[DRAFT] Dumping on Dàguó

[Czechostan]

I'm aware that there's a similar issue about landfills piling up (97) and poor recycling habits (667), but this deals specifically with exporting recyclables to a foreign nation.

[title] Dumping on Dàguó

[description] @@NAME@@ is dependent on Dàguó importing and processing its recyclables. However, Dàguó is no longer accepting @@DEMONYM@@ recyclables, citing a high contamination level and an inability to process the vast quantity of recyclables, throwing the national recycling program into crisis.

[validity] Nations that recycle; nations that export waste/recyclables.

[option] “As I’ve been telling you for years, our recycling program is in desperate need of an overhaul,” says your Environmental Minister, tossing the Eckie Ecola can from your hand into the recycling bin. “We need to mandate homes and public places have separate bins for recyclables--paper, aluminum, cardboard, bottle caps, aerosol cans, paperclips, etc. Make people conscious about what they’re recycling. And we need to slap heavy fines on people who put unrecyclable and contaminated material in their recycling bins. When we prove ourselves capable of recycling, I’m sure Dàguó will accept our recyclables again.”
[effect] police officers spend hours every day fining people for tin cans in the aluminum bin.

[option] “I tell ya, chief, I don’t think we can wait that long,” says garbageman @@RANDOMNAME@@, emptying a dump truck full of dirty recyclables on your front lawn. “Our sorting centers are havin’ to deal with the waste of @@POPULATION@@ people here. These recycling piles are gonna keep buildin’ up unless we can find a new importer. I'm sure some of those smaller, developing nations like Núi Và Sông would be happy to take our recyclables.”
[effect] the government floods poorer countries with contaminated recyclables

[option] “We don’t have to be reliant on other countries to accept our recycling,” says @@RANDOMNAME@@, manager of a local recycling plant. “With the help of some government funding, we will be able to build our own recycling and recovering industry. Sure, now our processing workers will be exposed to the same nasty carcinogens and contaminants the Dàguóan workers were exposed to, but at least we'll be able to process and recover all of our recyclables ourselves. Most of them. Some of them. Well, there’ll be a home in the landfill for everything we can’t handle.”
[effect] recyclables are processed domestically

[option] “Do you remember your three R’s? Recycle, rework, retaliate,” says General @@RANDOMNAME@@, wearing a restitched military uniform and brandishing a flintlock pistol made from recycled parts. “They’d think twice about denying our exports if our barges were escorted with destroyers, submarines, and aircraft carriers. And if they still don’t let our ships in… well, maybe a scorched earth campaign will show those Dàguóans how much we care about the environment.”
[effect] the nuclear submarine is a symbol of environmentalism

[Australian rePublic]

Why would anyone choose anything other than option 3?

[Czechostan]

Why would anyone choose anything other than option 3?

If you're an environmentalist nation like mine, you'd choose the first. If you're laissez-faire, you'd probably choose the second. If you support local business, you'd choose the third. If you're a militant environmentalist, you'd choose the fourth.

[Australian rePublic]

Why would anyone choose anything other than option 3?

If you're an environmentalist nation like mine, you'd choose the first. If you're laissez-faire, you'd probably choose the second. If you support local business, you'd choose the third. If you're a militant environmentalist, you'd choose the fourth.

What? No!
Option 1- force another country to take our garbage by disgusing it as clean
Option 2- support a different country's industry
Option 3- siupport local industry
Option 4- force a foreign country to take our garbage by threat of violence

Option 3 is a clear winner. What are the beneftis of the other options?

[Czechostan]

If you're an environmentalist nation like mine, you'd choose the first. If you're laissez-faire, you'd probably choose the second. If you support local business, you'd choose the third. If you're a militant environmentalist, you'd choose the fourth.

What? No!
Option 1- force another country to take our garbage by disgusing it as clean
Option 2- support a different country's industry
Option 3- siupport local industry
Option 4- force a foreign country to take our garbage by threat of violence

Option 3 is a clear winner. What are the beneftis of the other options?

Other people might assess the options differently.

[SherpDaWerp]

Option 3 is a clear winner. What are the beneftis of the other options?

Other people might assess the options differently.

I'm with Czechostan on this one, my reading is:

1. make our rubbish more clean by teaching our populace how to recycle better
2. switch to a different country
3. process it ourselves
4. force daguo to do it anyway

Based purely on reading the options I'd go with option 1, because of the (well-written imo) part about exposing @@DEMONYM@@ workers to carcinogens and contaminants in option 3.

