Open Letter to Annie Leonard and the Story of Stuff team,
Dear Story of Stuff Team,
I love your videos, especially the Story of Better Solutions but I don't think petitions, potlucks and protests are going to cut it. No one has time for these things, and they don't look like fun. I'm being simplistic but I'm being serious, to win this battle you need a 'Better' solution for getting people involved, think Black Friday levels of interest.
Your message comes across as Less for More, less stuff, less fun, for more effort, more compromises. If you want to garner Black Friday levels of enthusiasm your message needs to be More for Less, more health and happiness for less money and effort. This is already what you're aiming for, but it's not how it sounds. Your ideas are the true More for Less, not the empty more for less promises people find at the mall, you just have to find a better way to make these solutions accessible. You need to create a system to help people be the change they want to see in the world, not just make them feel bad for not doing it.
I have a game changing idea to achieve this. It works within the current game, and appeals to both sides of the political spectrum, maintains private ownership while fostering sharing, and I think it could even solve the contentious issue of wealth distribution.
The idea is essentially a 'Happiness Service Provider'. Happiness is all anyone wants, it is what they strive for endlessly on the work, watch, spend treadmill you describe, and we know happiness doesn't come from stuff. If we could start a for profit service that charges people for providing services that actually make them happier, it could be a well funded engine of change, by creating a scalable market for 'Better' solutions. I even have an idea on how to eliminate any barriers to joining, such as a 'zero extra cost' payment model where all our fees come out of the money we save them.
I want to make this happen more than anything. I have time, money and some good connections, but what I need is help. I need some like minded people to help me refine my message and get a pilot project going. Based on your videos I feel like you and your team would be a perfect fit.
Check out my website and let me know what you think.
Sincerely,
Spontaneous Cooperation Guy
I love your videos, especially the Story of Better Solutions but I don't think petitions, potlucks and protests are going to cut it. No one has time for these things, and they don't look like fun. I'm being simplistic but I'm being serious, to win this battle you need a 'Better' solution for getting people involved, think Black Friday levels of interest.
Your message comes across as Less for More, less stuff, less fun, for more effort, more compromises. If you want to garner Black Friday levels of enthusiasm your message needs to be More for Less, more health and happiness for less money and effort. This is already what you're aiming for, but it's not how it sounds. Your ideas are the true More for Less, not the empty more for less promises people find at the mall, you just have to find a better way to make these solutions accessible. You need to create a system to help people be the change they want to see in the world, not just make them feel bad for not doing it.
I have a game changing idea to achieve this. It works within the current game, and appeals to both sides of the political spectrum, maintains private ownership while fostering sharing, and I think it could even solve the contentious issue of wealth distribution.
The idea is essentially a 'Happiness Service Provider'. Happiness is all anyone wants, it is what they strive for endlessly on the work, watch, spend treadmill you describe, and we know happiness doesn't come from stuff. If we could start a for profit service that charges people for providing services that actually make them happier, it could be a well funded engine of change, by creating a scalable market for 'Better' solutions. I even have an idea on how to eliminate any barriers to joining, such as a 'zero extra cost' payment model where all our fees come out of the money we save them.
I want to make this happen more than anything. I have time, money and some good connections, but what I need is help. I need some like minded people to help me refine my message and get a pilot project going. Based on your videos I feel like you and your team would be a perfect fit.
Check out my website and let me know what you think.
Sincerely,
Spontaneous Cooperation Guy