SJR Reads – The Story of Stuff
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Bring a bag lunch and join us in the parlour after Gather ‘n Gab (coffee time) to discuss our latest selection. Everyone is welcome to join us, whether you’ve only just started reading the book, or finished it some time ago.
Do you have a friend or neighbour who loves to read? maybe someone who worships at another church? Bring them along, or have them meet us at noon at SJR – there’s always room in our discussion circle for at least one more!
About this book:
We have a problem with Stuff. In the U.S. alone, 5 percent of the world’s population is consuming 30 percent of the world’s resources and creating 30 percent of the world’s waste. If everyone consumed at this rate, we would need three to five planets!
Leonard’s message is startlingly clear: we have too much Stuff, and too much of it is toxic. Outlining the five stages of our consumption-driven economy — from extraction through production, distribution, consumption, and disposal — she vividly illuminates its frightening repercussions.
With staggering revelations about the economy, the environment, and cultures around the world, alongside stories from her own life and work, Leonard demonstrates that the drive for a “growth at all costs” economy fuels a cycle of production, consumption, and disposal that is killing us. It is a system in crisis, but Annie Leonard shows us that this is not the way things have to be. It’s within our power to stop the environmental damage, social injustice, and health hazards caused by polluting production and excessive consumption, and Leonard shows us how.
Expansive, galvanizing, and sobering yet optimistic, The Story of Stuff transforms how we think about our lives and our relationship to the planet.