We’ve all been taught recycling is a sustainable way each of us can make a difference. But the truth is that the plastics industry paid millions to push this message--and to sell more plastic. Here's the dark truth and how it's led to some serious consequences. Plastic industry officials long knew that recycling plastic on a large scale was unlikely to ever be economically viable. In fact, only 9% of all plastic ever created has been recycled. So where does all this plastic end up? While the U.S. is the world’s biggest plastic polluter, all of this waste is exported to Southeast Asian countries. We desperately need better recycling infrastructures set up locally than relying on dumping our waste in developing nations. And we need to be advocating for lasting solutions to the plastic problem because our waste is our problem.

Gautam Adani was Asia’s richest man and known as a shrewd businessman who has a close, personal relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In January, Hindenburg revealed corporate fraud by releasing a report on Adani Group that Hindenburg actually made a profit from. Now investors have bailed on Adani and it’s left huge redevelopment projects up in the air, which involves resettling a million people. Adani has accused Hindenburg of launching a “calculated attack on India” and his finance chief compared it to a British colonial-era massacre. While Modi has been silent on the Adani scandal, India’s 2024 general election approaches and it remains to be seen whether this corruption will influence voters’ choices. What we do know is that Indian oligarchs need to be checked in on, regularly and intensely.

When Jeffrey was in high school, he first started realizing that he had crushes on his guy friends. He struggled with this–especially when he told his crush he liked him and was rejected. He began questioning how long he could get away with ignoring who he was. He built his first body of work ‘Typhoon’, which was his coming out story. Originally, JËVA made music to escape his sexuality. JËVA, or Jeffrey, is a Chinese-Australian gay artist who first used every one of these descriptors to get people's attention. But it was these exact buzzwords that helped him accept his identity. Today, not only does he have the approval of his parents, he also has fans who have thanked him for creating music that expressed their struggles. But he still deals with adversity–like the Australian music industry execs, who are scared to take risks and don’t know what to do with JËVA. His message today embodies that being gay is a part of who you are, as opposed to your entire identity.

Though Filipino queerness dates back as early as pre-colonial times, the portrayal of drag was limited until shows like Drag Den became mainstream. This acceptance led to Butterboy cafe in #Manila, where brunch includes delicious food and drag. Today, as more people are celebrating drag as an art form, Butterboy has become the place for Saturday drag brunches. Their performers gloat about the caring staff, intimate environment, and incredibly supportive brunch-goers. In fact, they say they feel more appreciated at Butterboy than they do in night light–and are even treated like celebrities. Co-owners of Butterboy, Hildebrand Demeterio and Jayson So originally fantasized about a cafe that would serve as a safe place for queer talent. Today, their dreams have been filled with support, love, and a community that never existed before.

Extreme Tech Challenge is the largest startup competition in the world, and it’s founded by two Asian men. Young Sohn and Bill Tai defied parental and societal expectations to become successful venture capitalists that are now funding the next generation of tech entrepreneurs. Every year, XTC receives nearly 5,000 applications ranging from Silicon Valley and Mumbai to Singapore, Dubai and Berlin. This community is made for people building tech innovations that will impact the world for greater good–and since 2015, there has been over $3.5B in funding raised for finalists. But Young and Bill fought to get here. In fact, Young’s mother raised him to understand that while Asians could be engineers, their bosses would be white men. And when Bill dropped out of Princeton, bypassed Harvard, and drove to California to work for a startup, his father told him he didn’t know what he was doing. These two visionaries care most to show people that innovative ideas can come from anywhere, and there are no boundaries–something they’ve both proven.

Did you know that the average amount of times we wear clothing before throwing it away is 7? American saviorism deludes us to believe that “people in need will wear my old clothes” but what’s actually happening is the Global South becomes the dumping ground for the lifestyle and convenience of the Global North. This exploitation has turned Asia into a garment dump. So what can we actually do? Prioritize consuming less, elongating the lives of the clothes we have by repairing and mending, wearing hand-me-downs, buying used, and repurposing old clothes. Donating our clothes isn’t superior thinking disguised as a good deed. And outside of making changes to our own wardrobe, here’s how we can hold the perpetrators of waste colonialism accountable.