Big stuff

“Mom, when can we get an SUV or a truck or a van?” Will asked me yesterday.

I told him we were sticking with little cars, in part because they use less gasoline, which is better for the planet -- the animals and the trees. (Modest four-door sedans also happen to match our budget better -- but I didn't get into the economics of the matter.) I brought up "The Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute (Anymore)" book we’d checked out from the library a couple weeks ago.

Environmental arguments don’t hold much water for Will though: “But I only like big stuff like fire trucks and SUVs and recycling trucks. The only small stuff I like is ambulances and football players and jeeps. That’s the ONLY small stuff I like.”

One day when he’s quite a bit older I need to have Will watch this 20-minute “Story of Stuff” online movie, which a friend led me to this week. It’s actually a better reminder for adults, as we head into the last “I-don’t-have-ENOUGH-Christmas-presents for everyone” shopping weekend of the season, that maybe we do have enough “stuff” after all.

Annie Leonard delivers her fast-paced lecture with a bit too much pep for my taste. But the basic message about the state of our consumption-crazed nation is a good one to take in this time of year.