It’s The Little things

It’s the Little Things is the third animation in the award winning Secret Life of Things series. It tells the stories of everyday objects, and how they can inadvertently be misused and neglected, as well as shining a light on ways in which we can all help to reduce the environmental impacts of consumer choices.
Created by award winning designer and director of Eco Innovators and TED speaker Leyla Acaroglu, and developed with the support of the Design and Technology Teachers Association Victoria, it takes its place beside two earlier animations to complete a fun educational trilogy. Used separately or as a set, The Secret Life of Things animations are learning tools that combine sustainability, science, design, and technology outcomes.
Says Acaroglu: “How many old TVs have you seen discarded on the roadside? Broken and unloved, these products pose serious environmental impacts when not appropriately cared for at the end of their working lives…”

“It’s the Little Things allowed us to again show the fun side of sustainability by using cute and engaging animated characters. It can be hard to face the idea that we have all at some point been guilty of ignoring or mistreating the consumer goods that fill our lives. Through this animation we have tried to give those inanimate objects a voice (and a face) to express a flip- side of the environmental impacts associated with misuse”
The Secret Life of Things project highlights the mythologies and hidden ‘lives’ of everyday things using animation as a tool for engagement, showing the social and environmental impacts of our choices in an accessible and easily followed animated format. From good design to reduce waste, through to effective use and the appropriate care at end of life, It’s the Little Things unpacks ways we can all do our bit to reduce consumption based environmental impacts.
Always conceived as a three part series, the first animation ‘Life Psycle-ology’ (2010) and second ‘This is your life cycle’ (2012) are completed by the inclusion of ‘It’s the little things’. The first animation in the Secret Life of Things, series have won a Melbourne Design Award, been viewed by over 150,000 people online, translated into 15 languages and are on permanent exhibition in the Leonardo da Vinci Science Museum in Milan, as well as being selected as part of the 2013/2014 Melbourne Now Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.
The Secret Life of Things website hosts a range of curriculum support tools and educational
resources available as free downloads. A free associated smart device game-based app is due
for launch in July 2014. These resources form a suite of tools designed to fill a gap in
educational resources, appropriate for all levels, and adaptable for a range of needs.
www.thesecretlifeofthings.com