How did we end up with all of this stuff?

"STUFF" collected along the pond yesterday afternoon

I believe we've got the very best, or worst, advertising in the world, depending on your opinion of consumerism.

Some of the worst stuff that we produce/buy in America are those objects made out of plastic and styrofoam.  Stores are still selling styrofoam cups that are made for one time use that will virtually never decompose.  Sadly, when animals ingest styrofoam it often blocks their digestive tracts.  This causes starvation and ultimately death. When cleaning up around the pond I almost always see bits of styrofoam floating around.

 "The story of stuff" is an interesting 20 minute video that discusses the impact on our environment of all our stuff.  A more humorous look at "stuff" is provided by a video of George Carlin talking about stuff.

I noticed an article in the newspaper "Married to Plastic", about a book,  "Plastic: A Toxic Love Story",  by Susan Freinkel.  She chronicles how plastic has become an integral part of our lives and our garbage dumps.
 "Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need."                                                                                                 -Will Rogers