“The Story of Stuff”

After viewing the movie “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard, this short film gave me a greater understanding of the technological objects, clothes, food products, wastes, ect. that I never took into consideration as to where all of the wastes of these objects become. It was very intriguing to see how the objects and devices we as society take for granted are in fact important to the sustainability of our earth and how we get rid of the waste and its effects on the environment. I did not realize the huge impact that these devices have on us the buyers which in turn we have become a consumer cycle of purchasing plenty of clothes and devices that will eventually just become “stuff” to this planet. We are all part of a viscious cycle where we no longer worry about the final effects of our waste and trash, we are infatuated with the mental thought that more is better and for that reason we are all part of a system where we as consumers have gone to the extremes when it pertains to purchasing items. This system is run by a devastating reinforcing feedback loop. We watch television at home with an abundance of commercials that remind us to buy the next great gadget or the latest clothing and shows, when in reality all of this “stuff” is unnecessary. A big change has to be made in order for this runaway collapse to stop. I think we as consumers need to take a step back and really ask ourselves to we really need to make that purchase and be at peace with the fact that if it is not a virtue to survive on the precious planet earth ; than most likely it is not a necessity.

Reading the introduction and the first chapter on systems thinking I now have a better understanding on the two different views of a system. I learned that systems are a relationship between structure and behavior and what makes them produce poor results and how we must shift them into better behavior patterns. I have also seen that some of the “solutions” we have for certain systems have created further problems, and this is fine as long as we can pinpoint the problem and turn it into a positive pattern. Society needs to see the system as the source of its own problem and find the courage and wisdom to restructure it. For some of us this is disturbing because we must take action, gain a new perspective, and make changes to better this planet. information plays a great role in the understanding on how to better an issue. Purpose is the most crucial determinant of the systems’ behavior. In my view a change in purpose changes a system profoundly. For example, when it comes to preserving energy society has now turned to a go green and ecofriendly environment to help sustain our planet. The old system of using and wasting more energy that was needed is now a thing of the past and this is a perfect view of systems thinkers. System thinkers view the world as “feedback process”. An importance in the systems is the “balancing feedback loop” which is the equilibrating or goal seeking structures within a system. I enjoyed this reading because my view of system thinking although a bit challenging at first to comprehend; now opens my eyes to the idea that a system can cause its own behavior and solution.