Monday, April 20, 2009

The Story of Stuff

In preparation for tomorrow's radio show 'Tightwad Tuesday' I want to encourage you to watch a short film clip that I was recently introduced to.

I love things that make me think and things that challenge me to not just accept the status quo. This short film does exactly that. The film is about STUFF, STUFF, STUFF. We all have it, we all deal with it and we all get bothered by it. 

One of my favorite parts of this film is the explanation of 'planned and perceived obsolescence'. If one thing drives me nuts it's when your washing machine, computer or even your car konks out 2 days after the warranty runs out..... this situation then forces us to purchase yet another machine to replace the one that could have, should have just been simply repaired. Oh the pain of STUFF!

Another point she makes is that happiness (in the US) was at an all time high in the 50's. Sadly now we have more stuff but less time and we are less happy in almost every area of life! I think we all know there is truth in that and as far as the 50's go, talk to your parents or your grandparents and they will tell you what life was like.

We live in such a 'disposable' world and it's not nice. Not only do we freely dispose of our STUFF but this trend (if you can call it that) seems to have filtered through to our relationships ~ families are breaking down, friendships are tossed to the side and the list goes on.

Like me, many of you (at some time or another) have probably complained about the STUFF your parents have tucked away in their homes, garages and sheds. I'm beginning to think our criticism should be directed back at ourselves and perhaps we should begin to learn from some of their frugality and resourcefulness in an effort to save our world.

We have a responsibility to our children and our children's children and to ourselves to keep our world and planet safe in all respects. This cycle and what is represented in this film is just one part of the equation, there are so many other angles we need to address as well.

Enjoy the short film and ask yourself ~ What can I do today that will make a difference? Every effort counts. Remember, it takes many drops to fill an ocean. Please join us tomorrow morning 9:30am mst for 'Tightwad Tuesday'. We want to hear your clever ideas on being resourceful, how to save, stretch and walk through this stage of the economic story.


Susan J Sohn

PS - don't forget to enter our familyroom COMPETITION - Soul Food. We want your family favorite recipe. We are daring to make a difference and endeavouring to gather people across the globe to their dining tables. Together we CAN make a difference in this world.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic...what a challenge
Jane

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