Comments on: “Story of Stuff” Crusade Takes on E-Waste and Planned Obsolescence

By: Jennifer Welsh

Jennifer Welsh — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:09:13 +0000

Thanks for reading and commenting all,

I know we all have opinions on the subject, I’m glad you’ve all gotten a chance to air yours. I know the video is an advocacy video, and is expressing a view point. This is definitely a topic that should be discussed, though.

I just wanted to say that while the movie above is making points to advocate for one specific point of the issue, her points are backed up by data. It would probably take thousands of pages of reports to explain and back up all of her points, and no one would want to watch THAT movie.

Its funny, writing about this stuff really reminds me of that movie, Idiocracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy). Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point, though.

Jen

By: Dante The Canadian

Dante The Canadian — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:50:58 +0000

Companies won’t make longer lasting products because that’s bad for business. If you build products that last out of good materials, that will cost more money to make and thus cost more money to buy for the consumer. The payback for the consumer is they pay more but get a product that lasts longer. That’s good for the consumer but bad for businesses. If people don’t need to replace their TV’s, Cellphones, Cars, Blackberries, Computers, watches, radios etc etc etc people won’t bother to BUY them. If people aren’t buying products, then businesses won’t need as many people to make these products. If people aren’t working to make products then people aren’t making money to buy anything.

See the vicious circle? The trick for the world is to continue to make ‘disposable’ products but to do so in a more environmentally responsible manner. No one has really been able to figure that trick out yet, but when they do be assured they will sell it.

By: Katharine

Katharine — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:29:25 +0000

I see most of you haven’t heard of conflict minerals.

Toxic minerals I agree is suspect, but the planned obsolescence isn’t. We ransack our supplies of raw materials buying shoddy crud because businesses want a short-term profit.

By: scott

scott — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:51:59 +0000

This is how I think it will play out…as a whole, too many people and countries dont get it and humans will not make any dramatic shifts in anything (pollution, manufacturing, water conservation, etc, etc) until things get so bad and they are FORCED to. Like building a multi million dollar waste water plant that costs government and the population hundreds of millions of dollars…they wont do it until it starts to just ruin the lives (quality of life) for everyone in the affected area and people finally get off their butts and demand it done. Usually things have to get dire before action is taken.

When things get dire, things will get done, and done well most likely, too late or not. But…it wont happen, until its really bad (I am talking large scale changes, not little green feel good projects here and there). Thats sort of the way its always been anyway….as long as everything seems somewhat normal and the masses cant really see it or smell it or can still ignore it, they will not want to change their ways, pay for it, etc.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:35:07 +0000

Holy crap…. Are you two previous posters for real??? Can you really keep a straight face and tell me this isn’t the way our world works?

By: Trevor

Trevor — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:59:41 +0000

Terrible video. It makes a ton of claims and backs them up with, at best, some anecdotal evidence.

By: RK

RK — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:12:44 +0000

Anti capitalist, non-scientific bias with a socialist message. What is this doing in a supposedly scientific magazine/news service?

GLOBAL TOXIC EMERGENCY! That’s not alarmist…btw, it seems that human life expectancy in countries where there is actual property rights and rule of law (not rule of men) have increasing life expectancies. Seems that would be on the decline in a global toxic emergency.

SEND THE TOXIC WASTE TO THE CEO’s! Those evil CEO’s, making products people want, inexpensively so even people of limited wealth can have a cell phone and TV….

EXERT more government control…somehow that causes innovation, according to the video…

Most of the developing countries where the “recycling” occurs are authoritarian, poor countries with no freedom, few property rights, and no rule of law. That’s not a company’s fault, nor responsibility to fix. Such countries will always be poor, and toxic, regardless of our “e-waste”.