Annie Leonard

Improved Essays
Annie Leonard, best known for the creation of an animated documentary about the life cycle of Stuff and entitled “The Story of Stuff”, explains in a namesake book the polluting process through which the Stuff is created and eventually dismissed. Her message is clear: we not only have too much Stuff (she prefers not using the word goods, “since goods are so often anything but good”), we also do not use it properly.
Annie Leonard is an American environmental activist whose greatest aim is the struggle against excessive consumerism, which afflicts western societies. Her attention, however, is mainly focused on American society. Since 1988 she has worked with Greenpeace, when she set up a campaign to stop international waste dumping and started
…show more content…
I am going to review the book from my personal perspective, that is the perspective e of someone who is interested in the topic but is not an expert of environmental issues.
The book did a good job showing the hidden downsides of the five different stages of a product’s life, by providing concrete examples, data, and personal experiences of the author. It exposes information that most people (including myself) would not think of when they buy a product or dispose of it. On buying cheap stuff, for example, the great majority of people do not think about the external costs that weight on health conditions of people living in the third world, because what they concretely see is just the final material product itself. Meanwhile, the production process is hidden and usually happened far away from our eyes, deceiving us to believe that everything is being carried out according to the right criteria. Who would ever believe, for instance, that the most romantic act of proposing to a girl and give her the diamond ring she always dream of, it conceals in reality the many dangers and risks that miners have to face (according to statistics, mining is one of the most dangerous jobs and it claims thousands of death and injured every year), in order to extract that precious stone? Not to mention the huge environmental damages that open air mines cause, by ruining and horribly polluting the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    “My test for carbonated soft drinks is whether they still fizz vigorously.”(143) The author is surprised with how people throw away things that are still good to eat or use, and wonders why. By describing the easiness consumers have to dump goods due to insignificant imperfections, Eighner indirectly shows that consumers don’t value what they have. They only want to possess new and intact stuff without realizing that these material things are unnecessary in their lives. Eighner dedicates some paragraphs to describe how easily college students throw things away.…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the introduction to his book, Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash, the Pulitzer prize-winning author Edward Humes lays out our trash and asks us to sort through it, examining how we came to be so wasteful. In his introduction, Humes argues that trash is a huge problem in the U.S and that we Americans are obsessed with it. Humes also argues that not only does trash numb us to the effects it cause, but also shows that we cannot control our obsession with consuming and always have to buy the next best thing. Through use of descriptive words, showing of authority on the subject through ethos, and brilliant pathos in his argument, Humes correctly implies that trash is a big problem that can be solved and we can do something about…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With the advancement of modern medicine following the second world war came an exponential increase in the world’s population. With this staggering growth came an accelerated use of resources, which are not being replaced. This has led to the rise of environmentalism, a movement based on using less, in an effort to better protect the earth. James Hamblin, a senior editor and journalist for the Atlantic, is a proponent of this movement. In his article, “Living Simply in a Dumpster,” Hamblin highlights the ideas and motives behind Jeff Wilson’s, a college dean and professor, choice to live in a dumpster.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    I first picked up Highly Illogical Behavior at the recommendation of Mrs. Bock. I had never read a book with a protagonist who had a mental illness that was present in the behavior and the overall plot proceedings throughout the novel. I usually tend to stay within the genres that I am familiar with - romance and realistic fiction. Most of the books that I read are about how a man and a woman fall in love in spite of emotional and physical strife. Highly Illogical Behavior, however, was about a man who had such severe social anxiety that he developed agoraphobia, thus rendering him incapable of leaving his house.…

    • 1502 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Laurie Halse Anderson

