The Story of Stuff

My UEP 101 class last year spent some time discussing Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff, after watching her online video. The video only briefly summarizes the supply chain, but after reading chapter 3 on distribution I have a much better understanding of the way the system works at this step, and the problems that exist. Leonard begins by introducing the concept of “lean manufacturing and lean retail” (108). Companies are streamlining all of their production in an attempt to cut costs, including cutting workers’ bathroom breaks and forgoing factory safety features (109). Lean retail, the second part of the problem, refers to the business practice in which companies only produce goods as they are demanded. This system may be beneficial for the corporation and help them to save costs, but it hurts the workers by not providing consistent work (Leonard, 111). Professor Dara O’Rourke argues that “in the same way that Toyota workers are empowered to pull the stop cord on their assembly lines, we could have an entirely transparent system of supply chains in which all the stake holders (and community members) are encouraged to identify flaws throughout the system and halt production until that problem has been taken care of” (111). O’Rourke’s idea reminds me of what we are trying to do here on campus through Environmental Problem Solving, the Sustainability Fund, the garden, etc. The students have the power to address problems that we see and demand change. O’Rourke’s vision for change is a system in which “firms are pressured to produce goods not as cheaply as possible, but in ways that optimize labor, social, and environmental benefits” (111). The biggest issues here on campus are the environmental impacts of our energy and water use, consumption, and waste production. Leonard emphasizes that the distribution of consumer goods has just as much of an impact on the environment as the extraction, production, and disposal. Oxy has made some progress towards trying to buy more locally produced goods. Hopefully, during the course of this semester we can help Oxy become more sustainable by playing the role of the stake holders in O’Rourke’s system and identifying the flaws and initiating change.

Community Instead of Consumption

What I found to be the main point of Leonard's chapter on Consumption, is that as human beings, more stuff isn't what is going to make us happier. People believe that it will because of advertising and what people tell us. But in reality we need to be more conscious about creating lasting and genuine human relationships. A main point of the chapter seemed to be that a strong community will bring you happiness far more than that new Apple product or a new pair of shoes. I believe that here at Oxy we do have at least some sense of a community. There will be times when you see people spending a hour or two hanging out with friends in the Cooler or on the Quad at lunch. But at the same time, there are often times, when people are just sitting in their rooms on their laptops mindlessly browsing the internet. I believe that Oxy strikes a nice balance between consumerist and community. We are Americans and as such, we have mostly been raised to be consumerists, but if we can see the value in the tight community of a small college, then there is hope for us, in terms of consuming less. As a member in this community people need to remember to take a break from the books every once and a while and take an hour to just hang out with friends.

Consumption and Community

Reading Leonard’s chapter on consumption an idea that stuck out to me was her assertion that we need more than simply greener alternatives to what we already consume. She states, “trying to consume our way out of the mess we’re in is a familiar dead end” (174). I probably like many others at Oxy, do tend to fall into this mode of thinking. Much of the time my reaction is to try and find products that are produced in ways which are less exploitative or polluting and instead to consume greener, fair-trade products. But in the end this is still a form of consumption. According to Leonard, this concept of “greensuption” or “conscious consumption” should be practiced when we shop but “being an informed and engaged consumer is not a substitute for being an informed and engaged citizen”(175). Leonard’s solution to this in part participating in strong communities, which means, “we buy less stuff, use less energy consume fewer resources because we can share things and help one another”(176). This is where I feel that programs at Oxy can make a big impact on our consumption. Instead of simply shifting to buying greener products programs like bike sharing and zip car have the potential of contributing to Oxy’s sense of community and making the campus more environmentally friendly. So that instead of buying a more fuel-efficient car, students can join programs like zip car. To me, the idea of a secondhand store or exchange where students could drop off items they no longer want and pick up things they may need plays into this idea of building strong community resources as a way of reducing consumption. Not only will this be good for the environment, but also, according to Leonard, the decrease in consumption and having a strong local community will make us happier.

Sustainability, Ch. 4

I read Chapter four, the part about consumption. What with her introduction focusing on connectivity of all issues, the work-watch-shop cycle introduced in the introduction, and the general tone of the chapter, I came to the conclusion that reading any similar chapter would have contained almost the same message. Throughout the novel, Leonard is adamant that she is not attacking big business, and she IS right about that…what she is really attacking is the triumvirate of big business, government and culture, the latter two heavily influenced by the former. In fact, she attacks the culture, and the consumers who buy into it, much more than she goes after Walmart or Exxon, and when she does go after business, she takes shots at the Cold War military industrial complex and 1920s ad gimmicks rather than present ivory towers. I found it interesting that she advocates for New Urbanism (especially a return to the pre-Industrial Revolution small town) without saying it outright very often.

--Charles Bennett

Distribution/ Consumption

I want to start by tackling chapter 3 of Leonard's book on the distribution side of the spectrum. It seems the idea is to buy and sell as cheaply as possible maximising the profit while keeping the consumer happy paying rediculously low prices. This concept is as accepted too often by many Americans who love paying bottom dollar for everything. H&M is just one company metioned in her book that is a major contributor to over production and distribution of items. The focus has now been placed on addvertising and brand names rather than quality and longevity of products. Im not sure how to explain this other than an ideological change in hoaw people are buying and selling. Distribution changes have been directly correlated to the super market phenomenon and has both a positive and negative impact on consumers. Convienence is extremely important to the customer the ablitity to buy everything from cat litter to cookies has completly changed how people shop. What exactly will snap people back from this illusion that more is better or the cheapest item is the best? I have a bad feeling that abusing the system of globalization will have some lasting effects.

Ditching Secondhand Stigma

Reading Leonard’s chapter on Disposal got me thinking about the ways in which Oxy students dispose of their plethora of unwanted, dated, and/or broken items throughout the year, and in particular the end of the school year. Leonard explains that we as consumers are constantly throwing out perfectly good items because we don’t want to store them, we don’t know how to fix them, they aren’t cool anymore, etc. I must admit that I have been guilty of such actions, throwing something out at the end of the year because I don’t want to have to deal with mailing it back to Canada, or buying a new set of bedding for my dorm room each year because I didn’t want to have to deal with the old one over summer and such items are easy, and cheap, to replace. I also know that I am certainly not alone. Leonard states, “Waste is defined by where something is, not what it is. It’s about context, not content” (p.183). In other words, the idea of waste does not simply revolve around the actual object, but rather who views it as waste. Therefore, if it is knowledge that my waste could very well be considered something that is new and valuable to someone else, I really think Oxy should consider establishing a secondhand store/exchange where students could drop off items in good, working condition that they no longer want for whatever reason. I imagine the quantity and quality of clothing, books, electronics, furniture, and school supplies that would fill the store would be astonishing, and allow Oxy students to see that “used” and “secondhand” can be cool. Not only would the store prevent the unnecessary disposal of a wealth of valuable items much before they need to be, but it would hopefully teach students about the value of sharing and reusing, something that they could carry for the rest of their lives.

water fountains

analysis of water fountains