Ecological Footprint and for personal analysis. Another excellent method to explain this is the Ecological Footprint --- your detailed self-analysis or that of others can become the basic of your term project. Note Annie's conclusions on page 154.
We need to comprehend this topic. If true, a basic premise of economics, unlimited cornucopia, must be examined. This is the Limits to Growth debate --- see my notes on the Limits to Growth. This discussion is foundational to Ecology, Economics, and Ethics and we should think about it.
Is a culture of consumerism a requirement of our economic system? If so, the system will exhaust its underlying (but largely ignored) carrying capacity (the Earth), sooner or later. Annie points to Europe as an example of a higher quality of life but with a much smaller ecological footprint. Americans work hard and long, as shown in the graphic on page 157. The remedy appears so simple: Relax and enjoy leisure. This remedy was the original solution proposed by the first economist to contemplate the steady state (see especially section IV.6.9). John Stuart Mill in 1857 advocated ethics and leisure as the successor to our anachronistic pioneer economic period. Annie discusses such cultural alternatives as slow cooking (see Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen), voluntary simplicity, and downshifting (158-159).
Put this together for yourself: Do you want to work so hard but yet not be happy? Might there be a better way? Think this through. Another way to look at this is that the USA has plenty to offer in both career and lifestyle choices. The historic era of cheap food and cheap energy will cease, but you can adapt and certainly lead a meaningful and satisfying life. The choice is yours. Annie offers wise advice on Thrift Through the Ages, pp. 154-5. Think about it.
Consumerism merged with capitalism through Fordism --- see a short film. See pages 159-60 for the story that links mass consuming to mass producing. Indeed, Antonio Gramsci explored if Americanism and Fordism would usher in a new period of economic history. Examine the sections on planned obsolescence and advertising (161-166). Is Annie on to something here? is the contrary true: Does reversing mass consumption reverse mass production? The concept of underconsumption is raised.
Consumerism requires that we compare ourselves to a reference group, especially for our choices in housing, transportation, and fashion. But these socially constituted choices are ours to make, even if we implicitly join with others in so doing. Lots of activities and stuff can make us happy, so do so wisely. This is a domain of freedom open to us all.
Annie does not stop with individual choice and reference groups but extends from consumer to citizen (173-5). She again recommends the Good Guide web site. She cites three principles for more effective civic participation that will improve your communitiy and the planet, and make you a better and more fulfilled person (175-6).
Remember the article by Wolfgang Sachs that recommended restraint as part of an approach to fairness in a fragile world? Annie lays this out in the conclusion of the chapter on consumption, pages 177-181. We need to comprehend the chart on page 177 and the bullet list on page 178. Note in particular the disparities in carbon footprints (180).
The conclusion (181) wraps her summary around Redistribution and Reverence. The last section (181) is worth a close readm including the assertion that the entire human family can lead the life style typical in europe and still support a sustainable economy. Think about it.
Is Seinfeld right? See the introduction to this chapter, page 182. Stuff loses value the minute you ring it up, which economists call depreciation. Parse pretium with Annie (183). Understand the very term waste; it is so basic to sustainability The term is about context, not content. Waste is a verb. Waste is a resource in the wrong place at the wrong time. Think of the term waste management, a big business.
Industrial waste, upstream of our garbage (municipal solid waste), greatly exceeds all other forms; see the chart on page 186. The story of Ray Anderson at Interface Carpeting (187-189) should be an eye-opener. We will discuss this industrial ecology hero in our class. Catch his Ted Talk on your own, and count it for experiential learning. Unfortunately, Ray Anderson recently passed away.
We are probably most familiar with our own garbage, known as municipal solid waste or simply MSW. See the last paragraph on page 190 and the charts on page 191. Next time you see Annie, ask her about her fridge's ice maker (192-3). I skip such frills. Notice how culture-bound our notion of waste is (193-4). Do you know where and how to get stuff repaired?
Packaging really annoys Annie (194-6) --- as it does many of us --- but see the alternative, known as extended producer responsibility. Should we not take some personal responsibility for our trash?
Ever here of deconstruction? It is catching on in the construction and demolition waste field. Learn as well about the stubborn problems of medical waste and e-waste (199-206).
"Everything must go somewhere," says Barry Commoner as part of his exquisite four laws of ecology. Annie critiques away by burial (including composting) and away by fire (207-217). Looks like Dr. Commoner is right, there is no away. Check out the important case of Toxic Legacy about Ford dumping in and around Ringwood, N.J.
Remember the World Bank memo by Lawrence Summers? How about the Asian Development Bank helping to ship toxic waste to Bangladesh (219-221)? But international waste trafficking extends to such places as South Africa and Haiti (221-227). Good news: The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste went into effect in 1992. Guess which one industrialized country has held out and refused to ratify the agreement? See page 227.
Recycling is necessary but not sufficient. About a third of U.S. trash was recycled in 2007, but the point is to waste less in the first place (229): reduce, reuse, then and only then recycle (232). The answer is found in better original design, less consumption, and a policy called extended producer responsibility. The potential of this change is enormous. Which gets us to . . .
A whole systems approach (the opposite of economic atomism) is the point of The Story of Stuff. This is Annie Leonard's passionate commitment. So the final section of this chapter provides "a philosophy, a strategy, and a set of practical tools" (234). Annie's ultimate passion seems to be about GAIA, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and she outlines the program to achieve this goal (235). Note how Annie concludes (236), saying that waste connects to everything else. What do you think?
Annie urges that we as a society move away from "the growth-driven model of economic progress" (237). She looks at low-impact life-styles, including co-housing, a.k.a, communities. She explains how and why, but this will not be for everyone --- but you will need a community or two to live well.
She concludes with the elaboration of four themes:
Annie paints a vision (247-250) and describes a personal experiences in Wales (250-252). Have you such a vision? Have you a good place that you cherish or to which you aspire? Why not?