Remember when recycling was sold as the answer to saving the planet?
Now look around. Everything is plastic, disposable, and designed to be replaced instead of repaired. Products don’t last, and we’ve created a culture of “just throw it away and buy another one.”
So after decades of regulations, mandates, fees, and telling ordinary people they needed to change their behavior, are we actually better off?
Because from where I’m standing, we’ve created MORE waste, MORE consumption, and LESS durability.
At some point, it’s fair to ask the uncomfortable question:
If all these regulations were supposed to benefit the environment, why does everything feel more disposable than ever and who benefited financially along the way?