A Review of the Story of Stuff

The story of stuff introduces the lifecycle of material goods and exposes the critical of excessive consumerism. Our commercials nag us to buy something. Then the consumption urges us to go to work to pay for the stuff we have bought. We are working harder in order to pay for more stuff and feel better. But there is a problem that what happens to all the stuff we bought and then threw away. The stuff changes to garbage and either gets dumped in a landfill or burned in an incinerator. Either way, both are polluting our planet. Even worse, the growing consumption results in excessive exploitation of natural resource which is limited in the planet. So there are damages at any stage of the lifecycle of the stuff that we are tempted to buy.
This video reminds me two things. One is a kind of spirit of chucking waste. I think the core of the undesirable phenomena that the book has said is the excessive consumption and the throw-away mindset. The spirit of refusing waste will work well to change the old style of consumption. This requires not only the average not to waste resources but also the corporations to stop manufacturing the false demand. The other is a word happiness which is a fancy word to be discussed heatedly in China nowadays. Happiness, I think, is not to meet our material demand but to have a bright future and a loved family. With the development of Chinese economy, we can buy various kinds of stuff. But these make us feel tired because of the onerous tasks which include producing what we get in and disposing what we throw out. And the fact that many goods are not what we actually need but temptations or toxics makes people feel a lack of security which is a crucial factor of happiness. Fortunately, some corporations begin to think on the stuff and its sustainability. Zero waste, healthy production and renewable energy have been put into the action agenda. People’s pursuit of happiness and their virtue of thrift and economy, eventually, can improve our