Rare Earth - The New Plastic

I always know batteries is not the solution, the reduction of consumption is the solution.  Listening to a documentary about rare earth cemented the idea.  Some say rare earth is the new oil, I think rare earth is more like new plastic.  Not only it takes a lot of pollution get the ingredient, once made into product, it cannot really be recovered and it is left to poison the soil.  It really doesn't help when we think everything needs to be smart, had a semiconductor or some special function.