This question was not on the radar before China stopped taking our plastic trash. The Chinese ban has been copied by other countries and the US is left with an enormous supply of potential recyclable material. We are motivated to put our plastics in the recycling bin because we want to protect the environment, but whether that plastic bottle is recycled to become something else not only depends on us but on market changes and business cycles.

Photos of seals struggling to survive with plastic rings around their necks, and turtles pierced by plastic drinking straws or drowning in discarded fishing nets are horrific and have spurred efforts to clean up the plastic pollution that exists worldwide. Many of us are making changes to reduce our use of plastic, but we have been too complacent and now plastic pollution impacts us directly.

Are we witnessing a bug apocalypse? Bugs, insects of all kinds, are just disappearing. Biologists estimate that numbers of bugs, such as beetles and bees, have declined significantly in the last 35 years. The data on specific insect numbers is patchy, and pinpointing the causes of decline is difficult, but the overall picture indicates a serious decline is occurring.