“The Story of Stuff,” written and narrated by former Greenpeace activist Annie Leonard, is a short film about human consumption and its implications for the health of the planet. The twenty minute video uses straight-forward language and a friendly animation style to visually depict the cause and effect of acquiring ’stuff.’ 
While the video has received some criticism for being too ‘political,’ or leaving the viewer with too few solutions, it has gained a huge audience — over six million viewers since it’s 2007 debut — which is still growing as the video continues to go ‘viral’ online.
Teachers in particular have been circulating ‘The Story of Stuff,’ using it as a classroom tool to spark discussion about the environment, and supplementing outdated earth science textbooks. Teachers using web-based information in the classroom? It’s surely a sign of things to come for the planet.
A Cautionary Video About America’s ‘Stuff’ [NY Times, 5/10/09]
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May 14, 2009 at 5:15 pm
John in NC says:
At the Core Knowledge blog, Robert P. thinks Stuff is WAY too political. Stuff or nonsense? he asks. For me, while it may be a bit over the top, I agree that if it’s the breakthrough video that has teachers calling the IT office demanding to access it, hoorah! Here’s the Core K comment: http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2009/05/14/stuff-or-nonsense/