How humans became so dependent on things and how this need has grown dangerously out of control.
 
Over three million years ago, our ancient ancestors realized that rocks could be broken into sharp-edged objects for slicing meat, making the first knives. This discovery resulted in a good meal, and eventually changed the fate of our species and our planet.
 
With So Much Stuff, archaeologist Chip Colwell sets out to investigate why humankind went from self-sufficient primates to nonstop shoppers, from needing nothing to needing everything. Along the way, he uncovers spectacular and strange points around the world—an Italian cave with the world’s first known painted art, a Hong Kong skyscraper where a priestess channels the gods, and a mountain of trash that rivals the Statue of Liberty.

Through these examples, Colwell shows how humanity took three leaps that led to stuff becoming inseparable from our lives, inspiring a love affair with things that may lead to our downfall. Now, as landfills brim and oceans drown in trash, Colwell issues a timely call to reevaluate our relationship with the things that both created and threaten to undo our overstuffed planet.

University of Chicago Press (US)

Editions: Hurst (UK) | iBooks (Korean) | Reclam Verlag (German) | Is Kultur (Turkish) | Unread Sky (Chinese) | Kim Dong (Vietnamese)
* Colorado Book Award
A marvelously fascinating journey through our overstuffed world. Entertaining, inspiring and alarming in equal measure, I found myself learning new things from nearly every page.
— Ed Conway, Sky News, author of Material World

Incredibly fresh, engaging and urgent. Chip Colwell will profoundly shift how you see your world and the mountains of stuff in it.
— Farrah Jarral, writer, broadcaster, and author of Anima

Stuff is lavishly illustrated, filled with enticing graphs, graphics and images. It is a desirable object in itself, therefore, and so it does raise the awkward dilemma of whether going out and buying it could simply add – albeit marginally – to the problem it describes so ably.
— Peter Carty, in iNews

So Much Stuff provides an engrossing introduction for nonexperts into the big questions of material culture studies.
— John Robb, in Science

A fascinating, beautifully written, provocative history of how humans acquire stuff. This is a notable, at times humorous, reflection on the excesses of consumerism since prehistoric times, of relevance to all of us, rich or poor.
— Brian Fagan, author of A Little History of Archaeology

Humans have too much stuff, and it is breaking the planet. Colwell brilliantly relates how and why we got here.
— Agustín Fuentes, author of Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being 

Reviews & Press

The Real Cost of Plundering the Planet's Resources (The New Yorker)
Too Much Stuff: Can We Solve Our Addition to Consumerism? (The Guardian)
How Did Humans Evolve to Use Everyday Tools? (Smithsonian Magazine)
Object Lessons (Science)
How Our Stuff Makes Us (Chasing Leviathan Podcast)
We Are All Hoarders Now (Insider Higher Ed)
His Sister’s Simple Question Launched Chip Colwell on an Amazing Journey (The Colorado Sun)
“So Much Stuff” Details a Find in Boulder That Fits an Enduring Historical Narrative (The Colorado Sun)
Archeologist and Author Chip Colwell Talks About His New Book "So Much Stuff" (Daily Sum Up)
Book Club with Michael Smerconish (SirusXM)
The Gift of Buying Less (Think)
How Did Humans Go From Self-sufficient Primates to Nonstop Shoppers? (KGNU)
Chilling Study of Materialism Will Make You Rethink Christmas Shopping (iNews)
We Are All Hoarders Now (Insider HigherEd)
Material World: What Prehistoric Possessions Tell Us About Ourselves (LitHub)
Black Friday’s Capitalist Roots Actually Stretch Back 3.4 million Years. No, Seriously. (Big Issue)
The Definitive 2023 Book Gift Guide. (Toronto.com)
A Trip to Denver’s Dump Inspired a Book About Humanity’s Stuff (Denverite)
Do We Have Too Much Stuff? (France 24)

Ready to Rethink Your Stuff?

Foundations and Movements
Podcasts 


Videos and Films 

 
Books 

  • The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo 
  • Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White 
  • A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William Irvine 
 
Blogs  

 
Articles  
Ways to Downsize Sustainably and Buy Reused Products 

  • Books Couter: sell, buy or rent used books 
  • Declttr: buy or sell used tech (e.g., phones, DVDs, CDs) 
  • Buy nothing app: give away, swap or borrow from someone in your community 
  • Back Market: buy or sell used tech (e.g., phones, tablets, laptops, game consoles). All products listed on Back Market are tested and verified to be 100% functional. You get a one-year warranty and free 30-day returns. 
  • Gazelle: buy and sell smartphones and other devices 
  • Terracycle: recycle the unrecycleable 
  • Durability Matters: is a website that helps you find high-quality, durable, and sustainably-made products 
  • New Egg: buy or sell used various products including tech, appliances, gift cards, food items, costumes etc 
  • eBay: Buy various used items 
  • Next Door: app and website to buy and sell items in your neighborhood
  • Nude Foods Market: Zero waste groceries (Colorado)
 
Repair 
Buy Upcycled Products and Green Products 
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