Curious about what ‘stuff’ has to do with global warming or sustainability? Well ‘stuff’ is the heart of the matter… or more specifically our global over-materialistic society and its seemingly insatiable appetite for stuff of all kinds. From the stuff that kids are trained (yes, trained) to want by psychologically engineered programs and commercials, peer pressure, on top of normal basic appetites… to the immense mountains of stuff bought, consumed, store, used, and discarded by adults on a daily basis. And the advertising which creates and conditions adult appetites for stuff is no less engineered than that for children. We are as manipulable as they are.

For an interesting, thought provoking view into ‘stuff’, check out this link to the Story of Stuff.

One of the names of the game in climate change mitigation and planetary sustainability as well is for us to understand the story of stuff, and to learn and practice controlling our appetites for stuff… not the stuff we definitely need for survival, but all that other stuff we are tricked into buying for our egos. We need as a global society to consume only what we need, and to practice not being controlled by our uncontrolled wants.

See also Needs vs. Wants.