Across Australia, a quiet contradiction is playing out in millions of kitchens: the desire to do right by the planet is, in many cases, making things worse. Well-meaning residents are placing soft plastics, coffee cups, and food-soiled containers into recycling bins, not out of carelessness but out of hope — a phenomenon researchers call 'wish-cycling.' The consequence is systemic: contaminated loads are rejected at sorting facilities and sent to landfill, undoing the very act of conscience they were meant to represent. Until recycling rules are standardised nationally and packaging labelling