Laura Sevier: How can we reconcile our needs for certain things - computers, fridges and so on - with its impact?

Annie Leonard: I'm not against stuff. I actually want us to like our stuff more. In some ways I am pro stuff! I want us to have more reverence and appreciation of the stuff that we have so that we're not just chucking it. I want our stuff to be safe, to last. I'm against stuff that trashes the planet and poisons people and with which we confuse our sense of self worth. 

Computers are great for access to art, news and communication. But do they have to have neurotoxins in them? Do they have to destroy wildlife and communities in the Congo and do they have to only last a couple of years and be impossible to upgrade and recycle so that they get shipped to China and poison people there?

The problem with stuff is three things: that we have too much stuff, that we use too toxic stuff and we don't share it well. I am absolutely convinced (and I've spent a lot of time reading about a lot of technological developments) that there's no real obstacle to us having computers that last and that are toxics free and that are more equitably shared.

LS: Advertising has a huge influence on what we buy and what we want. How can we tackle this?

AL: It's not that we're dumb and we'll believe anything we'll see. It's the relentlessness of the messages. If someone tells you something thousands of times a day eventually it will sink in.

One of the things I would love to see is restrictions on advertising, especially to kids. In the US it's relentless. It's outrageous to just indoctrinate them when they're so young, especially as they can't be expected to have the critical thinking to know that 'this is a company and they're trying to get my money'. We should definitely ban marketing to children and restrict marketing beyond that.

Another thing is, we should have more honest marketing. When I was a kid commercials used to talk more about the actual product. Nowadays there are so many products that what they do is associate a product with a lifestyle instead of talking about what's in the product.

LS: You've travelled to about 40 countries visiting factories where stuff is made and dumped. What is the most shocking thing you've seen?

AL: I've seen toxic mercury waste dumped in black townships after apartheid so that people couldn't leave, and workers working with no protective gear whatsoever in hazardous waste factories in China and India. I've seen every kind of environmental and human rights abuse.

But what's most shocking is how unnecessary it is, and how much easier it would be to do it better. We could make our stuff safe, we could make it to use way less toxics, we could make it to not poison the workers. There's so many technological innovations that we're just not using. I don't think technology is the only solution and those who only talk about technology are missing a huge piece around social equity and justice. But it is a piece of the solution for sure.

LS: You had a body burden test described in the book - how do you feel now knowing what chemicals are in you?

I knew generally what was in me because it's in everybody. I am loaded with toxic chemicals. Yet I am so vigilant. My house has no PVC, no BFR's [brominated flame retardants]. I only eat organic food - I do everything I can do avoid them.

There were a couple of surprises, and one is I had really high levels of mercury. I stopped eating tuna. I did have a whole class of chemicals that was lower than average. I asked the scientist, and he thinks it was because I didn't eat meat for years.

I used to feel angry about it but to me it just shows how you can't solve this stuff on an individual level. These chemicals are so prevalent, they are everywhere. We know this stuff is causing problems with animals but we somehow think it won't cause problems for us.