---
title: "Bill Nye Accused of Shilling for Huge Polluter"
description: "Bill Nye the Science Guy told viewers in a new Coca-Cola advertisement that Coke is creating a world without plastic waste and pollution."
date: "2022-04-08"
modified: "2022-04-08"
authors:
  - name: "Lonnie Lee Hood"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/ahood"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bill-nye-sellout-pollution"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "bill nye"
  - "plastic"
  - "recycling"
  - "the digest"
---

# Bill Nye Accused of Shilling for Huge Polluter

![Bill Nye the Science Guy told viewers in a new Coca-Cola advertisement that Coke is creating a world without plastic waste and pollution.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/bill-nye-sellout-pollution.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Coca Cola\</em\>*

## Puppet Master

Say it ain't so, Bill!

We're not the first to wonder why [everyone's favorite TV scientist](<https://futurism.com/bill-nye-warns-doomsday-glacier>) and host of the kid's show "Bill Nye the Science Guy" did it, but Nye recently served as a very generous spokesperson Coca-Cola, singing the praises of the company's recycling practices.

The video was uploaded this week to [Coke's official YouTube channel](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRadzzvQNY>), featuring an opening screen with a cheery proclamation that readers will learn about "creating a world without waste."

"If we can recover and recycle plastic, we can not only keep it from becoming trash," a Nye puppet made of recycled plastic declares. "We can use it again and again."

Maybe it's appropriate that Nye takes the form of a puppet in the clip. In an [excoriating post](<https://gizmodo.com/bill-nye-sells-out-shills-for-coca-cola-on-plastic-bot-1848763404>), *Gizmodo* calls out the beloved educational icon for carrying a great deal of (bottled) water for Coke in the video — even accusing him of being a "shill" and a "sellout."

## Material World

The problem is that Coke is one of the world's biggest plastic polluters.

Back in 2020, Coke [refused to part ways with single-use plastic](<https://gizmodo.com/cokes-reason-for-not-ditching-single-use-plastic-is-bul-1841161887>). By 2021, it was producing as much as [3.3 million tons of plastic waste per year](<https://gizmodo.com/here-are-the-worlds-10-worst-plastic-polluters-1848244431/slides/2>).

To help put those numbers into context, remember that humans have been [finding microplastics in our blood](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-microplastic-human-blood>), [digestive tracts](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/humans-eat-staggering-plastic-per-week>), and even [inside newborn infants](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/researchers-microplastics-newborn-babies>). Plastic is everywhere, and [not all of it can be recycled](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-turns-unrecyclable-plastic-into-giant-indestructible-construction-bricks>). No plastic at all, or much less, is a far more compelling solution.

## The Plastics

Nye knows better than to oversimplify the recycling process and sell viewers a utopian, infinite-use-plastic dream.

"When did Bill Nye start shilling for one of the larger e-waste companies?" wrote one perturbed YouTube viewer. "Once upon a time, we were able to ignore how difficult recycling was. It's nearly impossible to separate plastic waste in a way that is both cost effective and environmentally sound."

Nye has done a lot of good work raising concerns about the environment. Let's hope he hasn't been tempted away by a big paycheck.

**More on plastic news:** [*Scientists Find Microplastic Deep Inside Human Lungs*](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-microplastics-human-lungs>)