The Story of Stuff is an alarming video in which Annie Leonard provides a brilliantly fast-paced and accessible synthesis of problems associated with many current industrial production and consumption systems, including a revealing history of planned obsolescence. One notable fact: 99% of all stuff produced in America is trashed within six months. The video finishes with a hopeful nod to closed-loop production, equity and fair-trade, zero-waste, green chemistry, etc., and brings to mind Barack Obama's recent call to "encourage young people to create and build and invent -- to be makers of things, not just consumers of things."
The Story of Stuff website contains a detailed list of resources, including a full transcript of the video [PDF] with footnotes.