---

As for feedback:
Not sure about the title. Granted, I'm not great with titles myself, but that makes me an expert on bad titles, right? It seems a bit funky to have a play on the three Rs happen twice, in the title and in option 4.

@@NAME@@ is dependent on Dàguó importing and processing its recyclables. However, Dàguó is no longer accepting @@DEMONYM@@ recyclables, citing a high contamination level and an inability to process the vast quantity of recyclables. What should @@NAME@@ do with all of this recyclable waste piling up?

The last sentence looks a bit redundant to me, but the rest seems good

I heard Núi Và Sông is willing to step up to the plate and take our stuff. Otherwise, I reckon we just throw this junk into the landfills.

Having an "otherwise" clause in there makes for a realistic speech, but it presents a completely different approach. It makes it sound like there's the possibility for Núi Và Sông to disagree and then @@NAME@@ has to landfill all their garbage. This isn't the case, because that's not how the game works, but maybe the "Otherwise" could be something like "And if they won't, we can just shop around. Surely somewhere will take our trash" or similar. This is the same idea behind the option (send it somewhere else) while still retaining the "otherwise"-style ending to the option.

@@NAME@@ will be able to process and recover all of her recyclables herself.

herself? I get what you mean, but I would put "we will be able to process and recover all of our recyclables ourselves" instead.

Effect lines:

[effect] recyclables are processed domestically

Really, this is just a statement of the decision. Maybe: "newly-built recycling facilities take up more space than landfills" or something...?

[effect] agent orange is a symbol of environmentalism

A bit on-the-nose, although worse references have probably been made in the past. Replacing "agent orange" with "napalm" would make it more palatable, but a similar effect line appears on 685.3, so I'm not sure if that would work.

[effect] police officers spend hours every day fining people for tin cans in the aluminum bin.

Bit of a stylistic preference here, but I would put "@@PL(DEMONYM)@@ are fined for mixing their hard and soft plastics"
Most of the things I've suggested are minor and/or stylistic, and the characterisation/writing of the options is really nice.

[Czechostan]

Not sure about the title. Granted, I'm not great with titles myself, but that makes me an expert on bad titles, right? It seems a bit funky to have a play on the three Rs happen twice, in the title and in option 4.

I struggled with the title; it's normally the very last thing I work on with issues. I'm open to suggestions. An alternative option might be using the joke from option #4.

I heard Núi Và Sông is willing to step up to the plate and take our stuff. Otherwise, I reckon we just throw this junk into the landfills.

Having an "otherwise" clause in there makes for a realistic speech, but it presents a completely different approach. It makes it sound like there's the possibility for Núi Và Sông to disagree and then @@NAME@@ has to landfill all their garbage. This isn't the case, because that's not how the game works, but maybe the "Otherwise" could be something like "And if they won't, we can just shop around. Surely somewhere will take our trash" or similar. This is the same idea behind the option (send it somewhere else) while still retaining the "otherwise"-style ending to the option.

A fair point. I mainly wrote that as a way to combine two possibilities to the problem: shipping recycling elsewhere and landfilling it.

@@NAME@@ will be able to process and recover all of her recyclables herself.

herself? I get what you mean, but I would put "we will be able to process and recover all of our recyclables ourselves" instead.

Good call.

[effect] recyclables are processed domestically

Really, this is just a statement of the decision. Maybe: "newly-built recycling facilities take up more space than landfills" or something...?

[effect] agent orange is a symbol of environmentalism

A bit on-the-nose, although worse references have probably been made in the past. Replacing "agent orange" with "napalm" would make it more palatable, but a similar effect line appears on 685.3, so I'm not sure if that would work.

[effect] police officers spend hours every day fining people for tin cans in the aluminum bin.

Bit of a stylistic preference here, but I would put "@@PL(DEMONYM)@@ are fined for mixing their hard and soft plastics"

1. Yeah, I couldn't think of an absurd effect, so I just wrote a description.
2. Fair point.
3. Hmm, I like it, but I feel like if it were more specific, it would be funnier. When I wrote my first draft of the issue, I was thinking something like "citizens are fined for putting lined paper in the colored paper bin," but it seemed a bit long-winded, and not quite what I was looking for.

[Baggieland]

I struggled with the title; it's normally the very last thing I work on with issues. I'm open to suggestions. An alternative option might be using the joke from option #4.

Suggestion: Dumping on Daguo