From Sea to Plastic Sea

Most of us do our share and more to recycle, feeling very virtuous as we rinse and toss. We know that our plastic and other recyclables will go to a recycling plant that will sort it and distribute it accordingly. For most of our plastic, that means sending it to China. Yes, that's right. Sending it (think carbon footprint). To China. Because we don't have the facilities to deal with it ourselves. Well, now, as could have been foreseen, China's getting a little pickier about the plastic it accepts. And that has resulted in some of our localities limiting the kinds of plastic they are able to accept, which means more plastic, once again, in our landfills: http://qz.com/117151/us-states-banned-from-exporting-their-trash-to-china-are-drowning-in-plastic/