“We cannot run a linear system in a finite planet indefinitely!”, Annie Leonard bluntly states in The Story of Stuff. She even goes further by stating that recycling is not a permanent solution as it does not reduce the waste generated by the production cycle. The materials economy has impacted our wallets while our wasteful behaviors have devastated the environment. Her video compels viewers to evaluate their habits and to make a conscious shift in their consumption choices. 

Is our system in a crisis due to our old school throw-away mindset or are we transitioning into a new era of mindfulness where we make more conscious decisions as we evaluate their future impact?

Formerly reluctant consumers are now adopting the latest trend of selling seldom used items to offset the cost of being fashionable, pay bills or to giveaway rather than dump in landfills.The attributes we were raised on such as thrift, trust and goodwill are definitely making a comeback as the foundation of our communities. Consumers are increasingly adopting new services that allow peer-to-peer sharing, renting, and swapping. 

One intangible benefit from these peer-to-peer startups is they strengthen our communities while minimizing some of the negative impact on the environment. There is a lot of buzz happening around Collaborative Consumption, and 2012 seems to be the year where it might go mainstream, as evidenced by the NBC Nightly News segment ”In a down economy, sharing takes off”, as aired on Jan 15th, 2012. 

We consider “The Story of Stuff” video to be a founding block in the emergence of the Sharing Economy. It has been an inspiration in building our people-centric marketplace at Tradepal. 

(Source: storyofstuff.org)