Stiv Wilson was in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of miles from land when he decided to quit his job to devote himself to putting a stop to plastic pollution. In Episode 18 of the Good Stuff, Annie sits down with Stiv Wilson from 5 Gyres and takes a close look at plastic pollution in our oceans, lakes, and rivers. Annie wraps this episode with a call from Story of Stuff staffer Allison Cook -- from the middle of the North Atlantic!  Allison joined Stiv on a research expedition to witness the firsthand impacts of our throw-away culture. Sit back and listen: it’s The Good Stuff.

Want to share more Stuff, but don’t know where to start?  In Episode 17 of The Good Stuff Annie sits down with sharing champion and legal rebel Janelle Orsi. Their conversation reminds us all what’s so great about sharing – whether it’s new friends, a smaller environmental footprint, or supporting a just economy – and just how easy it is to do.  Ready to share more and buy less? Have a listen, and start sharing!

In a world where too many of us are weighed down by ever-increasing piles, drawers, and closets full of Stuff, sharing provides a deceptively simple solution. In this episode, Annie interviews Adam Werbach, founder of yerdle.com, about the sharing economy. Just imagine how radically different it would be if when you needed something, you could first turn to our community instead of turning to the marketplace?

“The best antidote to worrying about a problem is getting involved in trying to fix it. The same is true for our kids.” In the context of climate change, it’s all about moving towards a clean energy economy that is kid safe and climate safe. For Episode 15 of The Good Stuff, Annie sits down with Lisa Hoyos, co-founder of Climate Parents, to discuss how parents can approach the tough topic of climate change with their kids and gear up to take action.

Meet Alex Freid and Amira Odeh. These two young people saw something amiss in how their communities related to Stuff and decided to do something about it. From eliminating waste during dorm move-out season to putting a stop to bottled water sales, here are two great examples of what it looks like to take action for "better" instead of "more."

When a thermometer factory in New York closed because of increasing U.S. regulation of mercury, the operation was moved lock, stock and barrel to India, where enforcement of environmental laws is lax. Now a subsidiary of Unilever – the company behind everyday brands like Vaseline, Dove Soap and Lipton Tea – which operated the factory in India, is trying to walk away from a deadly legacy.

If it's on the store shelf, it's been tested and found safe, right? Guess again. Bev Thorpe of Clean Production Action talks about the hidden chemical dangers in everyday products and how ‘green chemistry’—designing materials and products without harmful chemicals—promises to transform the relationship between us and our Stuff.

In 2007, two kids in Michigan set out to earn their Girl Scout Bronze Award by raising awareness about the endangered orangutan. They learned that the orangutans’ habitat is being destroyed to plant oil palm plantations. After making the shocking discovery that palm oil was an ingredient in Girl Scout cookies, they launched a campaign to make Girl Scout cookies rainforest-safe.

Protecting our health from toxic pollution is too important a job to be left to scientists, government regulators or even professional environmental activists. Annie looks at two communities, half a world apart, where citizens showed that people on the front lines of pollution have the power to fight back against being poisoned.

If you laid all the Crayola plastic markers made each year end to end, they’d circle the earth three times – and they’re not recyclable. Some California kids are campaigning to change that – and in the process, learning how to flex their citizen muscles.