Green That Life
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Sustainable Fashion
    • Garden
    • Personal Care
    • Simple Changes
  • Green Explainers
  • Take Action
  • Commentary
  • Green Reading
    • Environmental Books
    • Best Environmental Fiction for Adults and Children
  • Recycling Resources
  • Green Terms
Green That Life

Your guide to a more sustainable lifestyle

Green That Life
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Sustainable Fashion
    • Garden
    • Personal Care
    • Simple Changes
  • Green Explainers
  • Take Action
  • Commentary
  • Green Reading
    • Environmental Books
    • Best Environmental Fiction for Adults and Children
  • Recycling Resources
  • Green Terms
  • Commentary
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Recycling

When Mainstream Media Ignores the Root of Our Plastic Problem

  • June 28, 2021
  • 4 minute read
  • Sara Goddard
What's the solution to the planet's plastic problem?
What’s the solution to the planet’s plastic problem?

With the planet battling a plastic problem of epic proportions and now, Plastic Free July just a couple of days away, plastic pollution is a hot news topic and one that I write about frequently. It was therefore with interest that I settled in to watch the recent PBS profile on the topic, Is Chemical Recycling the Answer to Our Plastic Problem?

As one of this country’s most respected news organizations, and one I watch religiously, I was entirely disappointed in their coverage on plastic pollution, one of the most critical issues of our time.

An Industry Awash in Greenwashing

Let me back up a little before I get into the reasons for my disappointment. Much of my work  is on plastic pollution and helping consumers understand and identify effective waste reduction strategies.

Last December, I wrote a piece on chemical recycling entitled, Greenwashing Alert: Is Chemical Recycling the Solution to Plastic Pollution? I identified the inherent flaws in chemical recycling’s supposed solution to our plastic problem, including the need for these fledgling technologies to address the immediate crisis at a scale that isn’t possible given their infancy; the questionable nature of chemical recycling’s environmental claims when considering the full life-cycle process; and the inability of chemical recycling to solve one of the greatest challenges that face all recycling systems: human error.

Understanding industry motivation is one of the most important aspects of assessing the effectiveness of recycling. If you look back decades to uncover the origins of the relationship of plastics-focused industries (fossil fuel, plastics, packaging, beverage) with recycling it’s clear that they have a vested interest in promoting recycling. The most notable example is the industry-funded Keep America Beautiful recycling campaign. (Remember the “Crying Indian”?) The message that originated from that campaign — one that has been perpetuated in the decades since — is that people created this mess, so people need to clean it up by littering less and recycling more.

This shift in waste reduction responsibility from producer to consumer has allowed the plastics-focused industries to continue merrily along with more and more production. After all, recycling will clean it all up!

Related: Is Plastic Recycling a Red Herring to our Waste Problem?

What’s the Solution to Our Plastic Problem?

Here’s what PBS did right: It identified our plastic problem. The 7-minute piece highlights all the scary details on plastic pollution.

Here’s what PBS did wrong: It perpetuated the industry’s recycling-is-best message for tackling plastic pollution. To be sure, the piece highlighted woeful recycling rates and mounting piles of plastic waste, but the solution offered was better recycling technologies, not an examination of whether recycling is, in fact, the most effective waste reduction tool. And, no mention was made of holding the industry accountable for creating this mess in the first place.

The quote that sums up the PBS piece’s message (intentionally or not) is from University of Wisconsin professor George Huber, who declares that the “most valuable use” of his new chemical recycling technology “will be to make other plastics.” The takeaway: producers, you can keep on producing and consumers, you can keep on consuming.

With a planetary crisis (have I mentioned that enough times?) on our hands, it’s imperative that reputable media outlets like PBS not gloss over the real root of our plastic waste problem: the production of single-use plastic.

Any news profile on recycling methods must underscore the fundamental flaws and acknowledge that, even if improved, these processes are unlikely to stem the plastic tsunami that threatens to drown us all.

Consumers have been conditioned — yes, brainwashed — for decades through relentless greenwashing tactics by the fossil fuel and plastics industries to believe that recycling is the best and only solution to our plastic problem. We’ve been told that we are the problem with all this waste. If we don’t litter and recycle responsibly our plastic pollution problem will disappear.

While we can (and should) help reduce single-use plastic waste by disposing of it responsibly, our efforts are a drop in the ocean when compared to the enormous quantities produced. Now, even more plastic is anticipated, given a plastic production surge on the horizon. When it comes to single-use plastic, the real message should be producers shouldn’t produce and consumers shouldn’t consume.

