The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health—and a Vision for Change

In The Story of Stuff, Leonard uses the term Americans to refer to the citizens and residents of the United States of America.

A method of logging that removes all the trees, roots, wildflower, and species from a region. The aftermath of clearcutting is compared to bomb sites. Clearcutting forests leads to soil erosion, flooding, and mudslides. 

Conflict minerals are valuable metals and minerals that are mined in oppressive conditions where workers are paid very little and the conditions are poor. These minerals fuel violence as the profit from their extraction funds gangs, weapons, and repressive regimes. The role of “blood diamonds” in underwriting the cost of Sierra Leone’s civil war is an example of conflict minerals. 

Consumption describes the Stuff purchased and used by consumers. 

Corporations are legal entities that are beholden to their shareholders for profits. Over half of the largest economies in the world are corporations, placing them ahead of most countries. Short-term profit is the main goal of most corporations, as they are legally obligated to prioritize making a profit. Some corporations have made efforts to be more sustainable, invest in communities, and improve labor standards.

In practice, development describes short-term economic priorities that prioritize growth. These economic priorities are often accompanied by social inequality, environmental degradation, and stress. Leonard describes development as implementing “a fossil-fuel-intensive, toxics-laden, consumption-driven economy” (Introduction, Location 479). Places like Costa Rica—which has high literacy, life satisfaction, and life expectancy—are considered less developed than the United States.

There is a gap between what one pays for consumer goods and the true costs involved. Consequences like polluted drinking water, health impacts on workers and communities, and climate change are the externalized costs of consumption. These costs are not factored into the price of the object. However, this does not mean that no one has to pay these costs. 

In biology, “organic” means that something comes from living organisms. In chemistry, it is something that contains carbon as part of its elements. Organic matter is neither positive nor negative, it simply means “from nature.” In farming and produce, organic means it was produced without pesticides. 

A paradigm is a framework that reflects dominant values, assumptions, and ideas; it is our worldview. It functions similarly to the operating system of a consumer. Paradigms are so intrinsic to how we see and understand the world that we are rarely aware of what our paradigms are. 

Sacrifice zones are communities where commercial hazardous waste facilities are located, typically in low-income and racialized neighborhoods. The people who live there are exposed to high levels of toxins leading to reduced life expectancy and higher rates of diseases like asthma and cancer. Sacrifice zones are an aspect of environmental racism.

Leonard flags “signs of hope” to show progress on issues. Hope takes many forms, such as citizen action, legislation, growing awareness, or more sustainable innovations. Climate crisis can seem overwhelming, which can lead to despair. These signs of hope are critical to Leonard’s argument that we can fix these issues.

Stuff is Leonard’s term for mass-produced consumer goods. She does not use Stuff to describe resources like oil or logs. Instead, it is the objects we purchase in stores or online. 

The United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development describes sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Introduction, Location 528). Sustainability emphasizes relationships between component parts to consider the whole and includes equity and justice.