system
A chat on subreddit /r/PoliticalCompassMemes
human
Recycling too has been mostly a sham.

There was also the "swap from paper bags to plastic to save the rainforest" garbage. 

Frankly the entire thing is depressing.  Wish people focused on reduce and reuse.
gpt
Yep, currently living in Japan. Sometimes my family or friends that know about my environmentalist tendencies will ask me about how great Japan's recycling system is because they recycle a much higher percentage of their waste than America. I always have to tell them that it doesn't matter because they also use way more plastic than America.

Most people don't understand that "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is listed in order of importance.