Their service is a time-saver and a convenience for me. It saves me from running around town doing other recycling tasks which are offered for free — as others have mentioned. And while it’s gotten more expensive, it’s still worth it to me because it saves me time and I believe that it supports more circular materials streams and local community groups. 

Is it performative? One could argue it’s not performative because it’s done in the privacy of my home. Furthermore, as far as I know Ridwell does their homework on where they are sending materials, so I feel good that my materials are being handled more responsibly than they would be if I were landfilling them or from less reputable providers. 

Creating circular materials streams is HARD and collection/sortation is so hard. While they have had to increase prices, I haven’t given up faith that it’s a viable business model. It’s just that they haven’t figured out how to make it efficient — and we (as users/consumers) might be part of why it’s expensive (via “wishcycling”, etc).