FAQs

Index

LEARN MORE ABOUT US
What is the Story of Stuff?
How can I donate?
What is Catalog Choice and how does it relate to Story of Stuff?

MOVIES
Who made your movies?
May I screen your movies at my church / school / community group / conference?
May I screen your movies at my product/business launch event?
I represent a nonprofit/charity/NGO/government agency and I want to play The Story of… movies on my website.
I’m with a small business and I want to show The Story of… movies on my website.
I want to translate a movie
I have an idea for a movie or a collaboration

GET INVOLVED
I want to get involved.
I want to work/volunteer
What kind of product should I buy?
I am a student and I want to interview you for a class assignment

GET IN TOUCH
I want to share the awesome work I’m doing with my project / organization / website
I want to meet with Annie or have her come to my event
I want to invite The Story of Stuff to my conference or event.
I work for a newspaper / online news outlet and I’d like to request an interview with one of your staff members

What is the Story of Stuff?
The Story of Stuff Project started as the online viral sensation The Story of Stuff, and has grown into a movement working to shift the way we make, use and throw away Stuff. Read our Story to learn more about this amazing Community!

How can I donate?
Thanks for your interest in making a donation! Click here to make a donation using our online form, or visit our Donation FAQs page to learn more.

What is Catalog Choice and how does it relate to Story of Stuff?
Catalog Choice is a free junk mail opt-out service that reduces paper waste, protects your privacy, and helps simplify your life. As of April 2015, Catalog Choice is now owned and operated by The Story of Stuff Project. Donations to Catalog Choice help keep the platform running in addition to supporting the broader work of the Story of Stuff Project.

Who made your movies?
Our animated Story of… movies were made in collaboration with Free Range Studios. Find director and production information for all our movies on each movie’s page.

May I screen your movies at my church / school / community group / conference?
Yes! All of our work is covered by a Creative Commons License to encourage sharing. Our CCL means that you can share and screen the movie as much as you want as long as you’re giving credit to the Story of Stuff Project, not changing or editing the content of the film, and not making money off of it. Please register your screening (even if you’re not sure about the details) here.

May I screen your movies at my product/business launch event?
Our movies were designed to be free for educational use, but our Creative Commons License does not allow our movies to be shown as part of a profitable enterprise.

I represent a nonprofit/charity/NGO/government agency and I want to play The Story of… movies on my website.
Given that yours is a nonprofit, your use should complete fit within our Creative Commons License: so go right ahead and stream them on your site! The best way to display the movies on your site is to embed our YouTube videos. Here’s how to do that.

Go to http://storyofstuff.org/movies/ and navigate to the movie you are most interested.
On the movie page, right-click on the movie display.
Select “Copy embed code.” It will look something like this
<iframe width=”980″ height=”511″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/9GorqroigqM” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Copy this code to your website.

And we’d love to see it on your site! Drop us a note here with the URL.

I’m with a small business and I want to show The Story of… movies on my website.
Our movies were designed to be free for educational use, but our Creative Commons License does not allow our movies to be shown as part of a profitable enterprise.

I want to translate a movie
Thank you so much for your interest in translating – it is SUCH an important way to spread this story around the world. We are glad to say that all of our movies are available for translation on Amara. This is a crowd-translation site that is free for anyone to use – and it syncs with the YouTube player. To find the movies, just navigate to http://www.amara.org/en/profiles/profile/storyofstuff/. Select the movie you are interested in helping with, and dive in with your translation! Not only does the site offer a full-featured audio-captioning dashboard, but you can also meet other translators of your language! Thanks for your interest in spreading the word!

I have an idea for a movie or a collaboration
We’re thrilled to hear that you want to put together a video to get your message out! Online storytelling is a great way to spread the word about so many critical issues. At present, The Story of Stuff Project cannot take on new projects. For more resources on cause-related video take a look Free Range Studios’ fabulous website. We wish you the best with your work and thank you so much for all you do!

I want to get involved.
Thanks for your interest in helping us build a world that is more sustainable, healthy and just! Visit our Campaigns page to take action on the issues you care about, and let us know about the amazing work you’re doing in your local community.

I want to work/volunteer
We are thrilled that you would like to be involved in work that upends the take-make-waste systems to build a world that is more sustainable, just and fun! We post all job openings on our jobs page as well as on Facebook and Twitter. As a very lean organization, we unfortunately do not have the capacity to take on volunteers at this point. This may change, so definitely check our jobs page out in the future!

What kind of product should I buy?
As an organization, we do not endorse or recommend specific product choices. Instead, we encourage you to learn more about the practices and politics you are supporting when you make a purchase, shop according to your values, and to buy less and live more.

I am a student and I want to interview you for a class assignment
While we’re always excited to hear from our students exploring consumption and waste issues, due to size of this Community (1 million!) relative to the size of our staff (6!), we are not able to help with student interviews, research or writing projects. We wish you the best of luck with your project, and hope that you’ll continue to dig deep and learn about how we can rewrite The Story of Stuff to build a better world!

I want to share the awesome work I’m doing with my project / organization / website
Please tell us all about it! Use this form to tell us your Story. If you would like to be featured on our blog, please caption your entry with “Guest Blog Submission” and write your remarks in a blog or journalistic style.

I want to meet with Annie or have her come to my event
Annie is now Executive Director of Greenpeace USA. Read about her work on our Founder Page. For further information, you may write to info@wdc.greenpeace.org.

I want to invite The Story of Stuff to my conference or event.
We’re honored you’d invite us to be part of your group’s conversation about how make, use, and throw away Stuff. Please email info@storyofstuff with the name, date and format of your event, how many people you are expecting, and any information you may have about your organization’s speaking fee.

I work for a newspaper / online news outlet and I’d like to request an interview with one of your staff members
We’re thrilled that you want to do a piece on the Story of Stuff Project. Please check out our site for more information about the Project. For news-related interview requests with a member of The Story of Stuff Project, please write to shana@storyofstuff.org. Include your publication (with , URL), press deadline, and a brief overview of your questions. We will respond with 24 hours.

Still have questions?

Drop us a line any time: info@storyofstuff.org.