After reading the video “The story of stuff”, I strongly realize as a designer we are not designing a product for the market, we also should think about the environmental and social issues. As shown from the video “There is only one planet.”
In the video, Annie Leonard mentioned the stuff moves to a system, from extraction to production to distribution to consumption and disposal, all together calls material economy. Beside, she also says there are a lot missing from this explanation. For example: People, people are working through the system. Firstly, Annie Leonard introduced the extraction. The earth has limited resources; however people use too many stuff in this world. One-third natural resources in the planet has been consumed, we are using the stuff so fast. As a designer, we should think about the way we design the products, in order to satisfy the environmental sustainability. Secondly, Annie Leonard said the problem of production. In the production process, the natural resources turn to the toxic chemicals. There are 100,000 synthetic chemicals is using today. How horrible the number is, all this chemicals are impacts our health and the environment. People should stop buying the toxic product, and designer should stop putting toxic stuff into our industrial production. Annie Leonard used human breast milk to emphasize the toxic stuff’s danger. Mother’s breast milk used to be the secret and safe, but now it is becoming the most toxic food. The third process which is distribution, it means selling all toxic drugs as soon as possible. They keep the price down, and attract people to buy it. This calls externalized costs. Next step consumption, which is the heart of the system. After World War II, the government and cooperation focus on how to increase the economy, a retailer got a solution which is: “Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction. In consumption, we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” We are paying tax to the government; their job is to protect us. However, in order to increase the economy, they are producing many toxic drugs, destroying the environment in their own country and the third country, hiring cheap labour force from India, China which aims to decrease the price of toxic products. For people, we don not have high sustainability lifestyle and all the drugs damage our body. The government and cooperation use planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence to encourage consumer buy all these useless products. Planned obsolescence which means design for the dump, they design the product which is useless and finish as quickly as possible. This causes consumer to buy a new one. Besides, advertisement is playing an important role in the perceived obsolescence. It makes people feel embarrassed if they don’t have new and technique stuff. People can not stop shopping, therefore this into the next stage of the system, disposal. When the stuff is full in your house, you will put it in the rubbish bin. In the United States, people make 4.5 Lbs/day, it twice to the twenty years age. Moreover, all these rubbish make a huge pollution in the planet. For us, we must recycle the garbage and stop buying the useless stuff.
Presently, the environment sustainability becomes a significant topic in the world. We should pay more attention about the products’ material.
In the video, Annie Leonard mentioned the stuff moves to a system, from extraction to production to distribution to consumption and disposal, all together calls material economy. Beside, she also says there are a lot missing from this explanation. For example: People, people are working through the system. Firstly, Annie Leonard introduced the extraction. The earth has limited resources; however people use too many stuff in this world. One-third natural resources in the planet has been consumed, we are using the stuff so fast. As a designer, we should think about the way we design the products, in order to satisfy the environmental sustainability. Secondly, Annie Leonard said the problem of production. In the production process, the natural resources turn to the toxic chemicals. There are 100,000 synthetic chemicals is using today. How horrible the number is, all this chemicals are impacts our health and the environment. People should stop buying the toxic product, and designer should stop putting toxic stuff into our industrial production. Annie Leonard used human breast milk to emphasize the toxic stuff’s danger. Mother’s breast milk used to be the secret and safe, but now it is becoming the most toxic food. The third process which is distribution, it means selling all toxic drugs as soon as possible. They keep the price down, and attract people to buy it. This calls externalized costs. Next step consumption, which is the heart of the system. After World War II, the government and cooperation focus on how to increase the economy, a retailer got a solution which is: “Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction. In consumption, we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” We are paying tax to the government; their job is to protect us. However, in order to increase the economy, they are producing many toxic drugs, destroying the environment in their own country and the third country, hiring cheap labour force from India, China which aims to decrease the price of toxic products. For people, we don not have high sustainability lifestyle and all the drugs damage our body. The government and cooperation use planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence to encourage consumer buy all these useless products. Planned obsolescence which means design for the dump, they design the product which is useless and finish as quickly as possible. This causes consumer to buy a new one. Besides, advertisement is playing an important role in the perceived obsolescence. It makes people feel embarrassed if they don’t have new and technique stuff. People can not stop shopping, therefore this into the next stage of the system, disposal. When the stuff is full in your house, you will put it in the rubbish bin. In the United States, people make 4.5 Lbs/day, it twice to the twenty years age. Moreover, all these rubbish make a huge pollution in the planet. For us, we must recycle the garbage and stop buying the useless stuff.
Presently, the environment sustainability becomes a significant topic in the world. We should pay more attention about the products’ material.
