Geology: Critique of the Story Of Stuff Geology: Critique of Story of Stuff

Annie Leonard's video documentary on the "materials economy" and the consumption-disposal mentality paints a picture of a world of: unsustainable resource usage, environmental degradation, and human health concerns. Throughout the video, Ms. Leonard cites a myriad of examples to support her claims however; many of these claims which are purported as fact are either blatantly incorrect or a clever misleading of the truth. Her statement that "government's job is to watch out for us and take care of us" (The Story of Stuff) is one such example. Debates have been waged for centuries on the proper role of government, and such an all encompassing statement on government's size and scope can hardly be construed as a definitive fact. That said an analysis of the video's veracity is better conducted in the context of the scientific "facts" which are presented. At real issue though is whether Ms. Leonard's factual inaccuracies fundamentally distort her overall message?

An early claim in the video contends that "In the U.S., we have less than four percent of our original forests left" (The Story of Stuff). Researching the probity of this statement leads to Global Forest Watch, a non-profit...

According to their research the U.S. has 24.7% of its land area covered in forest" (Global Forest Watch. 2000). These are two drastically different figures and speak to the questionable nature of Ms. Leonard's statement. The implication of the four percent figure is that the U.S. is on a rampant deforestation trajectory however, the 24.7% figure directly counters this claim. The key to her statement is the phrase "original forests." Certainly it is logical to assume that the U.S. has less "original forests" than at our founding however, that fact does not alter the reality that a quarter of the U.S. land area is forested. Ms. Leonard in this case is at best misleading in her statement.
A second statement regarding natural resources is deserving of some additional scrutiny. Ms. Leonard contends that "in the past three decades, one- third of the planets resources, its "natural wealth" has have been consumed (The Story of Stuff). The magnitude and scope of such a statement would be indicative of a plethora of research conducted by government agencies, universities, or the United Nations. However, an exhaustive search for the reference material to verify the statement leads to an obscure book written…