Book Review

Title: The Story of Stuff

Author: Annie Leonard

Publisher: Free Press

Date Published: Feb 22 2011

Number of pages: 267

ISBN: 978-1-4516-1029-1

Reviewed by: Tessa Perkins

Based on the ideas expressed in the viral internet video of the same name, The Story of Stuff gives great insight into the current processes of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal that are part of our society’s lifestyle of overconsumption. Having worked with Greenpeace on international waste trafficking cases, Leonard has a special expertise in the disposal aspect of the process, but also has experience and familiarity with all the other parts of this story.

All the statistics and facts that Leonard talks about in each section of this book show how ridiculous the current way of doing things really is. I recently saw a poster by Max Temkin that said “It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it and bring it home is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you’re done with it.” I think that is exactly the point that Leonard makes in this book, and she does it in a way that is empowering and hopeful.     

In the extraction section she focuses on renewable and non-renewable resources such as water, forests, rocks and minerals, petroleum, and coal. The production chapter details the process of creating three common products: a cotton t-shirt, a book, and a computer. She talks about things like the conditions in factories, hazardous materials that are used in production, and the practises of particular companies. One very informative section of this chapter for me was what she calls “stupid stuff” where she talks about why two very common items, aluminum cans and PVC, should be banished for good.

The Distribution chapter explains supply chains by profiling three major retailers: H&M, Amazon, and Wal-Mart. I thought this was a very good way to explore this topic, and I was shocked to learn that H&M’s clothes “can be designed, produced, and distributed (from the drawing board to the hanger) in just twenty days.” As Leonard explains, part of the motivation behind this quick turnaround is to keep up with (or set) trends and provide up to twenty-six different fashion “seasons.”

After all the extraction, production, and distribution of goods, we finally come to the consumption. This chapter explores the idea of shopping as a sacred American right, and the unhappiness that persists in the midst of this abundance of Stuff. Leonard shows that higher rates of consumption do not correlate with higher rates of happiness, and neither does working your life away to be able to consume even more. One of the best sections of this chapter was her explanations of planned obsolescence and advertising which drive the consumption machine, and also her reasons why we should focus more on our citizen self and less on our consumer self.

The pointless waste talked about in the disposal chapter is truly appalling, and she quotes Jerry Seinfeld who once said that “Our houses are basically garbage processing centres.” Most of the things we buy eventually end up in a landfill somewhere. Leonard goes over the different types of waste: industrial waste, municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, medical waste, and electronic waste. She shows that as much as we think we are throwing these things away there really is no “away” because the waste has to go somewhere whether it’s in a landfill which is toxic, an incinerator which releases even worse toxins, or shipped to another country for them to deal with. And then there’s recycling which is usually a good thing, but also has some questionable aspects as Leonard explains. The bottom line is that we should be working towards zero waste, not figuring out what to do with our pointless abundance of it.       

This book was very well written with many interesting anecdotes and personal stories that made it easy to read. I also liked the cartoon graphics throughout the book that mimicked the animation of the video, and the recurring symbols that signalled sections talking about viable alternatives to the current system, or signs of hope that progress is being made to improve the situation. With The Story of Stuff Project gaining momentum, and six other “Story of” internet videos so far, Leonard is leading the charge to change the status quo of hazardous overconsumption.

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