HesperianBy Kiriyo Spooner
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled DVD that examines the often hidden or ignored side of our production and consumption patterns. Author Annie Leonard has spent the last 10 years investigating where our ‘stuff’ comes from, and where it goes, and "The Story of Stuff” began as a talk she developed on waste. Since its creation as film in 2007, almost 6 million people have seen it on-line at The Story of Stuff website and on You Tube, and thousands have wanted to purchase the DVD and share it. That’s where Hesperian came in.
The Story of Stuff people approached us to handle the fulfillment and sales of the DVD, as it was growing too large for them to handle. We happily agreed because we think Annie has created a brilliant environmental and social critique of consumerism that has become an essential part of Hesperian's understanding of how to create a healthy world. Annie was also one of the contributors to our recent publication, A Community Guide to Environmental Health and the solid waste and medical waste chapters benefited greatly from Annie introducing us to the work of literally dozens of activists and organizations around the world.
Annie was named one of Time Magazine’s Environmental Heroes for 2008, and has recently been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle. But the publicity took a big step upward when The Story of Stuff was featured in a front page article in the May 11th New York Times.
Since that article was published, it’s been picked up on blogs and news sites around the country, from the Huffington Post to ABC News to NPR. And, perhaps predictably, it’s drawn fire from right-wing sources like Fox News, the American Conservative and the Heritage Foundation. Which in turn has led to debates on whether Annie Leonard is “Marx in a ponytail,” a “traitor,” or an environmental evangelist we should all be heeding, in publications like True/Slant and the Christian Science Monitor.
The day the article appeared in the New York Times, we received almost 300 orders for The Story of Stuff! We have been happily been sending those orders out all this week.
Click here to learn more about the Story of Stuff and get your copy today!
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