0:00:19.020,0:00:19.920
Do you have one of these?

0:00:20.590,0:00:22.060
I got a little obsessed with mine.

0:00:22.390,0:00:24.530
In fact I got a little obsessed with[br]all my stuff.

0:00:24.890,0:00:27.060
Have you ever wondered where all the[br]stuff we buy, comes from

0:00:27.490,0:00:28.830
and where it goes[br]when we throw it out?

0:00:29.630,0:00:32.030
I couldn't stop wondering about that.[br]So I looked it up.

0:00:32.230,0:00:35.470
And what the text book said,[br]is that stuff moves through a system

0:00:35.900,0:00:41.140
from extraction to production[br]to distribution to consumption to disposal.

0:00:41.680,0:00:45.680
All together, it is called the materials economy.[br]Well, I looked into it a little bit more.

0:00:46.680,0:00:48.550
In fact, I spent 10 years traveling the world,

0:00:49.120,0:00:51.990
tracking where our stuff comes[br]from and where it goes.

0:00:52.550,0:00:55.250
And you know what I found out?[br]That is not the whole story.

0:00:55.860,0:00:58.060
There's a lot missing from[br]this explanation.

0:00:58.560,0:01:02.100
For one thing,[br]this system looks like it's fine. No problem.

0:01:03.100,0:01:05.300
But the truth is it’s a system in crisis.

0:01:05.930,0:01:08.630
And the reason it is in crisis[br]is that it is a linear system

0:01:09.300,0:01:10.700
and we live on a finite planet

0:01:11.270,0:01:15.270
and you can not run a linear system[br]on a finite planet indefinitely.

0:01:15.810,0:01:19.310
Every step along the way, this system[br]is interacting with the real world.

0:01:19.910,0:01:21.950
In real life it’s not happening[br]on a blank white page.

0:01:23.120,0:01:26.120
It’s interacting with societies, cultures,[br]economies, the environment.

0:01:26.650,0:01:29.020
And all along the way,[br]it’s bumping up against limits.

0:01:29.690,0:01:32.690
Limits we don't see here because[br]the diagram is incomplete.

0:01:33.590,0:01:36.660
So lets go back through, let's fill in[br]some of the blanks and see what's missing.

0:01:37.300,0:01:40.600
Well, one of the most important things its missing[br]is people, yes people.

0:01:41.130,0:01:43.800
People live and work all along this system.

0:01:44.640,0:01:47.510
And some people in this system[br]matter a little more than others;

0:01:47.770,0:01:49.970
Some have a little more say.[br]Who are they?

0:01:50.340,0:01:52.010
Well, let’s start with the government.

0:01:52.310,0:01:54.880
Now my friends tell me I should use[br]a tank to symbolize the government

0:01:55.320,0:01:57.920
and that’s true in many countries[br]and increasingly in our own,

0:01:58.050,0:02:01.720
after all more than 50% of our federal tax money[br]is now going to the military,

0:02:02.320,0:02:04.120
but I’m using a person[br]to symbolize the government

0:02:04.620,0:02:07.460
because I hold true to the vision and values[br]that governments should be

0:02:07.760,0:02:09.930
of the people, by the people,[br]for the people.

0:02:10.430,0:02:14.770
It's the governments job to watch out for us,[br]to take care of us. That’s their job.

0:02:15.670,0:02:17.400
Then along came the corporation.

0:02:17.870,0:02:19.970
Now, the reason the corporation[br]looks bigger than the government

0:02:20.370,0:02:22.140
is bigger then the government.

0:02:22.480,0:02:27.050
Of the 100 largest economies on earth now,[br]51 are corporations.

0:02:28.050,0:02:32.150
As the corporations have grown in size and power,[br]we’ve seen a little change in the government

0:02:32.820,0:02:34.360
where they’re a little more[br]concerned in making sure

0:02:35.060,0:02:36.490
everything is working out[br]for those guys than for us.

