We don't know if you've heard the recent revelations about the last 30 years of plastic recycling, but it's pretty depressing. For more information, read the article here. In a nutshell, plastic producers (oil companies) wanted to keep creating lucrative plastics, but the resulting waste stream came under scrutiny. They tried many ways to make recycled plastic viable, but it wasn't economically sound, so they created the familiar plastic triangles to mark different types of plastic, thinking that might help plastic sorting at recycling facilities. Instead, that led to a deluge of plastics from consumers who assumed that anything with a triangle could be recycled, which crippled the already struggling recycling industry. And despite China no longer taking our plastic trash, plastic manufacturers are showing no sign of slowing down. Therefore, this month's challenge is to really focus on the other two R's for plastic: reduce and reuse. Find ways to reuse the plastic we already have or use alternatives in the future. Or if you are feeling more ambitious, lobby your representatives to hold plastic producers responsible for the trash they are creating and/or support innovative recycling efforts by companies like Ocean Spray and Loop.