That puts recycling on the "I'm helping to spread awareness by temporarily adding a note to my Twitter bio" tier of action. It's better than nothing, but it's only a little better.
I don't agree. Doing something that's makes very little difference makes you feel better, like you've solved the problem, and soothes the urgent need to actually fix the problem. The city gives out recycling cans, and the populace feels confident that the city is doing something, but that takes pressure off of things the city could do that would actually help but are unpalatable, like shutting down the chemical plant pouring stuff into the river, or banning cruise ships.
It does make a difference if lots of people do it. Nothing in the world makes a difference if only one person does it.
> recycling
Because something exists that you don't think makes a significant impact is not evidence that other things don't make an impact. It's an absurd statement to say nothing people do makes an impact - look at almost everything in the world. Look at the Internet, built mostly by self-organizing people and groups.
That dogma does shift power to corporations - then they can claim to be the only ones that can do anything.
It becomes moderately better than nothing when “everyone” (not even close to everyone) does it. And there are some decisions (taking fewer/no flights, no fossil-fueled car, etc) that are a lot more effective than others. Personally I try to do my best! But in general, individual actions are dwarfed by systems bigger than them. Even being able to shun cars is only feasible if you live in a city with good public transport, for instance.
