A lot of the seemingly-dumb stuff happens because the market is a lot more effective at finding efficient solutions than gut feelings. Some of it is also becau

A lot of the seemingly-dumb stuff happens because the market is a lot more effective at finding efficient solutions than gut feelings. Some of it is also because externalities like pollution aren't priced in, but often the seemingly-bad thing is actually better by most metrics. Reducing plastic packaging may be one such example: Sure, it reduces plastic waste, but it creates more wasted product, and packaging from stuff consumed in households is exceedingly unlikely to end up in the ocean in a western city that burns their trash in a waste-to-energy plant.