My iPod is big, clumsy, heavy, and old…. And by old that means 2 years old but in tech years that probably means 10. It works pretty well so - Do I really need a new one?

Well, let’s see… Considering there are so many new options that are sleeker, lighter, and cuter I would say the answer is YES!

We live in a society of consumerism. From a very young age we are inundated with advertisements virtually teaching us to spend. How could any of us really stop? It almost seems unpatriotic. How could I not want a new iPod? In addition to purchasing actual necessities, spending helps us acquire the things we want in order to feel good about ourselves. Good old Keeping up with The Jones.

Then one day I came across the film short, The Story of Stuff. This short is aimed at getting consumers to understand that from extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad. It is very powerful and does force a good hard look at all the stuff around us. Turns out, the main example is an iPod!

Right after, my immediate reaction was NO, I don’t need a new iPod! How could I? I would just be contributing to the problem and not the solution. Yet, how do I handle the little voice inside my head that says…”Get one, you know you want to”?

I am not here to either praise or demonize spending and I am sure certain people could take issue with the film for its own biases. However, it’s worth viewing and deciding for yourself.

Since watching the Story of Stuff, the question Do I really need this? has taken on a new meaning. Say, going forward, that 40% of the time, we manage to get the answer to NO and say that for the other 60%, where the answer is YES, we search for green alternatives at least 25% of the time – now I’m not trying to get us to do any fancy math here, but I think we can see the beginning of a eco-friendly multiplying effect. Small changes over time can really have a very large impact.

So back the question regarding my iPod. Do I really need a new one??                                                                

 I’ll let you be the judge… 
 
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