[sammalloy]

> For example recycling plastic is your responsibility - but what if your city burns plastic recycling? What do you do? Do you continue to buy plastic blame the companies for using it and the city for burning it? Why should the individual be penalized?

Unfortunately, while what you are saying is the conventional wisdom, it turns out that it’s also insidious propaganda from the plastic and beverage industry created to evade responsibility for their products.

According to the Changing Markets Foundation, which has extensively tracked the history of this issue

> the industry has successfully shifted the blame and responsibility for plastic pollution from the corporations to consumers and public authorities, all while promoting recycling as a convenient excuse to produce ever more plastic. We see how fake environmental groups and increasing numbers of new voluntary initiatives are used to distract from accountability, while legislation – such as plastic-bag bans and bottle bills – has been furiously fought against for years.