0:02:37.220,0:02:39.920
Ok, so lets see what else is missing[br]from this picture.

0:02:40.490,0:02:41.520
We'll start with extraction.

0:02:42.400,0:02:45.440
which is a fancy word for[br]natural resource exploitation

0:02:45.970,0:02:48.310
which is a fancy word[br]for trashing the planet.

0:02:48.900,0:02:52.890
What this looks like is we chop down trees,[br]we blow up mountains to get the metals inside,

0:02:53.310,0:02:55.280
we use up all the water[br]and we wipe out the animals.

0:02:55.940,0:02:58.210
So here we are running up[br]against our first limit.

0:02:58.910,0:03:03.010
We are running out of resources.[br]We are using too much stuff.

0:03:03.550,0:03:06.690
Now I know this can be hard to hear,[br]but it's the truth we’ve gotta deal with it.

0:03:07.420,0:03:08.650
In the past three decades alone,

0:03:09.390,0:03:14.190
one-third of the planet’s natural resources[br]base have been consumed. Gone.

0:03:15.000,0:03:19.040
We are cutting and mining and hauling[br]and trashing the place so fast

0:03:19.700,0:03:23.340
that we’re undermining the planet’s[br]very ability for people to live here.

0:03:23.940,0:03:28.780
Where I live, in the United States,[br]we have less than 4% of our original forests left.

0:03:29.540,0:03:32.280
Forty percent of the waterways[br]have become undrinkable.

0:03:32.910,0:03:35.610
And our problem is not just that[br]we’re using too much stuff,

0:03:36.220,0:03:40.860
but we’re using more than our share.[br]We have 5% of the world’s population

0:03:41.390,0:03:46.530
but we’re consuming 30% of the world’s resources[br]and creating 30% of the world’s waste.

0:03:47.230,0:03:51.400
If everybody consumed at U.S. rates,[br]we would need 3 to 5 planets.

0:03:52.100,0:03:54.100
And you know what?[br]We’ve only got one.

0:03:54.770,0:03:58.770
So, my country’s response to this limitation[br]is simply to go take somebody else’s!

0:03:59.310,0:04:02.050
This is the Third World, which[br]– some would say –

0:04:02.680,0:04:05.920
is another word for our stuff that somehow[br]got on someone else’s land.

0:04:06.510,0:04:09.550
So what does that look like?[br]The same thing: trashing the place.

0:04:10.750,0:04:14.920
75% of global fisheries now are[br]fished at or beyond capacity.

0:04:15.520,0:04:18.890
80% of the planet’s original forests are gone.

0:04:19.760,0:04:22.830
In the Amazon alone,[br]we’re losing 2000 trees a minute.

0:04:23.500,0:04:25.740
That is seven football fields a minute.

0:04:26.500,0:04:28.500
And what about the people who live here?

0:04:29.140,0:04:32.280
Well. According to these guys,[br]they don’t own these resources

0:04:32.970,0:04:35.710
even if they’ve been living there for generations,[br]they don’t own the means of production

0:04:36.410,0:04:38.580
and they’re not buying a lot of stuff.[br]And in this system,

0:04:39.280,0:04:42.980
if you don’t own or buy a lot of stuff,[br]you don’t have value.

0:04:44.030,0:04:48.020
So, next, the materials move to “production“[br]and what happens there is we use energy

0:04:48.950,0:04:54.090
to mix toxic chemicals in with the natural[br]resources to make toxic contaminated products.

0:04:54.730,0:04:58.630
There are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals[br]in use in commerce today.

0:04:59.230,0:05:01.570
Only a handful of them have even[br]been tested for health impacts

0:05:02.300,0:05:04.500
and NONE have been tested[br]for synergistic health impacts,

0:05:05.140,0:05:07.780
that means when they interact with all the other[br]chemicals we’re exposed to every day.

0:05:08.440,0:05:11.510
So, we don’t know the full impact on health[br]and the environment of all these toxic chemicals.

