Have you ever wondered just where our stuff comes from and then where it goes. I for one have spent many (probably thousands) of hours pondering just that. Exiting the restaurant and dumping my styrofoam plates, plastic cups and utensils in the trash…I pondered what happens with the stuff when it is wrapped up in a plastic bag and magically transported away. As IF throwing them away was some place that handled them and not just stored them in some forgotten underground hideaway for the next few millenniums. Let us not forget out iPods, cell phones, tv’s washers, cars, batteries and the list goes on and on.

I call them one use assets or items and in many ways all of the items above from the plastic cup to the car is a one use asset that gets used up - some in flash of a moment and others in a matter of years. THIS is what has been occupying my mind for the past few thousand days.

So from a technical perspective how does all this stuff get from here to there and from there to me? Well I stumbled across a great video on just that, called the Story of Stuff and is well worth the 20 minutes invested so that we can all GET the impact of our choices. Here is what they have to say…

“What is the Story of Stuff?
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.”

So just what is the story of Stuff? Click here to watch.