The Story of Stuff ...

Story of Stuff by Fontilica

Most of us have too much stuff, and not enough room for those stuff.  As a result of this imbalance, many embark on a vicious cycle coveting more room to put our stuff in, and then more stuff to fill the available room.  It's crazy!  Late comedian and social critic George Carlin explained this in a very entertaining fashion in here. There is also a related nice little song by Bill Lauderbach entitled "Too Much Stuff" that is worth listening to.

An interesting and informative documentary came out a couple of years ago entitled "The Story of Stuff".  It talks about the unsustainable linear economic model we all contribute to so very innocently!  Here it is, if you haven't seen it before, or are interested in viewing it again.  Those interested in digging further can go to the project's web-page.  Deeper accounts of this unfortunate phenomena is described in Paul Hawken's wonderful book entitled "The Ecology of Commerce", and also in the book "Cradle-to-Cradle" by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

One may ask, "What the hell are we supposed to do with all this, except getting a chuckle or two?"  It seems to me that it might be worthwhile answering the following question for ourselves: "How much nature does my lifestyle require?"  In other words, "What is my ecological footprint?"  This link seems to provide resources that enable one to answer this question.