Annie Leonard, an environmental activist and creator of The Story of Stuff documentary, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7 at the Marjorie Luke Theatre at Santa Barbara Junior High School, 721 E. Cota St.

As the film’s narrator, Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, delivers a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff — where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.”

Leonard will talk about what inspired her to make the film, which became a quick Internet hit with more than 12 million online views, and landed her spots on The Colbert Report and other talk shows. She explores how our obsession with stuff is trashing the planet, how communities can take actions to address the lessons shared in the movie and the new projects she is taking on.

A panel of local sustainable design experts will join her for a question-and-answer session after the lecture, including representatives from The Sustainability Project, Santa Barbara County, the SBCC Center for Sustainability and Patagonia. Leonard also will be available for a book signing after the event, and copies of her book will be available for purchase.

The Story of Stuff takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer-driven culture, from resource extraction to iPod incineration. Leonard isolates the moment in history where the trend of consumption mania began, when the post-World War II era ushered in notions of “planned obsolescence” and “perceived obsolescence” —and how these notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today.

Leonard currently coordinates the nonprofit Story of Stuff Project, which includes films such as The Story of Bottled Water, The Story of Cap and Trade and The Story of Cosmetics. She also authored The Story of Stuff book, which immediately landed on the New York Times bestseller list when it was released in March.

Click here for more information or to order tickets online, with a donation of $10 to $20, or at the door the evening of the event.

— Katrina Sill is a publicist.