Recycling campaigns seem grassroots, but this is where they actually originate ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Don’t be a litter bug. Only dopes rubbish Australia. Those messages are typical of advertising campaigns that have been running since the 1970s, promoting the idea that dealing with packaging waste is your civic duty.

But on closer inspection, as Jonathan Baker writes, these campaigns are backed by the food and beverage industry, pushing the costs of dealing with its own waste onto taxpayers.

Recycling has become a decoy that allows companies to maintain and even expand production of disposable packaging. Cynically, this is happening in the face of near-zero recycling rates for soft plastics in Australia.

Today we look at three policy shifts that would make industry more accountable.

Victoria Thieberger

Business and Economics Editor

Today's newsletter supported by Black Inc Books

How the plastics industry shifted responsibility for recycling onto you, the consumer

Jonathan Baker, University of Adelaide

Only 9% of plastics ever made have been recycled. Clever industry campaigns have shifted the costs of their own waste onto consumers.

Democratic election wins send Trump – and Republicans – a message: Americans blame them for government shutdown

Bruce Wolpe, University of Sydney

The Republicans have tried to blame Democrats for the shutdown. But in US politics, the president owns the economy, for better or worse.

Boys are still in the grip of crippling masculine stereotypes: 6 findings from a new survey

Michael Flood, Queensland University of Technology

While boys’ adherence to masculine ideals is weakening, many still feel intense pressure to conform to it.

Peanut allergies have dropped dramatically in the US. Is that likely to happen in Australia?

Jennifer Koplin, The University of Queensland; Desalegn Markos Shifti, The University of Queensland; Rachel Peters, Murdoch Children's Research Institute

A US study found peanut allergy diagnoses decreased 43% in the years after guidelines changed to recommend introducing these foods early in babies’ diets.

Hundreds of genes act differently in the brains of men and women

Jenny Graves, La Trobe University

New data reveals differences in gene activity in the brains of men and women. They start in the womb and evolved millions of years ago.

Porn not ‘inherently harmful’, says first inquiry of its kind in Australia

Giselle Woodley, Edith Cowan University; Lelia Green, Edith Cowan University

The first ever state-based inquiry into the impacts of porn challenges simplistic ideas in favour of nuance, and calls for better sex education.

A history of Australia’s Nazi hunters reveals a troubling tolerance for war criminals

Kristy Campion, Charles Sturt University

At the end of World War II, many Nazi war criminals fled to Australia. A new book tells the stories of the investigators who tried to bring them to justice.

Politics + Society

Should police reveal a suspect’s racial identity and immigration status in serious crimes?

Tamar Hopkins, The University of Melbourne

A mass train stabbing in the UK has spurred a vigorous debate about releasing the racial and nationality details of suspects of crimes.
Earning more doesn’t lighten mothers’ mental loads – they do more regardless

Leah Ruppanner, The University of Melbourne; Ana Catalano Weeks, University of Bath; Helen Kowalewska, University of Bath

While mothers who earn more may be able to outsource some of the physical work in the household, the mental load is huge – and remains a barrier to gender equality.

Health + Medicine

Vaping has slowed progress in cutting teen smoking in NZ – new study

Andrew Waa, University of Otago; Becky Freeman, University of Sydney; Judith McCool, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Lucy Hardie, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Sam Egger, University of Sydney

More teenagers are now smoking regularly than if pre-vaping smoking trends had continued, widening inequities for Māori and Pacific youth.
Lonely? Here’s how to connect with old friends – and make new ones

Anastasia Hronis, University of Technology Sydney

If your friend circle has shrunk, you’re not alone – and reaching out is easier than you think.

Business + Economy
Could a ‘grey swan’ event bring down the AI revolution? Here are 3 risks we should be preparing for Cameron Shackell, Queensland University of Technology Sometimes, no one sees a major global shock coming. Risk analysts call these ‘black swan’ events. Other times, we see them coming – we just don’t prepare.

Environment + Energy
Where’s nature positive? Australia must ensure environment reforms work to restore what’s been lost Emille Boulot, University of Tasmania; Jan McDonald, University of Tasmania Australia is among many countries working to protect and restore nature at scale. But long-awaited environmental law reforms won’t help much as they stand.

Science + Technology
Do you speak cat? Take this quiz to find out Julia Henning, University of Adelaide Cats are excellent at communicating, but humans still routinely misunderstand them.

Books + Ideas
It will take more than the new Children’s Booker Prize to arrest the dramatic decline in reading enjoyment Jessica Cook, University of Southern Queensland Enticing young people to read will require a concerted effort by parents, carers, teachers and public intellectuals to promote reading for enjoyment.

The net-zero blow up
“It is incredulous that the Coalition parties are tearing themselves apart over net-zero by 2050. It's only a target and none of them will be in parliament in 2050, so there is no accountability for current members of parliament. In any case, business is way ahead of them and in all likelihood will achieve the target before then, no matter what the Liberals, who are supposed to be aligned with business, think.”
Mark Penman, Brisbane QLD

The next right-wing powerhouse?
“The recent assertions made by more than one political pundit that Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is poised to become the major conservative party seem to show a forgetfulness of history. They have a huge task to reach those heights, mainly because their path to 40-or-so lower house seats is coming not from a low base but a non-existent one.”
Mike Haddrell

This palm keeps getting more interesting
"I read with interest the story about the cabbage tree palms, but you seem to have omitted one of the most interesting bits: that these palms are dioecious, which is Greek for 'living in two houses'. Male and female parts (stamens, ovaries) are found on separate plants, unlike most of our familiar plants."
Jan Pittman, Gidgegannup WA

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