It is worth noting that other types of materials are regularly recycled fairly well

For instance, paper and carboard (as long as it’s without food grease) work well

Also worth noting that #1 and #2 plastics are usually recycled. #3 and above are typically not economically viable and thus not recycled. They have higher cost and produce lower quality plastics after recyling

There was a time when China had such high raw demand for plastics that they would recycle large amounts of the higher number plastics from other countries. They no longer do so

These distinctions are typically not expressed to people very well. In any case, recycling is supposed to be the thing that comes after trying to reduce waste and reuse waste. It’s not a magical bullet, but it can help with the things you can’t easily reduce or reuse. Somehow it became the focal point of everything and the other two got lost

I get the idea of wanting to stick it to the US, but it’s maybe not the largest source of pride when you consider what the industry looks like. Being slightly less bad than the US is not a high bar. It’s still quite horrifying

Intensive farming is the predominant method of producing meat, dairy products and eggs in Europe and elsewhere in the world

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/23/long-shadow-life-under-the-veiled-grasp-of-factory-farming-in-europe

In the EU, over 300 million animals spend all, or a significant part, of their lives imprisoned in cages – from sows in farrowing crates to egg-laying hens in so-called ‘enriched’ cages.

[…]

While the EU ban on the use of barren battery cages came into force in 2012, nearly half of commercial egg-laying hens are still kept in so-called ‘enriched’ cages. Additionally breeding flocks and chicks are also caged, often in barren cages.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/231961/‘End the Cage Age’ report, October 2020.pdf

If you’re looking for a scramble, things like tofu scrambles can be pretty good! Usually that’s with firm tofu rather than soft tofu, but you absolutely can use soft tofu as well. It can also be seasoned a million different ways. Here’s one example recipe (with firm tofu)

https://www.noracooks.com/tofu-scramble/

Soft tofu will have a different texture than firm so you can try recipes for both and see what you think. (EDIT: Note that you generally don’t want to substitute one for the other because of that texture difference so look for recipes that specifically call for using firm tofu or specifically call for soft/silken)

Soft/silken tofu can also be used as a binder too and replace dairy / eggs in various recipes. Like I’ve made a chocolate mousse with it before and it didn’t affect the taste. Had some friends and family try it and they both didn’t know there was tofu in it and also were surprised to learn it was vegan

https://aseasyasapplepie.com/silken-tofu-chocolate-mousse/

There’s a also some vegan cooking & baking communities here on lemmy if you want other inspirations. Here’s one that’s pretty active [email protected] and here’s another that’s a little less active but has recipes for it all [email protected]

Related note: There are some good vegan eggs out there to give a try!

If you want something that cooks and bakes like eggs there’s stuff you can by like Just Egg

For baking there’s a million things you can use that are pretty cheap. For instance, Aquafaba is the leftover water from cooking chickpeas or the water in the can if you buy it canned. Acts like egg whites and can be used as a binder for baking

If you want something more hands on, work on local races this year. They are how we can fight back

Elections are run at the state level in the US. Even for federal offices

Many states have elections this year even despise it being an off year

There are special elections today in Virginia thay will determine who controls the state legislature. If dems remain control, they can block a lot of the Republicans governors attempts to disenfranchise

There are special elections in Minnesota on Jan 28th to determine control of one house of the state legislature

There is an election that will determine control of the Wisconsin state supreme court on April 1st. The more recent Progressive control has lead to Wisconsin getting fair maps as the gerrymandered maps were overturned. We are going to want to keep it that way and build further

There are special elections for various US house members like to replace Matt Gatez on April 1st. Should we win any suprise flips, it will be even harder for Republicans to get things through congresss with their already tight 3 seat majority

And so on

Here’s a frequently updated spreadsheet with various at home volunteering options

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jxO8g7q9VO3ZMAABcrvR7PMyX4Yl6dgIYhD3eRTKk1M/htmlview

EDIT: also on another note, consider running for election yourself. There are various small local positions around you that often go uncontested. Here’s one group that helps progressives run for local office https://runforsomething.net/