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The Story of Stuff - 4/14/2012 5:32:58 PM

chelita30

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I'm about half way through this book (there is a shorter video version on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM) and it's really scaring me. The amount of toxic chemicals accumulating n our ecosystem (including our own bodies) is frightening. A lot of it is coming from all the synthetic materials mankind has (relatively) recently developed, such as chemicals used to make plastics and even synthetic fibres (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16709045) The author claims that PVC is particularly poisonous, and that it leaches
toxic gases into the air during its lifespan. A quick google shows a lot o debate around the subject. Yet cancer rates are soaring, there is no doubt about it. The health risks faced by those working in factories making these products has been well documented.

Does anyone have a well-informed point of view they would like to share?

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RE: The Story of Stuff - 4/14/2012 8:34:52 PM

DesFIP

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Don't know the book, but are the author's credentials believable? Is he a PhD from Harvard who specializes in environmental medicine or is he just trying to make a quick buck with this?

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RE: The Story of Stuff - 4/14/2012 9:55:10 PM

FrostedFlake

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Just viewed the film. I rate it *****.

Not only was the problem outlined very clearly AND THEN EXPLAINED, the solution was pointed at also. In less than 22 minutes. This leaves about half the period for the children to discuss and ask questions about what they just saw.

Or, this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0

Never trust anyone over 30.

< Message edited by FrostedFlake -- 4/14/2012 9:56:22 PM >

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RE: The Story of Stuff - 4/14/2012 10:53:12 PM

Anaxagoras

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Can't comment on the overall piece but just saw the first two minutes, which I thought was a bit politically loaded. Apparently the linear model of production and consumption isn't sustainable on a finite planet, even though said process often includes recycling, and the model is incomplete because it doesn't include people... er isn't that sort of assumed?

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RE: The Story of Stuff - 4/14/2012 11:41:30 PM

FrostedFlake

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Anaxagoras

Can't comment on the overall piece but just saw the first two minutes, which I thought was a bit politically loaded. Apparently the linear model of production and consumption isn't sustainable on a finite planet, even though said process often includes recycling, and the model is incomplete because it doesn't include people... er isn't that sort of assumed?

The people involved in (compromised by) the linear consumption model were mentioned several times over the course of the film. Also mentioned were the people forcibly dispossessed of the option to not participate in the linear consumption model.

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RE: The Story of Stuff - 4/15/2012 12:04:35 AM

FrostedFlake

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Came back to add this to my earlier post, but edit timeout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwO3MDfUeRo&feature=player_embedded

Regarding the current conditions at Fukushima.

Things ain't good, folks. Visualize 135 tons of nuclear fuel depending on a 33' deep pool with 2 feet of water left in it and so much radiation the robots can't hack so the Yakuza is 'recruiting' 'Nuclear Workers' to do what the robots can't. Add to this a 98% prediction of a Richter 7 in the next 1000 days. That would mean Tokyo would be to all practical purpose gone and Seattle would be locked indoors for the duration.

Doing things differently in future is prevented only by the blind acceptance of the current paradigm. All but one of Japans reactors are shut down, now, and the locals are opposing the federals over whether they will be turned back on. Hey, the lights are still on, so who needs the nukes!?!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/solar-prices-idUSL2E8FAD0X20120413

quote:

By Matt Daily and Krishna N Das
April 10 | Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:59pm EDT
(Reuters) - Solar panels prices have kept marching lower this year, extending steep declines seen in 2011 and keeping pressure on hard-hit manufacturers who have struggled to eke out profits, industry experts said.

Average selling prices for the photovoltaic modules that turn sunlight into electricity have dropped to 80 to 85 cents per watt, a decline of more than 10 percent from levels near 95 cents recorded at the end of 2011, a year that saw prices fall by about 50 percent.

http://energyoutlook.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-photovoltaic-price-trend-sustainable.html

quote:

Thursday, November 17, 2011
Is the Photovoltaic Price Trend Sustainable?

It has been widely assumed among pundits and policy makers that the continued expansion of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations will drive down PV costs until the electricity they produce is competitive with conventional power sources without the need for subsidies. This belief is grounded in both recent PV cost trends and the well-known "experience curve" effect in manufacturing, in which costs tend to fall in proportion to cumulative output. However, anyone following the fortunes of big PV manufacturers like First Solar, SunPower, and China-based Suntech and Trina Solar might have reason to question this conventional wisdom. Their latest earnings reflect an industry stressed by softening demand in its core market in Europe and facing global overcapacity along the supply chain. This has me wondering how much of the recent decline in PV prices was due to the inherent progression of the technology, and how much to unsustainable market and competitive pressures.

quote:

an industry stressed by softening demand in its core market in Europe and facing global overcapacity along the supply chain

That means the manufacturers have produced more than people bought, which means there is now excess capacity. This is called, winning.

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RE: The Story of Stuff - 4/15/2012 6:51:01 AM

Anaxagoras

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quote:

ORIGINAL: FrostedFlake

quote:

ORIGINAL: Anaxagoras
Can't comment on the overall piece but just saw the first two minutes, which I thought was a bit politically loaded. Apparently the linear model of production and consumption isn't sustainable on a finite planet, even though said process often includes recycling, and the model is incomplete because it doesn't include people... er isn't that sort of assumed?

The people involved in (compromised by) the linear consumption model were mentioned several times over the course of the film. Also mentioned were the people forcibly dispossessed of the option to not participate in the linear consumption model.

I would have thought that the linear consumption model, which is in some ways an abstracted simplified look at production and consumption, could vary depending on its adaptation. If thats the case then its not so much the model thats at fault but its implimentation. YMMV as always...

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