This week on the channel +244K views this week

Matt D'Avella looks beyond the paper straw

Natalie Pidding, Susan Keefe and Naomi Oreskes join an essay about sustainability fatigue and who carries responsibility for pollution.

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Matt D'Avella Story of November 1, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

They sold us a lie (and it’s still working)

Things we can learn from the video

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3:42Pidding distinguishes sustained environmental concern from declining participation in everyday eco-friendly habits.
5:56Keefe explains why switching to paper straws does not necessarily remove chemical concerns.
7:30Keefe describes a tracking experiment in which Starbucks cold cups failed to reach recycling facilities.
10:21Oreskes connects corporate doubt-making with tobacco-industry tactics used to delay regulation.
13:37Matt and Oreskes examine how the corporate-funded 1971 anti-littering advertisement shifted responsibility toward consumers.

If people haven't stopped caring about the planet, why do everyday green habits seem to be slipping? Matt D'Avella's only upload this week takes that question beyond the recycling bin, examining the distance between environmental concern and what people actually do.

In "So... this was supposed to save the planet?", culture strategist Natalie Pidding brings a useful distinction: concern about sustainability remains significant even as participation in eco-friendly habits declines. Susan Keefe of Beyond Plastics then examines paper straws and describes a cup-tracking experiment in which supposedly recyclable Starbucks cold cups failed to reach recycling facilities. It's a shift from asking whether consumers are trying hard enough to asking what their efforts can accomplish.

Harvard historian of science Naomi Oreskes widens the frame, explaining how manufacturing doubt can delay regulation. Matt and Oreskes revisit the corporate-funded 1971 "Crying Indian" anti-littering advertisement and its emphasis on individual responsibility. The essay includes a sponsored Squarespace segment, separate from that investigation.

The upload reached roughly 28,000 views in its opening seven hours and is the channel's busiest video right now. Viewers are picking up on the mismatch between paper straws and plastic cups, with some proposing reusable bottles instead.

Across the channel, the week added about 244,000 views while the subscriber count stayed unchanged. Daily viewing is running well below Matt's usual pace. Among nearby self-improvement channels, Ali Abdaal is drawing above-usual daily viewing, while Better Ideas is having a quieter spell.

Matt's wardrobe rethink remains his next-busiest upload, with stylist Sally Mackinnon and thrift support from Nina Gbor. That gives the week an apt pairing: an experiment in buying clothes differently, followed by a much broader question about how much responsibility belongs in the shopper's hands.

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Where next?

Also in Self-improvement and productivityThis week on the channel +737K views this weekBrandon Carter gives unfinished goals a place on the calendarHis new tutorial pairs Google Calendar and Notion with AI agents for a year-end planning reset.Channel: Brandon Carter · Story of November 2, 2026

A different discovery todayA video worth knowingNileBlue's skull candy hits every taste at once, but no flavorA sweetener thousands of times stronger than sugar, a famously bitter compound and pure capsaicin go into the brass-molded drops, and the verdict surprises eve…Channel: NileBlue · Story of November 2, 2026

What viewers say

Yes the tiny paper straw detracts focus from the large PLASTIC CUPS
@leslie6189See it on YouTube
3:37 natalie literally made this video an answer in progress video with her slideshows
@paper2222See it on YouTube
Great storytelling, a really important subject, insights from actual specialists and impeccable humor and filmmaking, the man did it all. Nailed it, Mr. Matthew 💎👏
@g4brielkleinSee it on YouTube

2 more comments

Appreciate all your content Matt! Big love from New Zealand
@SunjivLalSee it on YouTube
If we had more local manufacturing, (I'm talking makerspace size, not factories.) we wouldn't need as much plastic packaging in the first place.
@Tankayou-r3gSee it on YouTube

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The videos drawing views on Matt D'Avella right now

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The facts

Channel: Matt D'Avella
Subscribers: 4,050,000
Channel views, last 7 days: 244,303
Videos published this week: 1
Video published: October 31, 2026
Video views so far: 27,866

The numbers

Here is how Matt's new essay and wider catalog performed this week.

views gained this week: this channel and similar channels

44,701,321

5,720,539

2,455,713

1,385,839

1,127,011

886,420

567,221

244,303

108,954

subscribers

4,050,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

337,327,466

views per day

14,547

typical day: 45,398

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

6,700,000

6,380,000

5,350,000

5,040,000

4,680,000

4,050,000

3,040,000

2,980,000

2,770,000

As of November 1, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.

💡 Test your knowledge

Which decade produced the anti-littering advertisement Matt and Oreskes examine?