Named an “Environmental Hero” in 2008 by Time Magazine, activist and creator of the documentary The Story of Stuff, Annie Leonard will speak at Berea College on Thursday, March 31. The program is scheduled at 3 p.m. in Phelps Stokes auditorium, and is free and open to the public.

Annie Leonard

Annie Leonard’s talk at Berea College is correlated to her online video and the book The Story of Stuff, which exposes the hidden cost of extraction, production, distribution, and disposal of consumer goods. The Story of Stuff shows how our obsession with possessions is trashing the planet, our communities, and our health. Stuff sums up Leonard’s past 20 years in the global pursuit of truth about the things we buy, use, and throw away. Leonard wrote and filmed The Story of Stuff in partnership with Free Range Studios.

Leonard investigates and organizes on environmental health and justice issues. She has traveled to 40 countries, visiting hundreds of factories where our stuff is made and where our stuff is dumped, witnessing first hand the horrendous impacts of both over and under consumption around the world. She is fiercely dedicated to reclaiming and transforming our industrial and economic systems so they serve, rather than undermine, ecological sustainability and social equity.

Leonard is currently the Director of The Story of Stuff Project. Prior to this, Leonard coordinated the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption, a collaborative of funders seeking to address the hidden environmental and social impacts of current systems of making, using and throwing away all the stuff of daily life. She has also worked with GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives), Health Care Without Harm, Essential Action and Greenpeace International. Currently, she is on the boards of the International Forum for Globalization and GAIA and has previously served on the Boards of the Grassroots Recycling Network, the Environmental Health Fund, Global Green Grants India and Greenpeace India.

Other upcoming convocations at Berea College include:
* April 7: Kathy Mattea “My Coal Journey” at 3 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Auditorium
* April 7, 8 and 9: Modern Dance: Kinetic Expressions '11 at 8 p.m. in Seabury Arena.
* April 12: Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds & Jazz Ensemble at 7 p.m. in Gray Auditorium

For a complete listing of all Berea College convocations in 2011 visit www.berea.edu/convocations. View the online calendar at http://community.berea.edu/calendar/main.php for more information about Berea College events.