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Within the novel speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the character Melinda Sordino has grown and changed through her actions, thoughts, and spoken words. A theme that relates to Melinda's growth is open lines of communication during physical and emotional setbacks is vital to overcoming the setback. the first claim is showing Melinda’s growth through her actions through the viewpoint of Melinda in her freshman year. Melinda behaves in a socially awkward behavior in the beginning due to the fact she was raped at a summer party going into ninth grade. This tragic event, made Melinda emotionally and physically shut down.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Today’s society in the United States is a technological paradise where answers can be found in the blink of an eye on a smart phone and trips across the world can be made in a matter of hours. Innovations and constant breakthroughs have made people smarter and more efficient but, consequently, have also made the nation, as a whole, distracted. With on-going industrialization, the environment has taken an abrupt turn for the worst. The solution for the past few decades has been to “go green.” Words like “recycle” and “solar energy” have become focal points for many people, and the question for our society has become, “How can we fix this problem that has been created?”…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    A quick glance at the local or national paper will show you that there are many environmental issues today. Some of the issues you will hear about are related to population issues and how to control the population of humans on Earth. Some stories will be about the loss of ecosystems in some part of the world. Maybe you'll see something that has to do with the current administration treats environmental issues. You are going to probably be reading a lot of articles that talk about climate change.…

    • 1974 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martha Corey

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Judge Danforth, with all due respect, are you really going to believe some foolish little girls with a grudge to hold? If you are then there is something really wrong with you. In fact, I think there is something really wrong with our entire society! Our society is based completely on the good word of God, yet you are taking His word and twisting it into something completely evil. You are trying to hang young, innocent and really family oriented women all because they were accused of being witches.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over the years, the poor and people of color are always treated badly by others. They mostly lived in polluted environments which negatively affect the way they live and work. In these communities, the placement of waste facilities emitted large amounts of chemical pollutants into the air. Any individual exposed to pollutants increases the chance of getting sick because it poses a huge threat to their health. The sudden environmental changes caused by landfills and industrial plants triggered countless environmental justice movements.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Effects on our Environment Explanatory Synthesis In the articles “Overpopulation Is Not the Problem” by Erle C. Ellis, “Overpopulation Is Not the Problem? Really?” By Robert Walker, “Overpopulation Is Still the Problem” by Alon Tal and “The Overpopulation Myth” by Fred Pearce each author discusses the issue of overpopulation and how it has become a debate among many as to whether it really is as big of an issue as some may think. All four authors have strong opinions on whether or not they believe that the increase in overpopulation is a more substantial issue than consumption.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the end he calls for a much needed change largely by part of each individuals and gives examples of post waste living like, freecycling, craigslisting and…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cavanaugh's Criticism

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In four short chapters, Cavanaugh first exposes the misleading claims of the free market, arguing freedom must be ordered towards good ends. Absent otherworld’s telos, only the unreasonable power of one will against another remains. Second, he describes consumerism as a spiritual frame of mind that perpetuates a foolish desire for desire itself. Its logic is not a greedy grasping for possessions, but an empty detachment from, producers, production and the products we consume. Third, despite globalizations claim to welcome the local through diversity, differences often gets taken up into the universal gaze of multinational corporations.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The movie “Unwasted: The Future of Business on Earth” is about a few people who speak about the amount of valuable items such as food, technology and many more objects that are put to waste. Many people do not understand that the things that we throw away can be use for something useful. 1. There were many interesting parts about this movie. It was interesting to see what a landfilled looked like.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history capitalists have tended to focus on the short term gains rather than how their actions will effect them, as well as others, over the long term, and when it comes to the environment it is no different. The valorization of capital both relies on and affects the environment in a countless number of ways. It relies on the environment through the externalization of environmental costs of production, while at the same time it effects the environment by depleting natural resources and habitat degradation. Globalization and the industrial revolution, historically, have not been kind to the environment. At first technology made the impact capitalism has on the environment even worse.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is one planet that is inhabitable, so as humans we should do everything in our power to make the Earth sustainable. As many think recycling promises a brighter future for our planet, they are quite frankly being deceived. We are more likely to drive ourselves into the ground by funding recycling than to just leave the garbage to, quite literally, rot in its own filth. To some people recycling is just a lost cause, but to many others’ it has wedged its way into becoming a part of his or her lifestyle.…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays