The Myth of Plastic Recycling
May 1st, 2025 Barry Posted in Becky Hawkins collaborations, Environmental cartoons | No Comments »
A cartoon by me and Becky Hawkins.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels. There’s also a tiny “kicker” panel under the strip.
PANEL 1
A researcher wearing a white lab coat and carrying a thick bound report walks into an executive’s office. The executive is sitting with his feet on a big desk.
RESEARCHER: Here’s my report on plastic recycling… I’m afraid it’s bad news. Recycling plastic just won’t work.
PANEL 2
A close up of the researcher, who looks very nervous.
RESEARCHER: Recycling plastic costs so much that recycled plastic will never compete with new plastic. The only thing it might do is deceive the public into thinking there’s no problem.
PANEL 3
The executive is now holding the report. Behind the researcher, two toughs are creeping up, one raising a bludgeoning tool up to hit the researcher, the other holding out a sack big enough to hide a body.
RESEARCHER: To avoid an ecological crisis, we have to stop making so much plastic.
EXECUTIVE: I see. By the way, is this the only copy of the report?
RESEARCHER: Yes, why?
PANEL 4
CAPTION: And so, for the next fifty years…
A spokesmodel woman stands in front of cameras, next to a table overflowing with plastic products.
SPOKESMODEL: Use all the plastic you want! We’ll recycle!
TINY KICKER PANEL
The spokesmodel yells at Barry.
SPOKESMODEL: Use somewhat less plastic? You want us to live like cavemen?
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is obsolete cartoonists’ jargon for unimportant but fun details.
PANEL 1 – A framed graph on the wall seems to show profits moving up. The caption under the graph says “Sales of profit/loss charts up 47%”
PANEL 2 – One of the pens in the researcher’s breast pocket is actually a little test tube containing bubbling green liquid.
PANEL 4 – The backdrop says “Plastic: It’s what’s for dinner.” A little toy plastic car is being driven by a plastic kitten and unicorn. A label of a large bottle says “5 GAL background details.”
