The documentary The Story of Stuff was very useful for me. It discovered many unknown things. I did not think that the planet’s resources are used in such a way.
This video is not long; however, pictures help to understand everything. This video helped me to understand that people behave themselves as owners or users of the planet. People buy many unnecessary things, and manufacturers use many materials for their producing. The resources of the Earth are running out. Moreover, such products have a very negative influence on the environment, climate change and health of all people over the world. I understood that the governments of all countries have to change their consumer attitude. They must reduce the manufacturing of unnecessary goods. In addition, they have to change societies.
5 Element of a Documentary Video
The documentary divided up the materials of economy into a system that consists of 5 elements. They are extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal.
Every manufacturer has a strategy of production and distribution of his products. Many manufacturers are guided by built-in obsolescence or planned obsolescence. Many manufacturers use such a policy. This policy is focused on designing and producing such things that will be popular or functional for a certain period of life. After it, people must buy other things. Such a policy is a guarantee of stability for manufacturers. We can see many examples in daily life. People have bought a new TV and it broke. The details are very expensive. People decide to buy a new TV (because it will be cheaper). Manufacturers usually plan such a policy. They produce, and people buy. Many resources are wasted; however, it brings money to them. Perceived obsolescence is a part of planned obsolescence. We can see this policy in daily life. For example, the companies produced a new model of shoes. A person’s shoes are good and he/she can wear them. However, they are not modern. The person who wears old-fashion shoes will be the object of mockery or discussions (Fitzpatrick, 2011).
Recycling is one of the methods that can help people reduce the harmful influence of the Earth. However, it cannot reach the core of the problem. There are many things that cannot be recycled. Even if all of them were recycled, many factories that produce many goods for people are still harmful to the Earth. That is why recycling cannot resolve all the problems. It can only decrease the harmful impact of the garbage.
Annie claims the following: “You can’t run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely.” From my perspective, she wants to tell us that our planet has very limited resources. The economic growth of all countries cannot be unlimited. However, many producers want to gain unlimited economic growth. From my perspective, the producers have to think about the future of our planet. The government must think about economic programs that protects natural resources. They are very valuable; however, they are limited. The next generations will have no chance to live in a pure world.
Nowadays, people have less leisure time than a few decades ago. The modern world has many benefits; however, it has many traps. People prefer watching TV or play computer games to reading books or communicating with neighbors, friends, etc. Every person lives in his/her small world, and he/she does not need anybody. Of course, it is wrong. People’s main activities are watching TV, shopping and working. The humanity will destroy itself in such a way. I realize that I watch TV every evening, and I go shopping every day. Sometimes, I buy things that I do not really need; however, it is like a disease. You cannot go home without a purchase. In addition, I spend much time surfing the Internet. It is the problem of the century. People stopped communicating. Most young people live in the virtual world. That is why this video had a great impact on me. I realized that I have to change my attitude to life. I like to play tennis and swim in the swimming pool. It is healthy and keeps me up. I enjoy it, and in addition, my health condition improves. I realize that I have to change priorities at my leisure time.
Annie Leonard is a former Greenpeace employee. Now she is the independent lecturer. She really knows the situation, and her past experience helped her to create such an incredible video. Greenpeace is the organization that fights against the consumer attitude towards the Earth. Of course, Annie’s past experience has a great reflection on the video. This video spread over the Internet very quickly. Many teachers recommend that people watch and discuss it (Kaufman, 2009). From my perspective, this video is not one-sided. It is an observation of daily life. She observed it and showed us in a very simple video. It is very easy to understand. Teachers like it, because it is short and easy to understand. Students can make their conclusions. There are no biases in this video. It does not insist on something. It only shows the truth to people. However, it was an incident in Missoula County Montana. Mark Zuber is a parent of the child that watched this video. He argued that the video has been one-sided. There were no other points of view. The board agreed with it (Kaufman, 2011).
From my perspective, this video should be used at schools as additional material for discussion and thinking. Young people must know about the realities of life and their harmful impact on the future of the planet.
