The Story of Stuff: From viral video to new book

Released in 2007, The Story of Stuff is a 21-minute video written and narrated by environmental activist Annie Leonard that discusses the American obsession with stuff and how it's extracted, produced, distributed, consumed and then disposed.

To date, the video has a total of 457,454 upload views on YouTube and now, Leonard has a new book out which supposedly helps fill in the gaps from her popular video.

According to The Story of Stuff web site -- called The Story of Stuff Project -- Leonard said she received tens of thousands of emails following the release of her rapid-fire, sometimes humorous, mostly worrisome film asking for more information than she could possibly fit into 20 minutes.

The book is now out and includes anecdotes and stories from Leonard's world travels in pursuit of the answer to her question: "Where does all the stuff we buy come from, and where does it go when we throw it out?”

Readers will also meet real people in third world and developing countries who work to produce the stuff we buy.