Annie Leonard
 - The story of Stuff

Annie Leonard gives a very insightful talk about the lifecycle of a product, and how it starts and where it ends up. Prior to watching this video i never realised to what extent our planets resources were depleting at. I did not quite understand the negative impact each phase of production was having on the planet.

Annie discusses the ‘materials economy’; this is the extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal of materials. What i quickly learnt was that there was a lot more going on during these stages that i had never really thought about before. Leonard stated how in the past three decades alone one-third of the world’s natural resources had been consumed. Some of these alarming figures that Annie Leonard talked about really got me thinking of what our earth will be like in the near future if this habit of consumption continues.

In her talk, Leonard also discusses obsolescence, but in particular planned and perceived. What the term planned obsolescence is referring to is that products are now ‘designed for the dump’. Products are being made so that they can quickly become obsolete and need to be thrown out, therefore increasing consumer spending on newer products. This trend began back in the 50’s. I always heard about this concept of ‘designing for the dump’, but according to Annie, it is evermore increasing in the attempt to get us consumers to buy more products more frequently. I feel as though this kind of thinking is economically beneficially to corporations and governments; however this is having a serious negative impact on 3^rd world countries, the environment and the people that interact during material production stages.

The idea of perceived obsolescence is something that affects almost every single consumer at one stage or another. Consumers are forced to throw out old products simply because newer ones become common and therefore more desirable. Due to this perception, there is more consumption, more garbage. There is also less time for family and leisure and a dramatic increase in time spent in front of the Television.

Industrial designers really need to consider how they’re product will affect the environment around them. There are many stages involved from the very beginning of a product until the very end. Designers should watch this very insightful talk from Leonard and adapt this new, more green and friendly approach of sustainability for a healthy planet for the future.

Sunprit Singh