0:05:12.280,0:05:15.480
But we do know one thing:[br]Toxics in, Toxics Out.

0:05:16.080,0:05:19.120
As long as we keep putting toxics into[br]our inudstrial production systems,

0:05:19.750,0:05:21.950
we are going to keep getting toxics[br]in the stuff that we bring

0:05:22.120,0:05:25.920
into our homes, and workplaces, and schools.[br]And, duh, our bodies.

0:05:26.860,0:05:29.000
Like BFRs,[br]brominated flame retardants.

0:05:29.660,0:05:33.160
They are a chemical that make things[br]more fireproof but they are super toxic.

0:05:33.930,0:05:39.700
They’re a neurotoxin–that means toxic to the brain[br]What are we even doing using a chemical like this?

0:05:40.310,0:05:45.250
Yet we put them in our computers, our appliances,[br]couches, mattresses, even some pillows.

0:05:46.010,0:05:49.550
In fact, we take our pillows,[br]we douse them in a neurotoxin

0:05:50.250,0:05:53.190
and then we bring them home and put our heads[br]on them for 8 hours a night to sleep.

0:05:53.920,0:05:57.120
Now, I don’t know, but it seems to me that[br]in this country with so much potential,

0:05:57.760,0:06:00.600
we could think of a better way to stop our heads[br]from catching on fire at night.

0:06:01.260,0:06:04.830
Now these toxics build up in the food chain[br]and concentrate in our bodies.

0:06:05.630,0:06:07.600
Do you know what is the food[br]at the top of the food chain

0:06:08.240,0:06:11.840
with the highest level of many toxic contaminants?[br]Human breast milk.

0:06:12.770,0:06:17.940
That means that we have reached a point where the[br]smallest members of our societies - our babies

0:06:18.640,0:06:23.250
are getting their highest lifetime dose of toxic[br]chemicals from breastfeeding from their mothers.

0:06:24.020,0:06:26.890
Is that not an incredible violation?

0:06:27.690,0:06:31.060
Breastfeeding must be the most fundamental[br]human act of nurturing;

0:06:31.860,0:06:35.400
it should be sacred and safe.[br]Now breastfeeding is still best

0:06:36.030,0:06:40.900
and mothers should definitely keep breastfeeding,[br]but we should protect it. They should protect it.

0:06:41.500,0:06:44.300
I thought they were looking out for us.[br]And of course,

0:06:45.040,0:06:46.810
the people who bear the biggest[br]of these toxic chemicals

0:06:47.570,0:06:50.710
are the factory workers,[br]many of whom are women of reproductive age.

0:06:51.610,0:06:54.680
They’re working with reproductive toxics,[br]carcinogens and more.

0:06:55.450,0:06:58.890
Now, I ask you,[br]what kind of woman of reproductive age

0:06:59.520,0:07:01.760
would work in a job exposed[br]to reproductive toxics,

0:07:02.560,0:07:06.900
except for a woman with no other option?[br]And that is one of the “beauties” of this system?

0:07:07.630,0:07:10.330
The erosion of local environments[br]and economies here

0:07:11.030,0:07:13.830
ensures a constant supply[br]of people with no other option.

0:07:14.600,0:07:18.600
Globally 200,000 people a day[br]are moving from environments

0:07:19.310,0:07:20.680
that have sustained them for generations,

0:07:21.410,0:07:26.810
into cities, many to live in slums, looking for[br]work, no matter how toxic that work may be.

0:07:27.580,0:07:30.420
So, you see, it is not just resources[br]that are wasted along this system,

0:07:31.280,0:07:33.720
but people too.[br]Whole communities get wasted.

0:07:34.490,0:07:36.930
Yup, toxics in, toxics out.

0:07:37.590,0:07:39.790
A lot of the toxics[br]leave the factories in products,

0:07:40.730,0:07:44.770
but even more leave as by-products, or pollution.[br]And it’s a lot of pollution.

