Thanks Annie for the straight talk! I have been preaching your philosophy for years!
People who collect stuff are missing so much in their lives.
I encourage all my friends and family to give away or throw away(recycle) extras- at least if they hear me they can think about changing behaviors!
I am a professional organizer also- and I feel so strongly about your point of view!
Thanks for caring and talking and influencing the world to change!
Will you be coming to Chicago to talk? We can use your influence here!

Looks like Annie spoke to supportive crowd of people about what they already knew, and the talk is rather summarizing the views.

I wish it was more direct and pushed people to specific actions. And I wish this talk was in front of people who do not support Annie’s views so she had chance to change their minds.

I’ve always been interested in cleaning up our act, starting with my own. I’m 15 years old, and after watching your videos and reading your blog, I know exactly how I’m going to live my life from now on. Thank you. :]

~Felicia

P.S: I totally agree with you. Fox is a butthead. But they seem to be like that about almost anything.

Dear Annie,

I completely believe in your science and I realized it about 7 years ago in my heart. I was looking for a way to save the world and this is what came to me.

I know that it may sound a little unscientific or unusual, but meh!

I have been telling/preaching! this aspect of life to a bunch of people with little or no results so far, and I understood about 4 years ago that media was the way to go. So I picked myself from the slums of Mumbai and put myself after grueling efforts in a film school in Athens, Ohio.

I believe that innocent people were cheated into this fake theory of consumption and social malice through media programming and I thought I had to cheat them out of it by creating conscious media and eventually a big media empire for the same.

Relationships are the best investments/insurance for us and it makes us happy. I love how you are on the same lines. I keep making films about the uselessness of stuff and the usefulness of relationships/reconnection.

Coming from a very poor background, I scarcely buy stuff, I do buy a lot of food though and I eat it all!

I am so happy to see ‘The Story of Stuff’ and I want to offer my services and friendship if it is in anyway helpful to you in the future.

Check out my films if you get some time.

http://www.finearts.ohio.edu/film/pages/screening-room/films/Satish%20More-Baggage%20Hill-player.htm

http://www.finearts.ohio.edu/film/pages/screening-room/films/Satish%20More-The%20Car-player.htm

http://www.needthefilm.com

http://www.openthefilm.com

Best,
Satish More

I love to here people wanting to help the planet I belive we do have to make changes and the lord will help us come up with a way to make those changes if we ask him for the blue print.

As I sit at my computer screen (my “square-headed spouse”) and consume information about what my species – via it’s most evil creation, the modern corporation – is doing to the planet, I am consumed by a deep sadness at the situation I, and my fellow humans, find myself in. Consumption has become ingrained so much in my life that I find what I am doing right now – this very minute – typing characters on the plastic keyboard of a “consumer product” to be released who knows where into the electronic innertubes to be profoundly alienating. Only an insane person would call this situation “happiness.” We are most definitely not having fun as we consume our way to physical, psychological and spiritual oblivion.

Thank you for your spirited, hopeful, energetic attitude in the face of this overwhelming ennui and inertia.

Annie, why don’t you do a piece about Goldman Sachs. If you read the Matt Taibbi’s article in Rolling Stone about GS you have a ready manuscript for your wonderful project.

Dear Annie
That is really a great idea and great thinking. Every knows these but no body care about these. We have to protect our environment, our surroundings, our society if we want to live. The prime importance to bring happiness among the society is to bring social justice and fulfill the basic necessities. It is a key to happy life.

I just finished watching Story of Stuff and I must say that I totally agree with everything in the film. Unfortunately,like many other movements, documentary films, organizations etc. it doesn’t seem like anyone is getting to the root cause of these very problems and after watching Story of Stuff it still failed to get to the root cause. Everyone seems to want to patch up the symptoms and do patch work within the system we live in but unfortunately, patching things up will never work because you have built-in corruption in the system itself. For example, the organization PETA doesn’t want people to kill animals but they never tell you why people kill the animals in the first place. People kill animals because they have to make money to survive. As long as people need to make money to survive they will always engage in corrupt behavior. Someone who clubs a baby seal to death isn’t doing it just for the joy of it, they do it because they need to make money to survive. People who sell drugs aren’t doing it just for the fun of it all, they do it to make money. As long as people need to make money to survive, none of these problems will ever go away. Big companies need to make money also so they cut corners and also engage in corrupt behavior . Politicians want them to stop cutting down the trees, but they live in wood houses. My point is, you can make little steps of progress here and there doing patch work, but if you really want to change society you have to change the whole social system. In our current social system every corner you turn there is a dead end.
The only real solution that I have come across in my research that has a near empirical basis is The Venus Project. I suggest you guys check out this documentary that breaks it down for you http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912 and visit http://www.thevenusproject.com and also http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com for more information.

