 Probably, one of the most important books a designer should read in his professional life was not written by a designer. You think it's weird? Actually, it's logical. Find out why in this video. Hi, my name is Gonzalo Renetti, I'm a designer, architect and PhD candidate, and this channel is all about design, sustainability and other treats. If you are new, subscribe and hit the bell to receive notifications. Today we're going to review a great book. Here I have the Spanish version of this incredible book, The Story of Stuff, how our obsessions with stuff is trashing the planet, our communities and our health, and the vision for a change. Annie Leonhardt in her book has the ability to expose us as designers in our darkest side. All we consume have a side we don't want to hear about, pollution, toxic chemicals, child labor abuse, and even slavery are some of the practices involved in our fresh new items. And we, as designers, are part of this comedy, and probably one of the main responsibles of it. Yes, decisions are made by corporations, but we as a discipline have agreed to work for them. The sincerity with which Annie documents the life cycle of our possessions, our material desires, is overwhelming. As the book evolves, our shame increases in every page we turn. She has no problem in making us questions for which we either don't have the answer, and what is more disgusting, we are not willing to give them. Basically, we turn our faces to another direction, because we are being exposed as designers in not a very pleasant way. This book was not intended for designers specifically, it's a book whose target audience covers the whole society. Doesn't matter what is your profession, your activity, this book concerns you. If you remember my video, Design is a Political Act, always, every decision you make has an impact on your users. But not only the final user, also in everyone that has been involved during the complete life cycle of the object. This means, not from the moment we select the material, but since when that material was actually mined, recollected or manufactured. The image she is able to show us is one that we rather avoid, and the saddest side of all the story is that we have been doing so. We as designers are aware of this situation for a long time, but we haven't cared. We have kept developing our discipline isolated from our environment, from ethics, from our congeners. But this book is not only showing us the ugly side of our lifestyle, it also has a message of hope. Hope that things can be done in a different way. For that, the book has the signs of hope and alternative ways of doing our stuff. She offers us with experience in all levels, from design production to political perspective and management policies. Doing the combination of the ugly with the alternative way is where the richness of this book resides. If we, as designers, end conscience of our actions, we can't change them. If we can't change them, we are condemned to disappear as a species, carrying the whole planet with us. Ignorance in our design process is what make us make unsustainable projects. We must wake up and take responsibility for our actions. If you don't take the time to read this book, shame on you. You can always look at the animated movie, but trust me, the book is far better. I'm going to leave an affiliated link to buy the book online as links to the movies and Annie's website. Don't forget and subscribe to this video. Ciao!