Stuff By Annie Leonard - 1721 Words

In many developing nations across the world, women work in areas known as export processing zones, also known as EPZs. Some of these zones are located in parts of Central America, where women work in factories known as maquiladoras. In Naomi Klein’s book No Logo, she discusses the inhumane issues and mistreatment that goes on in such zones: . . . Employees are kept on twenty-eight-day contracts - the length of the average menstrual cycle - making it easy, as soon as a pregnancy comes to light, for the worker to be dismissed† (Klein 222-223). These zones attract companies like Nike, General Electric, and General Motors mainly because of their cheap skilled labor, minimum regulations and tax free incentives. EPZs usually are restricted areas that provide companies with their manufacturing needs for export. This is only one example that leads to our problem with consumerism. In The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard, she sheds light on the exploitation and mistreatment of our natural resources, like the deforestation of the rainforests due to the demand for lumber. Many Americans today have not come to realize the hidden costs such as: unseen problems like cheap labor that exploits poor individuals, and the harm it causes to third world societies by creating health hazards and violations of human rights as a result with our consumption. Benjamin Barber, from his book Consumed, as well as Liz Stinson, from her web article 12 Hidden Tricks Advertisers Use to Sell You Stuff, bothShow MoreRelatedThe Story Of Stuff By Annie Leonard1315 Words   |  6 Pageselectronics to wardrobes, Americans tune in to the next big thing and feel out of the loop if they do not have it. But quick, cheap updates have a price. Annie Leonard’s colloquial, upbeat presentation of â€Å"The Story of Stuff† examines sustainability issues and how current social and political attitudes contribute to the destruction of Earth. Leonard presents her argument based on interge nerational and intragenerational environmental justice. However, though her argument is persuasive, she provides aRead MorePersonal Essay- Consumerism1014 Words   |  5 Pagesand living quality keep increasing, most of us no longer need to worry about not having enough to eat and wear, so we start to consume in growing numbers. Therefore, a lot of us became so-called consumerists. After reading the book written by Annie Leonard, I got a clearer idea on the consumerist worldview, and I thought about how am I fitting in this consumer society as well. First of all, we need to distinguish well the terms â€Å"consumption† and â€Å"consumerism† , because these are two completelyRead MoreIs The Eternal Life Or Plastic?1024 Words   |  5 Pagescomes from a bottle!† (qt. in The Story of Bottled Water). Are people even aware why this is happening? As much as everyone in the world needs water every day, do they realize where exactly does the water that big corporations are getting it from? Annie Leonard, Rick Anderson, and Adam Smith all want to show the public what these companies are doing to the environment. They don’t know what’s happening outside of their own town. Now, from the looks of the amount of people purchasing plastic bottled waterRead MoreHow Planned And Perceived Obsolescence Invade Our Lives1255 Words   |  6 Pagesother word’s, the engineers designing products do so with the intent of the product to stop working within a set amount of time. Perceived obsolescence is just as sneaky, but completely psychological, it â€Å"convinces us to throw away stuff that is still perfectly useful† (Leonard 11). I believe that these practices are unacceptable and not sustainable indefinitely. They create a massive environmental impact secondary to increased waste (1), put financial strain on consumers (2), and impact the happinessRead MoreFact or Myth: Toxic Cosmetics Essay1597 Words   |  7 PagesThe cosmetic industry in the United States has been under scrutiny concerning whether the chemicals used in cosmetics are safe or toxic. According to Annie Leonard from The Story of Cosmetics, â€Å"The average woman in the U.S. uses about 12 products daily, the average man about six, each product containing a dozen or more chemicals,† but what are these enigmatic chemicals? When a person examines the ingredients list of their shampoo or lotion, one would observe a list of lengthy chemical names; namesRead MoreThe Story of Stuff Review Essay1033 Words    |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Story of Stuff† is a short video created by The Story of Stuff project in 2007. In the video, writers Annie Leonard and Jonah Sachs describe the process of turning natural resources into consumer goods, then into waste. The writers describe a seemingly linear five-step process: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. Leonard and Sachs describe a carefully-scripted culture of unsustainable consumption and waste. The extraction phase of â€Å"The Story of Stuff† refers to theRead MoreElectronic Waste1718 Words   |  7 Pagesand VCR and DVD players, among other products. As the demand for newer, more effective and efficient technology increases, the life span of electronic products is becoming shorter and shorter; thus, our consumer society today, which Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff describes as a society with a throwaway mindset, discards significant amounts of e-waste worldwide as older and out-of-date electronic items become obsolete. Sound management is imperative to face the challenges that come about as aRead MoreArticle: Personality Psychology1004 Words   |  4 Pageshave fun without expressing any interest in the damage that they inflict on the environment. It is very probable that the fact that they do not actually live there makes it difficult for them to think of nature as of a place that they can call home. Annie Leonards account regarding water makes it pos sible for individuals to see things from the point of view of an individual who actually observes natures suffering. Deforesting has a significant influence on waters adjacent to forests being cut andRead MoreRenewable Energy Is Important For Our Environment1610 Words   |  7 Pagesact because this organization is moving away from relying on fossil fuels. The transition from fossil fuels and coal to renewable energy sources meets the criteria that Annie Leonard outlines for transformational change (â€Å"G.O.A.L) in her video â€Å"The Story of Solutions† (The Story of Solutions Video). In the video Annie Leonard discusses how â€Å"G† stands for giving people more power and taking power back from corporations and transitioning to renewable energy sources meets the â€Å"G† in goal because individualsRead MoreSocial Equality And Political Freedom1563 Words   |  7 Pagesrates in production and consumption. A last, important component of the theory is that environmental protection and corporate profits are dialectic goals. The â€Å"Treadmill of Production† is continuously illustrated in The Story of Stuff. One specific example, discussed by Leonard, which strongly relates to this theory is Chevron’s involvement in Ecuador. Indeed, from 1964 to 1992, Chevron extracted large quantities of oil from a very dense and bio-diverse section of the Amazonian forest. In doing this