0:07:45.600,0:07:50.870
In the U.S., our industry admits to releasing[br]over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals a year

0:07:51.600,0:07:53.770
and it’s probably way more[br]since that is only what they admit.

0:07:54.540,0:07:56.240
So that’s another limit, because, yuck,

0:07:56.940,0:08:01.280
who wants to look at and smell 4 billion pounds[br]of toxic chemicals a year? So, what do they do?

0:08:01.920,0:08:05.120
Move the dirty factories overseas[br]Pollute someone else’s land!

0:08:05.950,0:08:10.250
But surprise, a lot of that air pollution is[br]coming right back at us, carried by wind currents.

0:08:10.990,0:08:14.630
So, what happens after all these resources[br]are turned into products?

0:08:15.430,0:08:17.100
Well, it moves here, for distribution.

0:08:18.260,0:08:22.460
Now distribution means “selling all this[br]toxic-contaminated junk as quickly as possible.”

0:08:23.140,0:08:27.980
The goal here is to keep the prices down, keep the[br]people buying, and keep the inventory moving.

0:08:29.040,0:08:32.410
How do they keep the prices down?[br]Well, they don’t pay the store workers very much

0:08:33.080,0:08:37.550
and they skimp on health insurance every time they[br]can. It’s all about externalizing the costs.

0:08:38.320,0:08:42.320
What that means is the real costs of making stuff[br]aren’t captured in the price.

0:08:43.090,0:08:45.590
In other words,[br]we aren’t paying for the stuff we buy.

0:08:46.260,0:08:47.590
I was thinking about this the other day.

0:08:48.260,0:08:50.160
I was walking[br]and I wanted to listen to the news

0:08:50.900,0:08:52.330
so I popped into a Radio Shack[br]to buy a radio.

0:08:53.000,0:08:55.840
I found this cute little green radio[br]for 4 dollars and 99 cents.

0:08:56.670,0:08:58.840
I was standing there in line to buy this thing[br]and I was thinking

0:08:59.610,0:09:02.610
how could $4.99 possibly[br]capture the costs

0:09:03.440,0:09:07.580
of making this radio and getting it into my hands?[br]The metal was probably mined in South Africa,

0:09:08.380,0:09:12.350
the petroleum was probably drilled in Iraq,[br]the plastics were probably produced in China,

0:09:13.150,0:09:16.450
and maybe the whole thing was assembled[br]by some 15 year old in a maquiladora in Mexico.

0:09:17.960,0:09:21.430
$4.99 wouldn’t even pay the rent for[br]the shelf space it occupied until I came along,

0:09:22.230,0:09:24.670
let alone part of the staff guy’s salary[br]who helped me pick it out,

0:09:25.530,0:09:28.400
or the multiple ocean cruises and truck rides[br]pieces of this radio went on.

0:09:29.740,0:09:33.480
That’s how I realized, I didn’t pay for the radio.[br]So, who did pay?

0:09:34.240,0:09:37.240
Well. These people paid with the loss[br]of their natural resource base.

0:09:37.980,0:09:42.180
These people paid with the loss of their clean air[br]with increasing asthma and cancer rates.

0:09:43.020,0:09:47.260
Kids in the Congo paid with their future –[br]30% of the kids in parts of the Congo

0:09:48.020,0:09:49.120
now have had to drop out[br]of school to mine coltan,

0:09:49.960,0:09:52.200
a metal we need for our cheap[br]and disposable electronics.

0:09:53.030,0:09:55.870
These people even paid, by having to cover[br]their own health insurance.

0:09:56.530,0:10:01.500
All along this system, people pitched in[br]so I could get this radio for $4.99.

0:10:02.240,0:10:05.080
And none of these contributions[br]are recorded in any accounts book.

0:10:05.900,0:10:10.370
That is what I mean by the company owners[br]externalize the true costs of production.

0:10:11.440,0:10:15.140
And that brings us to the golden[br]arrow of consumption.

0:10:16.280,0:10:18.920
This is the heart of the system,[br]the engine that drives it.