It’s the responsibility of trusted news organizations, like PBS, to show the true picture — the fact that recycling is only one, and certainly not the best, solution to our plastic problem, and it’s the one that’s been perpetuated by the plastics-focused industries to justify continued plastics production.

The most effective solution, and one not even mentioned in the PBS piece, is to drastically reduce the production of single-use plastic and packaging. Legislative action through extended producer responsibility policies is one way. Just recently, for example, New Zealand has taken a bold step to ban most single-use plastics by 2025. Only when producers are held accountable will we have any hope of realizing substantive reductions in plastic waste.

Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • plastic pollution

Subscribe

Subscribe to my newsletter

You May Also Like
Big Meat and Dairy exert an extraordinary level of influence.
View Post
  • Commentary
  • Food
  • Your Carbon Footprint

Big Meat and Dairy’s Unsavory Pushback on Climate Action

  • April 3, 2022
  • Sara Goddard
Even if you can't get outside, you can celebrate Earth Day with a Virtual Earth Day!
View Post
  • Food
  • Garden
  • Home
  • Personal Care
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Simple Changes
  • Take Action

Happy Virtual Earth Day 2022! 9 Ways to Celebrate From Home

  • March 17, 2022
  • Sara Goddard
Earth Day Tip #1: Get Outside!
View Post
  • Food
  • Garden
  • Green Explainers
  • Home
  • Office
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Recycling
  • Simple Changes
  • Take Action

Easy Earth Day Tips for 2022 to Make Every Day a Green Day!

  • March 16, 2022
  • Sara Goddard
The tragedy of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has also underscored the need for framework for clean energy independence.
View Post
  • Commentary
  • Take Action

A Wake-Up Call for Clean Energy Independence

  • March 10, 2022
  • Sara Goddard
6 Myths About Plastic Debunked
View Post
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Green Explainers
  • Recycling

6 Myths About Plastic Debunked

  • February 9, 2022
  • Sara Goddard
Know your facts to debunk climate change myths!
View Post
  • Commentary
  • Take Action

Opening Our Eyes to Climate Change Myths

  • January 20, 2022
  • Sara Goddard
Support for climate equity is needed at the national level.
View Post
  • Commentary
  • Take Action

Looking for Climate Equity? Don’t Expect Much From National Leaders

  • January 17, 2022
  • Sara Goddard
22 Climate Actions We Need to See In 2022
View Post
  • Take Action
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Your Carbon Footprint

22 Climate Actions We Need to See In 2022

  • December 21, 2021
  • Sara Goddard
About the Author

Sara Goddard

Green That Life is your guide for sustainable living. Its purpose is to provide practical tools, tips, and resources related to a variety of sustainability topics, including waste reduction, pollution prevention, food waste, environmental activism, and more.

Green That Life founder, Sara Goddard, is an environmental activist, sustainability adviser, and elected official. Sara’s mission through GTL is to provide original content that helps inform and inspire.

Sign up for my newsletter
Follow Green That Life
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
RSS
Featured Posts
  • 15 Smart Ways to Reduce Energy Use and Take Control of Your Soaring Gas Bills 1
    15 Smart Ways to Reduce Energy Use and Take Control of Your Soaring Gas Bills
  • Vote for the Planet! Here's how. 2
    Vote for the Planet! Your Complete Voter’s Guide
  • Big Meat and Dairy exert an extraordinary level of influence. 3
    Big Meat and Dairy’s Unsavory Pushback on Climate Action
  • Even if you can't get outside, you can celebrate Earth Day with a Virtual Earth Day! 4
    Happy Virtual Earth Day 2022! 9 Ways to Celebrate From Home
  • Earth Day Tip #1: Get Outside! 5
    Easy Earth Day Tips for 2022 to Make Every Day a Green Day!
Archives
Categories
  • Commentary
  • Food
  • Garden
  • Green Explainers
  • Green Reading
  • Home
  • Office
  • Personal Care
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Recycling
  • Simple Changes
  • Sustainable Fashion
  • Take Action
  • Your Carbon Footprint
Disclosure
When you buy a product or service through a link on this site, I may earn a small commission. This helps cover the cost of running Green That Life. However, I only recommend products that meet my high standards. Thank you!

Subscribe

Subscribe to my newsletter

Green That Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Green Explainers
  • Take Action
  • Commentary
  • Green Reading
  • Recycling Resources
  • Green Terms
Your guide to a more sustainable lifestyle

Input your search keywords and press Enter.