Recycling has become one of those “too much of a good thing” things, particularly recycling plastics.
What happened in the 1960s and ’70s wasn’t that recycling was invented, but that the reasons for it changed. Rather than recycle in order to get the most out of the materials, Americans began to recycle in order to deal with the massive amounts of waste produced during the second half of the 20th century.
Olivia B. Waxman, The History of Recycling in America Is More Complicated Than You May Think, Time magazine, November 15, 2016
With this shift, recycling programs & propaganda skyrocketed in the U.S. Now, however, countries that previously took our recyclable trash are sending it back. Here is The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah with a humorous and informative take on the problem:
And remember, it’s “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” – in that order