We save our precious environment one step at a time, the challenge is to get everyone on the wagon. You’re recruiting listening ears, willing hands, and open minds . . . . thank you.

Dear Annie,
Thank you for all. From South America, we are taking actions too!!!

A big thanks from Brazil. One planet, and as you said, we all are in it together, so lets work and change it together.
Julianna

GREAT STUFF!!!! Just what we need. A big clear view and some good advice. I sent the movie to all thinking, feeling and good willing people I know. It´ll work. We need insight in the whole and you give it to the people. Thanks a lot. You make sense!
xxx from the Netherlands

Hi Annie,
I am nearly ten, my mum showed me your short film ‘The Story of Stuff’ when when I was seven. It helped me learn more and helped me to explain why we need to make a change to my friends. My favorite bit is the part where the guy is on a work, watch TV, shop treadmill and then he jumps off.

I have just watched your film ‘The Story of Cap and Trade’. Thanks for explaining some of the terms that are hard to uncode.
Please come to Australia and I would love to have you as a guest at my school. My mum said you very welcome if you need a place to stay.

I can’t wait to see ‘The Story of Electronics’ and ‘The Story of Bottled Water’.
Love your work! Bye

Wonderful work Annie – a great life’s achievement, and I’m sure you’ve only just started what you can do to raise our collective consciousness about our world and all of our ingrained attitudes. I just read the article on your work in YES magazine, and saw your movie and Bioneers talk. Excellent. Inspirational.

Just an added comment to Andrew’s post – I am one of those people who chose to not have children, because there were too many humans on the planet, and from the vantage point of 50 years I can report that the issue is less about the number of people here, and more about how the people think. I would have been better off to raise a houseful of informed and enlightened adopted kids or foster children, instead of having zero population gain as my goal. Making more environmentally conscious people on the Earth is an acceptable reason to have kids.

I was listening, and you said that peopl have less friends than what they used to have,because we spend all our time in a cage of work and T.V. This isn’t the only reason. I’m in 6th grade,and I spend most of my time in school…with other kids. And whenever I say recycle that,or don’t litter, they look at me with the oddest expressions: disgust,distrust, who knows? Anyways that wasn’t my point. well I only have two actual friends in my class. Why? Because I don’t buy things as soon as they come out, I don’t watch T.V. all day,so I’m not up-to-date with all the stuff, and since that’s all my classmates talk about, I don”t have many friends. And when I asked them: When was the last time you were happy? they say, when my mom bought me an ipod touch…or when is the last time you laughed? When I saw that funny episode of Phineas and Ferb. Our values are being lost. We must save our humanity. Now, instead of (for example) integrity being valued, whether I have an ipod is valued. I don’t have an ipod, so I’m a nobody. Some day, I’m going to write a book, and the “theme” as my teachers say, will be about our declining moral values.

thats an awesome video!thanks for leting me watch it.

Very nice presentation. Very nice attempt to explain the system. However, very flawed!

There is only one problem – and that is the Government!!!!!!!! Get rid of them, this will release our slavery to them, and allow us to really decide what to do to make the best choice. The heavy heavy taxation is what is driving this problem, and leaving us helpless to fight for the proper cause. Governments are keeping us broke, and them powerful.

Very soon, we will be total slaves, and will have only one master – The Government, – unless we act now.

People are not wasting these resources, Governments are. People are generally good, except when they are under the thumb of big brother, and ‘forced’ to do things they don’t want to do. Now, people will distroy other people – for money (Iran & Afghanistan wars). All these solders are missionaries, fighting only for money and pension, regardless of how many lives are killed. The Government works this way also – using us to build their empires.

The problems stops – not by helping to conserve our environment, but by not ‘feeding’ the Government and letting them destroy the environment.

Destruction of the environment is one of the new world orders objectives. By not fighting them, we are agreeing with them. Silence is Consent.

As the old saying goes, “you can’t buy happiness.” How true it is about the premise of happiness. When Sam Walton was dying from cancer, he said he would trade it all in for more time being with nature. For many of us time to enjoy life is obsconded by materialism. Thank you Annie for all your work. I have your “Story of Stuff” linked on my homepage. It is the best 20 minute explanation of why materialism does not serve anyone’s needs except big business and is destroying everything its wake.