task 5: annie leonard: the story of stuff

i think that the take home message that annie leonard is trying to convey is that:
the current system that is used for consumerism is flawed
not only does it destroy nature and humans but it doing so at a pace which means that we will soon not have any planet at all and if everyone in the world consumed at the pace americca does we would need 4 planet earths.
she claims that the linear system we have at the moment of getting resrources which is destorying water land and trees and in turn animals, and the the manufactoring of goods by mixing toxic chemicals into natural resources most of which are not tested and which are very harmful to factory workers, then the products being sold from a shop which doesntpay its workers properly and doesnt cover their healthcare, which is then sold at a low price to consumers so they buy lots of the product, which is then not used as only 1% of stuff bought by consumers is used, is then sent to the dump or incinerators which create real harmful gasses such as dioxin, is wrong.
she says that a more round type of thinking needs to happen where things that come out of the earth get returned in a positive way and that toxins not be used but mostly that consumerism needs to change.
she says that the whole reason why what we consume since the 1950s has doubled has been intentional and planned by the governemnt, they designed products that break easily enough that you need to buy them on a regular basis but last long enough for the product to be trusted by the consumer. this way more money goes into the economy and countires become richer.
also by introducing things like fashion the consurmer thinks that they need to buy new stuff because it looks better and is in with the trend and fashion and because people are now judged by what they have, they find a need to buy this new stuff so they can be socially accepted.
this makes governments richer but it does no good for the environemnt. and in the end what anni leonard is really trying to say is that we need to change our thinking about consumerism so as to preserve our planet.