4 ms·

What is this even saying? I saw nothing mentioned that was backfiring, even less so spectacularly.

• hnbad 3y ago
  Did you read past the headline? "Reduce, reuse, recycle" means "avoid buying more things, use the things you already have and recycle instead of throwing away". The inclusion of "recycle" led to a hyperfocus on that last, least effective, part of the guidance at the cost of the other two. It backfired by making consumers think they're doing their part by buying products that include recycled materials or throwing their trash in the recycling bin, rather than simply buying less or not buying things or buying things that last longer and continuing to use them. Of course this isn't on the consumers but the producers. The article explicitly says the focus on reycling hasn't helped reduce overproduction, which isn't a surprise as the economy grows by producing (and selling) and recycling is orthogonal to that whereas reducing/reusing runs counter to it.