The UK Government are taking steps to address this, whilst also charging the companies for the material they use as well as charging extra if it’s a mix. The situation is currently a mess with the rules being different only a mile down the road, so even just to have some standardisation is appreciated.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/simpler-recycling-household-recycling-in-england

Japan’s ultra-organized and visible garbage separation is mostly for show and establishing “social harmony.” 80% of their municipal waste is thrown into incinerators- the highest of all countries in the OECD.

Washington State does this well too. Almost every bin you see, from downtown Seattle to upstate near Victoria to Mount Rainier, everything is separated by trash, metal, and paper

Edit: or something similar. Haven't been up to Washington in a bit

This reminds me of something I was commenting about yesterday.

Focus on your immediate environment first, and make your little corner of the world better before you worry about saving the universe.

And like you said, it is a habit and mindset thing. If you plant a tree in your yard or in your community, no it will not save the rain forest, but your mental health and physical health and living conditions will all be slightly better off than they were before it.

If you start intentionally working in these positive actions that provide tiny incremental improvements, before you know it you may be feeling more than incrementally better.

it's hard when no true left party can get any attention and fucking centrists are all that's left

I know this isn't the point, but I do like to carry a set of portable cutlery around and often use it eating out. It's usually a smallish case with metal straw(s), chopsticks, a knife, spoon, fork. Which one time lead to me forgetting my metal straw at the restaurant of course...

start composting, and turn that green waste into green money (or food)

Can't you just put your green waste in the trash?

It's not bad to do. We probably even need to be doing it.

It's just like putting a band-aid on a papercut while the three inch radius hole in your chest sprays blood

You're missing the point. Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google aren't people. They're criminal corporations given free reign to poison the rest of us.

I'm not arguing that you shouldn't try sustainability. I was brought up with the mindset. We sort our garbage, I mend and reuse as much as I can. It's good not just for the environment and your wallet, but it's also a protest against the consumerism pushed onto society.

That doesn't mean that we should focus only on individual action (or inaction) and turning away from the actions of these massive corporations particularly not when they're blatantly flaunting them right in front of us. What point is there in me criticising you for taking an aeroplane to visit your family once or twice a year when you have Donald, Musk, and Taylor Swift riding private jets on a weekly basis? Like it doesn't even compare.

The point is to speak up and demand change. The disposition of blame (or the disproportionate onus of responsibility) should frustrate everyone.

The Toxic Lie of American Recycling: How Plastic Shipments Are Destroying Asia

For decades, the U.S., along with other countries, have been sending much of its plastic “recycling” to Asian countries to process, as running a well-functioning recycling program is more labor intensive and expensive than Americans would care to operate.[1] This relationship began as a way for Asian countries to turn a profit by importing the U.S.’ recycling to manufacture into new plastics.[2] But when the imports became excessive as Americans used more and more plastic, some countries chose to ban them, leaving an even heavier burden on places still accepting the imports.[3] Malaysia is one such country feeling this strain.[4]

In 2018, China, Asia’s largest recycling importer at the time, ceased 99% of its plastic imports.[5] Malaysia learned just how much recycling China had been taking when it much of it began showing up at their ports.[6] While from a legal standpoint, Malaysia still has a say in how much recycling they accept, there is a strong network of illegal imports that fly under the radar and pollute Malaysia’s air, water, and soil.[7] Unlicensed operations in Malaysia import recycling, hire cheap labor, establish factories, and process the plastic in dangerous and toxic ways without adherence to environmental regulations.[8] Not everything that is illegally imported is turned over for manufacturing, leaving a good part of the plastic to rot or burn in illegal landfills, causing plumes of toxic smoke and contaminated groundwater linked to widespread illness.[9] The Malaysian government says enforcement attempts to stop illegal operations has been feeble.[10]

STOP CONSUMING SINGLE USE PLASTICS YOU ASSHOLES.

That goes 1000x for multinationals. But anyone bitching about recycling is either ignorant on this point or outright maliciously perpetrating the problem.

Recycling is just shipping it to Asia and they just lump ship it so even if you separate it doesn’t matter.

A lot of non-recyclable plastics get lumped in and it’s more of a landfill than recycling.

Not to say we shouldn’t recycle but that we shouldn’t use plastics.