Don’t look too much into “dolphin-safe” tuna.
Both can be true, don’t pressure yourself. Just do what you can if you feel like it and vote for people who do too
Plastic may be so, but glass recycling has been a thing for decades (depending on where you are), aliminium recycling is all well, same for paper (if grease free) There’s also wooden alternatives for a lot of plastic/silicon stuff, and wood can be reused/burned/mulched.
So in a way it IS your responsibility - to give up plastic
your responsibility
*Assuming the products are available and you make enough to buy them.
Take an inventory of plastic shit in your life. It’s a lot. I don’t think I could cut it out completely. I’m having a hard time imagining zero plastic grocery shopping. It’s possible to be sure, but fucking everything comes in plastic.
Even things that don’t use plastic packaging have plastics in their packaging - airtight seals on the inside of jar lids and the coating on the inside of soup cans come to mind. Can definitely reduce plastic consumption but I don’t think going plastic free is possible unless you’re raising your own food and the seeds/feed also come in plastic free packaging…
If you were to go to the co-op, buy only bulk, put it in jars straight off… But even getting tooth paste or shampoo. It’s tough.
You can actually recycle some plastics at home with a flat tray and an oven. PET, LDP and HDP can all be sorted, cut up and placed on a tray. With a relatively low heat setting they’ll flatten out into a sheet that can be cut and used for hobbying or other purposes.
Look for tutorials online for the details.
Also, some countries have MUCH BETTER recycling programs than others.
he way the US “recycles” has been mostly sending them away to countries who just toss them into the sea.
In EU countries that won’t fly as easily. But governments still look the other way and put that responsibility on NGOs who often lie about how much they recycle. They claim “70%”, but that’s 70% of what’s put in the container paid by the city. There’s still way too much stuff tossed into the normal trash or out in the open.
Regardless of whoever came up with the idea, recycling does help and you should do it:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230317-how-recycling-can-help-the-climate-and-other-facts
It may not save the planet on its own, but it is part of the solution.
