For decades we’ve been told recycling helps the Earth. It really doesn't. ———— To get our new weekly video from Stossel TV, sign up here: https://www.johnstossel.com/#subscribe ———— Recycling is a “sacrament of the green religion,” says Science Writer John Tierney. He once debunked recycling claims in an infamous New York Times column “Recycling is Garbage.” “It’s even more true today,” Tierney tells me. Greenpeace now says plastic recycling is a “dead-end street.” Often it's also a costly scam.