sometimes I yell about podcasts

NPR and PBS Frontline spent months digging into internal industry documents and interviewing top former officials. We found that the industry sold the public on an idea it knew wouldn't work — that the majority of plastic could be, and would be, recycled — all while making billions of dollars selling the world new plastic.

The industry's awareness that recycling wouldn't keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program's earliest days, we found. "There is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis," one industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech.

Yet the industry spent millions telling people to recycle, because, as one former top industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true.

"If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment," Larry Thomas, former president of the Society of the Plastics Industry, known today as the Plastics Industry Association and one of the industry's most powerful trade groups in Washington, D.C., told NPR.

In response, industry representative Steve Russell, until recently the vice president of plastics for the trade group the American Chemistry Council, said the industry has never intentionally misled the public about recycling and is committed to ensuring all plastic is recycled.

"The proof is the dramatic amount of investment that is happening right now," Russell said. "I do understand the skepticism, because it hasn't happened in the past, but I think the pressure, the public commitments and, most important, the availability of technology is going to give us a different outcome."

Here's the basic problem: All used plastic can be turned into new things, but picking it up, sorting it out and melting it down is expensive. Plastic also degrades each time it is reused, meaning it can't be reused more than once or twice.

On the other hand, new plastic is cheap. It's made from oil and gas, and it's almost always less expensive and of better quality to just start fresh.

All of these problems have existed for decades, no matter what new recycling technology or expensive machinery has been developed. In all that time, less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled. But the public has known little about these difficulties.

It could be because that's not what they were told.

Starting in the 1990s, the public saw an increasing number of commercials and messaging about recycling plastic.

"The bottle may look empty, yet it's anything but trash," says one ad from 1990 showing a plastic bottle bouncing out of a garbage truck. "It's full of potential. ... We've pioneered the country's largest, most comprehensive plastic recycling program to help plastic fill valuable uses and roles."

These commercials carried a distinct message: Plastic is special, and the consumer should recycle it.

Read more:

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled

just one cookbook - a super wide variety of japanese recipes. easy step-by-steps and all the recipes i’ve tried have been delicious

souped up recipes -  chinese recipes - very informative videos and tasty food - i love her personality too

maangchi - who doesn’t love maangchi. delicious korean recipes and a fabulous personality

get curried - a huge variety of recipes from various regions of india 

simply mama cooks - my fav for tejano food. i believe she’s a mexicana married into a korean family, and draws a lot from that

immaculate bites - mostly quick ‘tasty’ style video recipes focusing on southern us, african, and carribean foods. easy and delicious stuff!

stove top kisses - fun and delicious recipes and the videos are super fun to watch - mostly american food

gourmet vegetarian kitchen - super creative projects. i personally find them very inspiring since she does things like make vegan cheese or ferment soy beans over the course of months

peaceful cuisine - he makes asmr & recipe versions of videos. everything is vegan. lots of desserts and traditional japanese cuisine

rachel ama - vegan food with a frequent caribbean twist! I love her! She has her own cookbook

Sruthi’s Kitchen - Huge catalog of instructional videos; exclusively vegetarian. 

My Heart Beets - My go-to for everything pressure-cooker related, and almost all of her recipes happen to be gluten-free (even more content on her website).

Food with Chetna - Mostly Indian recipes with some British/Western-Desi fusion thrown in. 

De Mi Rancho a Tu Cocina

Doña Lupita

Así se Cocina en el Rancho

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