0:10:19.720,0:10:24.390
It is so important that protecting this arrow has[br]become the top priority for both of these guys.

0:10:25.020,0:10:27.890
That is why, after 9/11,[br]when our country was in shock,

0:10:28.630,0:10:30.970
and President Bush could have suggested[br]any number of appropriate things:

0:10:31.660,0:10:36.800
to grieve, to pray, to hope. NO.[br]He said to shop. TO SHOP?!

0:10:37.470,0:10:43.240
We have become a nation of consumers. Our primary[br]identity has become that of being consumers,

0:10:44.080,0:10:46.520
not mothers, teachers, farmers,[br]but consumers.

0:10:47.950,0:10:50.750
The primary way that our value[br]is measured and demonstrated

0:10:51.520,0:10:56.020
is by how much we contribute to this arrow,[br]how much we consume. And do we!

0:10:56.760,0:11:01.870
We shop and shop and shop. Keep the materials[br]flowing, And flow they do!

0:11:02.700,0:11:06.040
Guess what percentage of total materials flow[br]through this system is still in product or use 6 months after the date of sale in North America?

0:11:06.800,0:11:20.650
Fifty percent? Twenty? NO. One percent. One![br]In other words, 99 percent of the stuff

0:11:21.350,0:11:24.820
we harvest, mine, process, transport –[br]99 percent of the stuff we run through this system

0:11:25.520,0:11:30.190
is trashed within 6 months.[br]Now how can we run a planet

0:11:30.920,0:11:34.620
with that level of materials throughput?[br]It wasn’t always like this.

0:11:35.030,0:11:38.570
The average U.S. person now consumes[br]twice as much as they did 50 years ago.

0:11:39.400,0:11:43.900
Ask your grandma. In her day, stewardship[br]and resourcefulness and thrift were valued.

0:11:44.670,0:11:49.010
So, how did this happen?[br]Well, it didn’t just happen. It was designed.

0:11:49.880,0:11:54.150
Shortly after the World War 2, these guys[br]were figuring out how to ramp up the economy.

0:11:55.010,0:11:57.950
Retailing analyst Victor Lebow[br]articulated the solution

0:11:58.680,0:11:59.780
that has become the norm[br]for the whole system.

0:12:00.620,0:12:04.960
He said: "Our enormously productive economy[br]demands that we make consumption our way of life,

0:12:05.860,0:12:10.070
that we convert the buying and use of goods into[br]rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction,

0:12:10.760,0:12:12.400
our ego satisfaction, in consumption.

0:12:13.170,0:12:18.070
We need things consumed, burned up, replaced[br]and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”

0:12:18.940,0:12:21.810
President Eisenhower's Council[br]of Economic Advisors Chairman said

0:12:22.580,0:12:25.920
that "The American economy's ultimate purpose[br]is to produce more consumer goods."

0:12:26.650,0:12:28.020
MORE CONSUMER GOODS?

0:12:28.820,0:12:33.290
Our ultimate purpose? Not provide health care,[br]or education, or safe transportation,

0:12:34.090,0:12:36.690
or sustainability or justice?[br]Consumer goods?

0:12:37.490,0:12:40.260
How did they get us to jump on board[br]this program so enthusiastically?

0:12:41.090,0:12:45.990
Well, two of their most effective strategies are[br]planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence.

0:12:46.900,0:12:50.170
Planned obsolescence is another word[br]for “designed for the dump.”

0:12:50.970,0:12:53.910
It means they actually make stuff[br]to be useless as quickly as possible

0:12:54.770,0:12:55.700
so we will chuck it and buy a new one.

0:12:56.540,0:12:59.540
It’s obvious with things like plastic bags[br]and coffee cups, but now it’s even big stuff:

0:13:00.480,0:13:05.020
mops, DVDs, cameras, barbeques even,[br]everything! Even computers.

