Does Anyone Still Believe Recycling Plastic is Effective?
It’s time to move on.
“The perception that plastic is easily recyclable — and that the burden of recycling lies solely with the consumer — has been shaped by decades of carefully constructed campaigns paid for by many of the most prevalent producers of plastic.” -Christopher Marquis for Forbes Magazine.
It was Earth Day 1971 when a compelling public service announcement calling for environmental stewardship and featuring a grim Native American gentleman decked out in full buck-skinned splendor took to the airwaves.
The minute-long advertisement, produced by a group calling themselves Keep America Beautiful (KAB), depicted an indigenous man slowly paddling down a pristine river at sunrise in his canoe while thunderous drumming sounded in the background. Suddenly, pieces of litter debris float by. Next, the camera pans out to what looks like an industrial shipping area, with smokestack plumes billowing in the distance. The man then brings his canoe to the shore, where even more trash resides on the ground, and begins walking. Finally, he makes his way to the side of a highway where a car zooms by him, but not before carelessly tossing a small bag of to-go food trash that explodes right at our protagonist’s feet. The camera then comes in for a close-up as a single teardrop runs down…
