This wouldn’t be the first time large companies had distracted the public while their businesses swelled. In the early 1970s, the plastic industry, backed by oil companies, began to promote the idea of recycling as a solution to the growing problem of plastic waste. Keep America Beautiful, for instance, was an organization founded in 1953 that ran public service campaigns encouraging consumers to recycle, and was funded in part by drinks and packaging firms. Its famous “Crying Indian” ad aired on Earth Day in 1971 and encouraged people to recycle their bottles and newspapers to help prevent
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