When I was in high school I took the SATs. One of the SAT questions asked me to read a pro-and-con article about recycling. I didn't even know there was a "con" to recycling. The claim of the article was that lugging the recycling waste out to the processing plant and back was worse for the environment than simply throwing it out.
This is a load of bollocks, in case you didn't guess, and I can only assume the SAT was written by neoconservatives.
The best way to recycle is to write your thank you letters on elephant shit. Makes a great gift! :)