Just about everything people have ever been told about recycling, environmentalism, wind energy, solar energy, LED light bulbs, this, that, gas stoves, air conditioning, the internal combustion engine, cows and their flatulence, global warming, the coming ice age, the Cleveland Guardians are going to win the World Series — all have been lies and the real rubbish piling up.

Will we begin to think critically? Ask the right questions? Think, truly think. Ponder. In silence, seeking the answers. Resorting to logic, rational thought, reason, and wisdom? Or are we going to keep just falling for the same lies?

You could ask my wife if you knew how to reach her. Good luck, because I’m not telling you how to, but if you could ask her, she’d tell you how I’ve said the whole recycling thing is a load of rubbish. Just another scam. Just one more lie. To make people feel good, as if they are doing something and making the world better. The whole environmental, wind turbine, recycle, low flow, this, that, electric this and that, rather than combustion engine — which, by the way, there is more environmental damage to make, operate/maintain, and keep charged an electric vehicle than to own and operate a modern internal combustion engine vehicle.

Sorry to burst any bubble out there, but electricity doesn’t just magically appear from out of a wall or a socket. It takes a lot of energy to produce electricity. Oh, and I notice since the world has fallen brain out of head over heels in love with AI, which consumes energy like Godzilla consumes cities for breakfast, fewer and fewer are out hugging their favorite trees.

What a farce!

All of it.

Oh, and real change isn’t ever going to come. There is no solution. I realize that flies in the face of your good, good vibrations, peace, love, and happiness. I only think good thoughts, gotta feel good, gotta be positive all the time, dream of Utopia, and people doing the right thing.

Yeah? Really? Go take it up with the Communist Chinese. Those living throughout Asia. Russia. Eastern Europe. All Islamic nations, and Europe, which thinks it’s doing such a bang-up job. No one is. It’s a myth. A lie. One most folks have believed. And still do.

We aren’t going to save the earth.

We can’t even save ourselves, let alone the earth.

When will reality enter in and all the darkness, delusion, and dysfunction be replaced?

Never.

Except, perhaps, in one person at a time. But never collectively. Just the way it is.

J   E   S   U   S.

Only Him. Abiding in…?

Yes, even in an article about recycling. Jesus. He made all things that are made and known. He made the earth. He is going to one day return to this, His creation. He will also one day destroy it all and create a new heaven and a new earth.

The whole earth groans under the weight of our sin — not our plastic, though most of us are horrible stewards of what God has given us to be stewards of.

Is Christ abiding in you, and you in Him and His word? Or is making sure you rinse, recycle, and get the bin out in time for weekly pickup taking up more of your time, while plugging your electric vehicle in, making sure to use the trickle and tickle water saving showerhead, then dripping with sweat, putting on those plastic clothes made from old pop bottles, while refusing to use antiperspirant because it destroys the atmosphere [and your not using it is destroying something else, hello?] in the heat because you refuse to turn the AC on?

Want real peace? Then go to Jesus. Only Him. Nowhere else, no one else.

And quit blaming cows for destroying the world. Cow farts and cheeseburgers are not destroying the earth. We’re destroying it not by what we use, throw away, and fill our vehicles with — we’re destroying it BY OUR SIN.

Don’t believe this? Well, there’s a whole book that explains it all very clearly. If only more folks would bother to read it and believe it.

Read on…

Ken Pullen, Tuesday, February 17th, 2026

The Recycling Lie

From Climate Compass

It might shock you to learn that only about 9% of the world’s plastic waste actually gets recycled, according to the OECD’s 2022 global plastics outlook. Most of the rest ends up in landfills, incinerators, or worse—floating in our oceans.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported in 2023 that just 5% to 6% of plastic was recycled, despite decades of public campaigns. This means your well-intentioned rinsing and sorting is statistically unlikely to make a real difference.

Even glass and paper, once considered straightforward to recycle, have seen falling recycling rates as contamination increases. When I started looking at these numbers, it felt like my efforts were just a drop in a leaky bucket.

The sad reality is that the recycling system is nowhere near as effective as we’re led to believe.

Recycling isn’t as simple as tossing everything into a blue bin and calling it a day. One greasy pizza box or unwashed yogurt cup can ruin an entire batch of recyclables.

According to Waste Management, contamination rates in curbside recycling have soared to nearly 25% in North America as of 2024. This means a quarter of what we try to recycle ends up in landfills anyway, simply because it was mixed with the wrong items or was too dirty.

