Alison Anthony Freeman

Sonia Adam

Jacob Caleb Malena

Claire Devin Martin

Drew Sam James

The Problem

Video: The Story of Stuff

There is far too much "stuff" in our lives. "Stuff" that, as consumers in a socially and economically consumerist world, is disposable and meaningless at the end of the day. Manufacturers treat us as a commodity. It is important for the media to grasp our attention, our time, and our money in order to keep the cycle of overconsumption going. The overconsumption is adding to the drive for overproduction. People are spending money that they do not have and debt is an average of over $15,000/household. This debt leads to stress in the body and stress in the household that accumulates into detrimental effects.

In addition to these detriments, "stuff" is destroying our planet. The habits people have acquired by buying and replacing in short periods of time has been molded by the media. We are ingrained to work hard, make money, to only be told by ads on television, billboards, and websites to spend our hard-earned money on temporarily gratifying "stuff". We buy this "stuff" we cannot always afford, throw it away to only end up in landfills. On the opposite end, the byproducts of manufacturing produce hazardous wastes. Although the media has encouraged society to recycle, it is not nearly enough to reverse the effects of human interaction. We need not only to recycle and reuse, but also to reduce production to not produce so much "stuff" in the first place. There is a sensitive balance to maintain between not producing so much "stuff" and still keep the economy alive.

The Solution

The solution is to create a service economy by encouraging people to support a more aesthetically fulfilling culture, to make "stuff", share "stuff", and buy local. In today's culture, we take advantage of our planet; exploit its non-renewable resources, to drive us into more debt for immediate gratification. This type of economy is not sustainable. A new economy would retain the best parts of today's economy while recognizing the planet's limits to preserve it.

We see the change that is possible from a different type of interaction. After the Industrial Revolution, the media taught us that "bigger is better" and that owning all of our own "stuff" is economic freedom. Through the massive average debt statistic, it is obvious that it has become a financial prison to most people. We are taking the chance of advocating a lifestyle that doesn't completely replace material wealth, but would focus on primarily fulfilling aesthetic desires; those desires that make one's life fulfilling and memorable. We want to provide knowledge of today's consumer-based culture and its effects on our physical, social, and environmental health, awareness of how to change the culture, and explain the benefits that can be reaped from the changes.

Link: theminimalists.com

An Anti-Stuff Christmas

We hope that people will be reminded of moments such as Christmas gift-giving that began as a way to express love and appreciation to those that matter the most. Somewhere along the way a shift occurred. As a society we focus more on what we received than why and how. Yet, through the gift of experiences, to ourselves and others, it is hard to ignore the love and affection. By choosing to spend our hard-earned money on concerts, vacations, artisan-made products, or by making a gift such as writing a song, poem, or play, or creating a work of art, we are choosing to stop feeding the consumption monster as well as telling our loved ones that they mean more to us than a credit card implies. They mean more because we invested what is more precious to us than money--our time and thoughts. If we remove the stress of accepting debt to provide the materially-perfect Christmas for our families, which is as designed and marketed as the Coca-Cola Polar Bears, we will not only have a quantity of time but a quality of time. Media put us where we are today, but media can also help bring about better consumption norms and this is our goal; to take advantage of today's media to help reverse today's unsustainable economy.