4
That stat about plastic recycling rates finally got me to stop being lazy about it
I always thought recycling plastic was basically fine and I was doing my part. Then I read on the EPA website that only about 5-6% of plastic actually gets recycled in the US, the rest goes to landfills or gets burned. Found that number in a report from 2022 and it really surprised me. Now I'm looking into zero waste swaps for my kitchen, like glass containers instead of plastic bags. Has anyone else found a good source for bulk pantry items near Austin that actually works?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
the_ruby1mo ago
That stat about 5-6% really got me too when I first saw it. Something I haven't seen people talk about is how plastic recycling is kind of a scam from the start. Like oil companies knew back in the 70s that recycling wasn't gonna work, but they pushed it on us so we'd feel better about buying more plastic. I'm not saying stop trying, just don't beat yourself up over it. For bulk stuff near Austin, check out the Austin Zero Waste group on Facebook, they have a map of stores that let you bring your own containers.
9
diana5121mo ago
Gotta push back a little on the "total scam" framing. The oil companies definitely pushed recycling as a PR move, that's true. But the real problem is we tried to recycle things that were never designed to be recycled in the first place. Most plastic packaging has multiple layers and additives that make it impossible to break down into quality material. So it's less a straight up scam and more like we were set up to fail from the start. The whole system was rigged against us, but local efforts like those bulk stores in Austin can still make a real dent if enough people use them.
7