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Why a book?

From Annie:

Deciding to write a book is not something to take lightly. Not only did it take months of work to sift through the reams of information in these 300 pages, requiring many long nights and missed weekends with my daughter, but printing and shipping it requires energy and materials.

After thinking long and hard about it, I decided that a book’s ability to share ideas and inspire action was well worth the investment of time, energy and materials.

A book contains far more information than I could fit into a 20 minute cartoon, even talking as fast as I do! After releasing the film, I received tens of thousands of emails and letters from people asking for more information, ideas for getting involved, and examples of solutions. At first, I naively tried to answer them all, working all through the night and not getting near reaching everyone. The format of a book allowed me to share far more information, in far greater depth, which, I hope, will answer viewers’ questions and inspire readers to get involved in these issues.

A book breaches the digital divide. Around the world, and even right here in the U.S., millions of people live outside the reach of high speed internet. When I was living in South Asia, my friends and I would often feel frustrated at being excluded from important conversations because we couldn't download big files or sometimes get on line at all. Change of the magnitude we need requires a movement that goes out of its way to include and engage people beyond the reach of high speed internet which, let's remember, only reaches a minority of the world's peoples.

Printing a book does consume resources, and this book is an example of how much better book making can be with a publisher committed to reducing environmental impact. A year ago, when I was meeting potential publishers for this book, some actually rolled their eyes when I insisted the book be printed on 100% post-consumer waste (PCW) paper. Free Press didn’t need to be convinced. They came to the meeting with a long list of ideas for reducing materials and energy use throughout the process. The book is printed on 100% PCW, was not chlorine treated, and is printed with soy inks and solvent free glues. This book not only describes how we can make things differently, it models it. Hats off to Free Press for raising the bar on responsible book publication.

Some people have emailed me to ask why I didn’t self-publish or why I don’t make the book available free on line. Reality check here, please. I’m a hard working parent. When I decided to write the Story of Stuff book, my days were filled with my job, and my evenings – into which work already seeped too often – were spent with my child. There was simply no space in my day to fit in the gigantic task of writing a book. And, as a single parent, I couldn’t just quit my job because I – like many of you – take care of my family. That is what parents do. I am enormously grateful to Free Press for believing in this book enough to provide me support to take a leave from my job, while still being able to put food on the table.

And while the book has a cover price, there is a great institution where anyone can get it free, an institution that I describe in the book and recommend we all frequent more often - the library! Please call them up and ask them to order a copy or two!

And, don’t forget, all the films that we make are available on the internet to watch, download, duplicate and screen at no charge. Making and hosting those films takes time and costs money too. Thanks to the many people in the Story of Stuff community who have made financial contributions, we’re able to keep making and sharing those films for free. So stay tuned, because we have more in the works!