Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Cycle of Human Consumption



I came across this critical look at the cycle of human consumption in our modern economic system and loved it. Please take the time to watch the entire video--around 20 minutes. From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.--by Annie Leonard

Sunday, August 2, 2009

How Different Groups Spend Their Day

This is a great interactive graph that breaks down how those in American society spend--or value--their time. The American Time Use Survey asks thousands of American residents to recall every minute of a day. Here is how people over age 15 spent their time in 2008.

The related NYT article points out that, on an average weekday, the unemployed sleep an hour more than their employed peers. They tidy the house, do laundry and yard work for more than two hours, twice as much as the employed. The unemployed also spend an extra hour in the classroom and an additional 70 minutes in front of the television.

The annual time use survey, which asks thousands of residents to recall every minute of a single day, is important to economists trying to value the time spent by those not bringing home a paycheck.

"If all we were doing is substituting production at home for production in the marketplace," said Daniel S. Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, "then maybe unemployment wouldn't be so bad."