The Perverse Panic over Plastic

It’s really quite straightforward. Right now, the dominant assumption in economics is that all sectors of the economy must grow, all the time, regardless of whether or not we actually need them to. This is an irrational way to manage an economy at the best of times, but during an ecological emergency it is clearly dangerous. Instead, we should deci

... See more

Much like paper straws or canvas totes, though, well-meaning small changes miss the forest of structural change for the trees of lifestyle tweaking. The object of thrown-away food bears scrutiny, even though it is the way we dispose of food — mostly dumping it in landfills — that generates methane emissions. Large-scale composting or biogas generat... See more

If people believe they can buy aluminum coffee capsules, plastic water bottles or even new cars expecting that everything will be recycled and reused, it allows them to consume with a clean conscience.

“The positive emotions associated with recycling can overpower the negative emotions associated with wasting” — Monic Sun and Remi Trudel, professors

... See more

The impossibility of this burden to individually safeguard our data often reminds me of recycling. Because yes, there’s absolutely digital safety practices to lower our risk of exposure, but they don’t address the core issue that there’s too much data, too many data brokers, too many transactions hidden from the user’s view. And yes, we can and sho... See more