In Schools, a Cautionary Video About America’s ‘Stuff’ reports on the 20 minute video "The Story of Stuff" that is a sleeper hit at schools nation wide.
It appears to be anti-military, anti-consumer and anti-stimulus at a time the government wants the populace to spend money which may put the Obama administration at cross purposes with this liberal tilting video.
The video was created by Annie Leonard, a former Greenpeace employee and an independent lecturer who paints a picture of how American habits result in forests being felled, mountaintops being destroyed, water being polluted and people and animals being poisoned. Ms. Leonard, who describes herself as an “unapologetic activist,” is also critical of corporations and the federal government, which she says spends too much on the military.
Ms. Leonard put the video on the Internet in December 2007. Word quickly spread among teachers, who recommended it to one another as a brief, provocative way of drawing students into a dialogue about how buying a cellphone or jeans could contribute to environmental devastation.
So far, six million people have viewed the film at its site, storyofstuff.com, and millions more have seen it on YouTube. More than 7,000 schools, churches and others have ordered a DVD version, and hundreds of teachers have written Ms. Leonard to say they have assigned students to view it on the Web.
"Story of Stuff" Introduction:
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