Municipal recycling centers often can’t afford to sort contaminated materials, so they send them directly to the dump. The more I learned about the fragile reality of sorting, the more I realized my best efforts still contributed to the problem.

The process is so delicate that even a single mistake can undo the efforts of dozens of households.

For years, wealthy countries shipped their recyclables to China and other Asian nations, but that all changed in 2018 with China’s National Sword policy. This policy, still in force as of 2024, banned most imports of foreign plastic and paper waste, causing a crisis in the global recycling market.

The World Economic Forum reported in 2023 that countries like the US, UK, and Australia have struggled to find new buyers, leading to massive stockpiles and a surge in incineration and landfill use. Countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam now receive some of this waste, but they too have begun cracking down on imports due to environmental concerns.

With no market for recyclables, municipalities are often forced to pay to get rid of materials that were once profitable. The whole system feels broken, no matter how diligently individuals recycle.

Recycling isn’t free—far from it. The National Waste & Recycling Association revealed in 2024 that the cost to process recyclables often exceeds the value of the materials themselves.

For example, it can cost between $70 and $200 per ton to recycle plastic, yet the market price for many types of recycled plastic is much lower. Municipalities have to raise taxes or cut other services to keep recycling programs afloat.

In some cities, recycling programs have even been suspended because the financial losses are so high. When I realized my town was spending more money to recycle than to dispose of trash, I started questioning whether it was worth the community’s resources.

The economic math just doesn’t add up anymore.

The idea that recycling always helps the planet is outdated. According to a 2024 study by the International Energy Agency, transporting, sorting, and processing recyclables can produce significant carbon emissions—sometimes even more than sending waste to a modern landfill.

Recycling centers rely on trucks, machinery, and energy-intensive processes that burn fossil fuels. For plastics, especially, the environmental cost of recycling can sometimes outweigh the benefits, particularly when factoring in contamination and long shipping distances.

As cities try to become more climate-friendly, the carbon impact of recycling is coming under increasing scrutiny. This was hard for me to accept, but the numbers don’t lie: recycling isn’t always the green choice.

Big companies love to tout their recycling initiatives, but a closer look often reveals more hype than substance. In 2024, Greenpeace released a report highlighting how many brands exaggerate the recyclability of their packaging.

Terms like “recyclable” or “eco-friendly” are slapped on products regardless of whether local facilities can actually process them. The result is a false sense of accomplishment for both companies and consumers.

This greenwashing distracts from more effective solutions, like reducing single-use plastics altogether. I started to feel manipulated by marketing, realizing my recycling habits were being used as a smokescreen by companies who didn’t want to make real changes.

It’s frustrating to know that we’re being sold an illusion.

The real heroes of sustainability aren’t the recyclers—they’re the reducers and reusers. According to the EPA’s 2023 waste hierarchy, reducing consumption and reusing products have a much greater impact than recycling.

Simple changes like using a refillable water bottle, bringing your own shopping bags, or buying in bulk can cut waste at the source. Organizations like Zero Waste International report that cities focusing on reduction and reuse have seen landfill waste drop by up to 40%, far more than through recycling alone.

These steps don’t rely on fragile markets or complex sorting systems. After seeing the data, I shifted my focus to cutting waste upfront, which feels much more empowering and effective.

Recycling centers aren’t the squeaky-clean operations we imagine. The Basel Action Network found in 2024 that many recycling facilities, especially those in developing countries, expose workers to toxic chemicals and hazardous conditions.

Burning plastics or poorly managed sorting processes release pollutants into the air and water, harming local communities and wildlife. Even in wealthier nations, recycling workers face higher rates of injury and illness than other waste management employees.

This hidden side of recycling made me realize that my good intentions could have unintended consequences far from home. It’s unsettling to think that my efforts to “do good” might be hurting someone else.

Faced with all this evidence—the shocking inefficiency, financial costs, contamination, carbon emissions, and health risks—I decided to quit recycling as my main way of fighting waste. Instead, I started focusing on reducing what I use, reusing what I can, and supporting products made to last.

The data from 2023 to 2025 is clear: recycling, as it exists today, is not the hero we hoped for. It’s a system bogged down by flaws that individuals cannot fix alone.

Real change will require us to rethink our habits and demand better solutions from companies and governments.