Recycling is a scam invented by big oil to shift the responsibility to the consumer. Every second we argue about correct recycling, is a second we don’t argue about system changes.
source for example https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled
“Other people don’t so why should I.”
This meme is terrible.
Far more effective to boycott those companies instead. I stopped buying BP products because of how terrible they are.
Yes, but the main issue is how mixed the materials are in our consumables. Mixed recycling is basically bullshit. We should have more standardized packaging and more categories of separation strictly enforced. Japan does this pretty well.
You could opt in to pay extra for sorting if you can afford it sure.
And emissions need to be better taxed, and illegal dumping and discharge into rivers and such a jailable crime with big fines for businesses with accountability going right up the chain to investors.
Japan’s ultra-organized and visible garbage separation is mostly for show and establishing “social harmony.” 80% of their municipal waste is thrown into incinerators- the highest of all countries in the OECD.
That’s a result of Tokyo and the other biggest cities only separating into recyclable bottles, non-recyclable or non-burnable material (i.e. inorganics) and all the rest which is as you say incinerated.
They also have some, if not the most clean burning incenerators in the world, and they use the waste material for construction and land reclamation.
Burning plastics at very high temperatures is far more environmentally friendly than sending them to landfills or attempting to recycle them.
Nevertheless they are known for excess packaging and obviously my arguments about standardization still apply to Japan as much as anyone else.
Sorting your trash is the human equivalent of planting a tree, and it’s especially valuable if you have/teach children. It’s a small activity that helps to build better habits and mindsets.
It won’t change the world today, but it will build a foundation for changing the world tomorrow.
This reminds me of something I was commenting about yesterday.
Focus on your immediate environment first, and make your little corner of the world better before you worry about saving the universe.
And like you said, it is a habit and mindset thing. If you plant a tree in your yard or in your community, no it will not save the rain forest, but your mental health and physical health and living conditions will all be slightly better off than they were before it.
If you start intentionally working in these positive actions that provide tiny incremental improvements, before you know it you may be feeling more than incrementally better.
Every tree you plant will be torn out.
