| When I teamed up with Free Range Studios to make The Story of Stuff, we had high hopes-that the film would inspire conversations about the underlying drivers of today's environmental and social problems, encourage us to think more deeply about the hidden impacts of all the stuff in our lives, and even inspire us to pause, put down the credit cards, and pick up a petition or a picket sign. As you know, its worked-beyond our wildest expectations. And it continues to work. Over the past six months alone, we've: - Released The Story of Cap & Trade, the first in a series of new films. In the three weeks since our December 1st launch we've reached over 400,000 viewers around the world, creating a stir in Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill about shifting the climate debate in favor of people and the planet, rather than the coal companies and energy traders.
- Encouraged millions of people to rethink their consumption patterns and envision and work towards a truly sustainable and just economy, through our films, public events and coverage in The New York Times, USA Today and dozens of other outlets.
- Stood strong against repeated attacks from hostile cable news hosts and business-dominated think tanks, including a particularly nasty rash of coverage on Glenn Beck's Fox News show.
- Finished writing The Story of Stuff book, which will be published by the Free Press imprint of Simon & Schuster in March 2010.
But we're just getting started. Over the coming six months, we're taking The Story of Stuff Project to the next level. - We've got three new films in production with our partners at Free Range studios, including The Story of Bottled Water, The Story of eStuff, and The Story of Cosmetics.
- We're about to start field-testing a major faith-based study and action program with our partners at GreenFaith.
- We're preparing a two-week educational curriculum that will give teachers a new tool to help deepen their students' environmental and community engagement;
- We're planning a major media and speaking blitz to accompany the release of The Story of Stuff book in March; and
- We're working hard to launch a new on-line community in 2010 that will enable all of our Project's fans, supporters and friends to gather, learn from each other and take action on some of the most pressing social and environmental problems of our day.
We're ready to roll, but we need your help to put us over the top. So please consider a year-end contribution to The Story of Stuff Project. We welcome any level of support and your donation to The Story of Stuff Project is tax deductible in the United States. I've been obsessed with the hidden environmental and social costs of all our stuff for nearly two decades. To be honest, sometimes it was a bit lonely. Thanks to all of you, I feel more hopeful, inspired and raring to go than ever. We're going to accomplish a lot, together, in the coming year.
Very sincerely, Annie Leonard
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