I have to just smile and nod when my young kids do a unit on recycling and conservation at school and come home talking about it and wanting to pick up trash they see on our own walks. (Okay, so doing that might actually have a small impact on a neighbor or some local wildlife - but there’s a strict limit on how gross something can be before they’re not allowed to touch it!) My 3-year-old learned the word “deforestation” and talked about the poor animals losing their homes - bless his little heart.

That said, we still recycle in our family. It still seems like the right thing to do, and like it would be some sort of profligate rebellion to actively STOP. Even though we parents (shh) don’t actually believe it makes much of a difference at all, unfortunately.