0:13:05.820,0:13:07.250
Have you noticed that[br]when you buy a computer now,

0:13:08.090,0:13:09.930
the technology is changing so fast[br]that in just a couple years,

0:13:10.790,0:13:13.590
it’s actually an impediment to communication?[br]I was curious about this

0:13:14.390,0:13:17.760
so I opened up a big desktop computer[br]to see what was inside. And I found out

0:13:18.700,0:13:22.140
that the piece that changes each year[br]is just a tiny little piece in the corner.

0:13:22.870,0:13:26.210
But you can’t just change that one piece,[br]because each new version is a different shape,

0:13:27.040,0:13:29.510
so you gotta chuck the whole thing[br]and buy a new one.

0:13:30.610,0:13:34.150
So, I was reading industrial design journals[br]from the 1950s when planned obsolescence

0:13:35.050,0:13:37.750
was really catching on.[br]These designers are so open about it.

0:13:38.650,0:13:41.350
They actually discuss how fast[br]can they make stuff break

0:13:42.220,0:13:44.290
that still leaves the consumer[br]having enough faith in the product

0:13:45.190,0:13:47.190
to go out and buy anther one.[br]It was so intentional.

0:13:48.060,0:13:50.960
But stuff cannot break fast enough[br]to keep this arrow afloat,

0:13:51.900,0:13:53.570
so there’s also[br]“perceived obsolescence.”

0:13:54.300,0:13:59.640
Now perceived obsolescence convinces us to[br]throw away stuff that is still perfectly useful.

0:14:00.440,0:14:03.480
How do they do that? Well,[br]they change the way the stuff looks

0:14:04.240,0:14:05.770
so if you bought your stuff[br]a couple years ago,

0:14:06.780,0:14:09.380
everyone can tell that you haven’t contributed[br]to this arrow recently

0:14:10.220,0:14:14.190
and since the way we demonstrate our value is[br]contributing to this arrow, it can be embarrassing

0:14:15.020,0:14:17.220
Like I’ve have had the same fat[br]white computer monitor

0:14:18.120,0:14:20.920
on my desk for 5 years.[br]My co-worker just got a new computer.

0:14:21.830,0:14:24.200
She has a flat, shiny, sleek monitor.

0:14:25.030,0:14:28.170
It matches her computer,[br]it matches her phone, even her pen stand.

0:14:28.930,0:14:31.500
She looks like she is driving in[br]space ship central and I,

0:14:32.440,0:14:34.340
I look like I have a washing machine on my desk.

0:14:35.170,0:14:39.340
Fashion is another prime example of this.[br]Have you ever wondered why women’s shoe heels

0:14:40.210,0:14:43.850
go from fat one year to skinny the next to fat to[br]skinny? It is not because there is some debate

0:14:44.720,0:14:48.090
about which heel structure is the most healthy[br]for women’s feet. It’s because wearing fat heels

0:14:48.990,0:14:52.230
in a skinny heel year shows everybody that[br]you haven’t contributed to that arrow recently

0:14:53.190,0:14:55.960
so you’re not as valuable as that person[br]in skinny heels next to you,

0:14:56.800,0:15:00.200
or, more likely, in some ad.[br]It’s to keep buying new shoes.

0:15:01.030,0:15:04.200
Advertisements, and media in general,[br]play a big role in this.

0:15:05.000,0:15:08.640
Each of us in the U.S. is targeted[br]with over 3,000 advertisements a day.

0:15:09.440,0:15:13.280
We each see more advertisements in one year[br]than people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime.

0:15:14.210,0:15:17.910
And if you think about it, what is the point of an[br]ad except to make us unhappy with what we have?

0:15:18.750,0:15:21.420
So, 3,000 times a day, we’re told that[br]our hair is wrong, our skin is wrong,

0:15:22.460,0:15:24.430
our clothes are wrong, our furniture is wrong,[br]our cars are wrong, we are wrong

0:15:25.290,0:15:27.090
but that it can all be made right[br]if we just go shopping.

