The holiday season is here, which means it’s time to go shopping. Shopping for gifts, decorations, new clothes, new electronics … for stuff.

This will do some damage to Americans’ bank accounts, but what is the real cost to people, the environment, the economy, to the world as a whole? From extraction to production to consumption to disposal, when one takes a closer look at consumerism, there are considerable hidden costs.

In the “Story of Stuff”, author and activist Annie Leonard candidly examines stuff: where it comes from, where it goes, and how it affects people and the Earth along the way. Leonard’s 20-minute film is simple, straightforward, and hopeful.

The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and Sierra Nevada College are hosting a screening of “The Story of Stuff”. Madonna Dunbar, resource conservationist with the Incline Village General Improvement District will be on hand to field any questions on how to cut down on trash and how to recycle.

The Truckee High School Envirolution Club and Sierra Nevada College art students will be showcasing Trashion creations and art made with postconsumer materials. There will also be demos on how to make fun things like wrapping paper or bows out of what otherwise would have been trash.

Date: Dec. 5

Time: 4-5:30pm. Art reception to be followed by film screening

Cost: Free. No-host bar.

Location: Assembly Rooms 139 & 141, Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village.on the campus of Sierra Nevada College