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Comment by Yizahi | Hacker News Reader

The language gives off some climate denialist vibes, but the substance is nonetheless true - recycling become both a magical word which is forbidden to be challenged on merit, and it also become a crude hammer to just bash peons to distract from real problems and real solutions. I also appreciate that finally someone says that DAC should happen as a more effective climate change tool.

Lately I'm getting a feel that it's becoming impossible to be a progressive person and criticize some parts of global greenwashing initiatives. One either need to blindly follow the gospel of 12 recycle bins and other inane ideas, or be shut down as a "climate change denier" because one dared to disagree on something.

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It makes so much sense.

Single use > than reusing.

This is why coal is so much cheaper than solar. Oh.

There is so much cherry picking here they could make a pie.

Energy use to make a cotton bag is greater than a plastic bag, ignoring any other metric, therefore we should just throw everything in the landfill because who reuses a bag more than once???

A lot of people it turns out.

Greenwashing is certainly a problem, but it's almost always "recycling" programs for plastics they can't recycle. See chip/crisp bags for example.

but it's not reused

most recycling is just a differently labeled landfill owned by a cartel somewhere in Asia

I'm not saying NOT to recycling. I'm moderately carefully recycle what I can for the past decade. But when I read the inane requests to like wash tetrapacks from inside, or separate every bone from the bio bag, or get a career in chemistry to differentiate between polystyrene and polyurethane and polyethylene and polypropylene and [insert 50 other common plastics] and then on top of that learn how to deal with composite packaging and then study glues used in the packaging and then study what are the latest innovations in the laminated cartons and... and.. It's leaning into craziness imo. Same with demands like for example keep plastic and metal bottles undamaged, taking a 120L stinking bad for months at home, instead of flattening all them into compact flat material pieces and sort them into proper recycling bins. Or stuff like Swiss paying an extortion level tax for every small black mixed bin bag (unsorted or nonrecyclable).

In my opinion that's the path to make people hate recycling instead of voluntarily engaging in it.

It’s religion in the making.

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