0:15:28.030,0:15:30.700
Media also helps by hiding[br]all of this and all of this,

0:15:31.630,0:15:35.000
so the only part of the materials economy we see[br]is the shopping.

0:15:35.740,0:15:39.640
The extraction, production and disposal[br]all happen outside our field of vision.

0:15:40.740,0:15:43.810
So, in the U.S.[br]we have more stuff than ever before,

0:15:44.610,0:15:47.110
but polls show that our national happiness[br]is actually declining.

0:15:47.910,0:15:53.380
Our national happiness peaked in the 1950s,[br]the same time as this consumption mania exploded.

0:15:54.550,0:15:56.290
Hmmm. Interesting coincidence.

0:15:57.460,0:15:59.160
I think I know why.[br]We have more stuff,

0:16:00.030,0:16:02.050
but we have less time for the things[br]that really make us happy:

0:16:02.830,0:16:06.300
friends, family, leisure time.[br]We’re working harder than ever.

0:16:07.130,0:16:10.800
Some analysts say that we have less[br]leisure time now than in Feudal Society.

0:16:12.070,0:16:13.140
And do you know what[br]the two main activities are

0:16:14.010,0:16:15.110
that we do with the scant[br]leisure time we have?

0:16:16.110,0:16:17.580
Watch TV and shop.

0:16:18.480,0:16:21.280
In the U.S., we spend 3 to 4 times[br]as many hours shopping

0:16:22.220,0:16:25.020
as our counterparts in Europe do.[br]So we are in this ridiculous situation

0:16:25.820,0:16:28.490
where we go to work, maybe two jobs even,[br]and we come home and we’re exhausted

0:16:29.090,0:16:31.930
so we plop down on our new couch and watch TV[br]and the commercials tell us “YOU SUCK”

0:16:32.890,0:16:35.690
so we gotta go to the mall to buy something[br]to feel better, and then you gotta go to work more

0:16:36.530,0:16:38.200
to pay for the stuff you just bought[br]so you come home and you’re more tired

0:16:39.100,0:16:40.270
so you sit down and watch more T.V.[br]and it tells you to go to the mall again

0:16:41.270,0:16:46.110
and we’re on this crazy work-watch-spend treadmill[br]and we could just stop.

0:16:47.070,0:16:49.140
So in the end, what happens[br]To all the stuff we buy anyway?

0:16:50.080,0:16:51.810
At this rate of consumption,[br]it can’t fit into our houses

0:16:52.680,0:16:54.050
even though the average[br]house size has doubled

0:16:54.950,0:16:57.550
in this country since the 1970s.[br]It all goes out in the garbage.

0:16:57.920,0:17:01.460
And that brings us to disposal.[br]This is the part of the materials economy

0:17:02.050,0:17:05.090
we all know the most because we have to haul[br]the junk out to the curb ourselves.

0:17:05.760,0:17:10.000
Each of us in the United States[br]makes 4 1/2 pounds of garbage a day.

0:17:10.600,0:17:12.400
That is twice what we each[br]made thirty years ago.

0:17:13.100,0:17:17.000
All of this garbage either gets dumped in a[br]landfill, which is just a big hole in the ground,

0:17:17.740,0:17:22.440
or if you’re really unlucky, first it’s burned in[br]an incinerator and then dumped in a landfill.

0:17:23.110,0:17:28.430
Either way, both pollute the air, land, water[br]and, don’t forget, change the climate.

0:17:29.080,0:17:31.120
Incineration is really bad.

0:17:31.780,0:17:33.550
Remember those toxics[br]back in the production stage?

0:17:34.350,0:17:37.250
Well burning the garbage releases[br]the toxics up into the air.

0:17:37.890,0:17:41.560
Even worse, it makes new super toxics.[br]Like dioxin.

0:17:42.360,0:17:45.460
Dioxin is the most toxic man made[br]substance known to science.

0:17:45.930,0:17:48.700
And incinerators are the number one[br]source of dioxin.

