VIDEO: Is Recycling Worth It Anymore? People On The Front Lines Say Maybe Not

By Annabel Edwards,

Tsering Bista, Becky Harlan, Nick Michael, Mito Habe-Evans

Published April 21, 2021 at 6:00 AM EDT

Recycling works, but it's not magic. As America continues to lead the world in per capita waste production, it's becoming more and more clear that everybody — from manufacturers to consumers — "over-believes" in recycling.

This is a story about responsibility and what happens when everyone keeps trying to pass it off to the next person — and what happens, when finally, there is no next person.

This video is based in part on Throughline's podcast episode "The Litter Myth."

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Annabel Edwards

Tsering Bista

Becky Harlan

Becky Harlan is a visual and engagement editor for NPR's Life Kit.

See stories by Becky Harlan

Nick Michael

Nick Michael is the Acting Supervising Editor for Video at NPR. He joined NPR in 2014 as the lead video producer for Jazz Night in America, NPR's first program with companion radio and video content. Jazz Night's 2017 portfolio earned a Peabody nomination and a Webby Award for Online Film & Video. Since then, he has co-managed the growth of NPR's award-winning video team, highlights of which include co-crafting the look of NPR's signature interviews with President Obama, leading NPR's experimentation with 360 video and audio and coordinating 22 filmmakers across the country to document 2017's solar eclipse. Before NPR, Michael co-founded 1504, a creative video studio now based in Birmingham, Ala. He earned a masters in photojournalism at the Missouri School of Journalism.

See stories by Nick Michael

Mito Habe-Evans

Mito Habe-Evans (she/her) co-manages NPR's Video team and is responsible for the creative direction and sensibility of NPR videos. She leads the team in its pursuit of projects that are "smart with heart," from the comedic economics explainer series Planet Money Shorts to the short film Senior Spring, a national portrait of teens and guns. She developed NPR's signature documentary style with What Democracy Looks Like and One Nation Under The Sun.