In My Opinion: Published in E-Scrap News
Photos below, article in link above.
Plastics Recycling's Burdensome New "Narrative"
A friend from Carleton College, physican, philosopher, professor and author Peter Ubel, nominated me on Facebook to comment on a new Frontline and NPR series:
The headline implies that plastic never would be recycled. I've seen some other reporting to this effect, harkening back to the Penn and Teller video "Recycling is Bull***t".
How about:
"Some in Big Oil Misled the Public Into Believing More Plastic Would Be Recycled Than Could Be"
The thing is, plastics recycling is not all that complicated to explain, compared to say health care policy.
"Part of the problem with mixed plastics recycling is insufficient participation. Manufacturers cannot meet % recycled content goals if consumers don't participate. "Another is over-participation. When in doubt, leave it out. Over-eager recyclers contaminate feedstock with mayo. "
Not really that political.
Self-Cancellation in the Era of Public Shaming
Over the decade-plus that I've added to this blog, there have been times I self-censored, and times I lobbed bombs. If anything protects me, it's probably the sheer volume of posts. It's difficult even for me to find the 2010-ish posts on shipping car seats to Africa rather than shredding them. But my experience with trying to do that, during a 2 year stint running Retroworks as a Thrift Store / Electronics Recycler, was an early example of public shaming. A woman on my staff stridently refused, saying we'd be putting African children in danger by exposing them to "expired" car seats.
But increasingly I've had some very revealing draft blogs sit unposted, unpublished. I've learned from Facebook and Twitter that no matter how insightful or pithy a thought, that it runs a high risk of being "cancelled" by someone critical of my privilege and race and gender.