0:17:49.400,0:17:54.070
That means that we could stop the number one[br]source of the most toxic man-made substance known

0:17:54.310,0:17:58.480
just by stopping burning the trash.[br]We could stop it today.

0:17:59.080,0:18:02.550
Now some companies don’t want to deal[br]with building landfills and incinerators here,

0:18:02.910,0:18:07.880
so they just export the disposal too.[br]What about recycling? Does recycling help?

0:18:08.720,0:18:12.420
Yes, recycling helps.[br]reduces the garbage at this end

0:18:13.190,0:18:15.790
and it reduces the pressure to mine[br]and harvest new stuff at this end.

0:18:16.430,0:18:20.270
Yes, Yes, Yes, we should all recycle.[br]But recycling is not enough.

0:18:20.970,0:18:23.640
Recycling will never be enough.[br]For a couple of reasons.

0:18:24.370,0:18:28.170
First, the waste coming out of our houses[br]is just the tip of the iceberg.

0:18:28.910,0:18:31.480
For every one garbage can of waste[br]you put out on the curb,

0:18:32.350,0:18:34.450
70 garbage cans of waste[br]were made upstream

0:18:35.280,0:18:37.480
just to make the junk in that one garbage can[br]you put out on the curb.

0:18:38.380,0:18:41.320
So even if we could recycle 100 percent of the[br]waste coming out of our households,

0:18:42.320,0:18:47.060
it doesn’t get to the core of the problems.[br]Also much of the garbage can’t be recycled,

0:18:47.960,0:18:52.570
either because it contains too many toxics, or it[br]is designed NOT to be recyclable in the firs place

0:18:53.600,0:18:56.700
Like those juice packs with layers[br]of metal and paper and plastic

0:18:57.540,0:19:01.640
all smooshed together.[br]You can never separate those for true recycling.

0:19:03.170,0:19:07.680
So you see, it is a system in crisis.[br]All along the way, we are bumping up limits.

0:19:08.650,0:19:12.190
From changing climate to declining happiness,[br]it’s just not working.

0:19:13.150,0:19:15.050
But the good thing about such[br]an all pervasive problem

0:19:15.250,0:19:16.920
is that there are so many points[br]of intervention.

0:19:17.920,0:19:21.260
There are people working here on saving forests[br]and here on clean production.

0:19:22.160,0:19:23.990
People working on labor rights and fair trade

0:19:24.930,0:19:27.370
and conscious consuming and blocking[br]landfills and incinerators

0:19:28.300,0:19:30.440
and, very importantly,[br]on taking back our government

0:19:31.400,0:19:33.870
so it is really is by the people[br]and for the people.

0:19:34.870,0:19:38.110
All this work is critically important[br]but things are really gonna start moving

0:19:39.080,0:19:41.080
when we see the connections,[br]when we see the big picture.

0:19:42.010,0:19:46.950
When people along this system get united,[br]we can reclaim and transform this linear system

0:19:47.820,0:19:51.220
into something new, a system that doesn’t[br]waste resources or people.

0:19:52.190,0:19:55.630
Because what we really need to chuck[br]is this old-school throw-away mindset.

0:19:56.490,0:19:59.830
There’s a new school of thinking on this stuff[br]and it’s based on sustainability and equity:

0:20:00.500,0:20:03.900
Green Chemistry, Zero Waste,[br]Closed Loop Production,

0:20:04.800,0:20:07.130
Renewable Energy,[br]Local living Economies.

0:20:08.010,0:20:12.710
It’s already happening. Now some say[br]it’s unrealistic, idealistic, that it can’t happen

0:20:13.980,0:20:16.980
But I say the ones who are unrealistic are those[br]that want to continue on the old path.

0:20:17.620,0:20:18.520
That’s dreaming.

0:20:19.380,0:20:24.320
Remember that old way didn’t just happen.[br]It’s not like gravity that we just gotta live with

0:20:25.120,0:20:29.360
People created it. And we’re people too.[br]So let’s create something new.