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I'm curious about how Terracycle is defining the "garbage" they are feeding their worms. Is it MSW, or source separated organics? Laurie Stoerkel Emeryville, CA Nancy Meyer wrote: > All, > > If you missed the CNN In The Money segment on Terracycle Inc last > weekend, below is a transcript. This company makes a product from > garbage and packages it in garbage - wonderful! > > I am a member of their bottle brigade simply by placing the free > collection boxes they send in the break room at the elementary school. > When the box is full of plastic bottles I send it postage-paid back to > Freecycle, and they keep me posted on how many acres of rain forest our > school has saved. You can also make money for your school or favorite > charity with this program. > > Check it out! http://www.terracycle.net > > BTW, their fertilizer products are available in home improvement stores > nationwide, including Home Depot. > > Why not get a collection box and place it at your school or business? > It's easy, it's free, and it's the right thing to do. > > NMeyer > > ++++++++++++++++++++++ > ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Tom Szaky, landfills > are lands of wasted opportunity. > > TOM SZAKY, FOUNDER & CEO, TERRACYCLE: Garbage is all opportunity. > Garbage is great, because it's stuff that you can do something with. > > CHERNOFF: At age 24, he's the founder and CEO of Terracycle, a company > that makes organic plant fertilizer entirely from trash. His product is > made by feeding garbage to millions of worms. The worm's castings, or > feces, which are a natural, powerful fertilizer, are then filtered and > liquefied. > > SZAKY: Brewing worm poo. > > CHERNOFF: The final product is completely organic and costs less than > many chemical-based competitors. > > The idea to mass produce the stuff came to Szaky at age 20 while he was > a student at Princeton University. Szaky and his best friend turned > business partner, John Vier (ph), drew up a business plan, forked over > their savings, maxed out credit cards, even borrowed their friends' bar > mitzvah money to get the company off the ground. SZAKY: Being 20 and > having a worm poop start-up, we still had no success raising any money > from any venture capitalist or anything like that. > > CHERNOFF: Strapped for cash, Szaky and Vier needed a cheap packaging > solution. > > SZAKY: Solutions at Terracycle have always come out of necessity. > > CHERNOFF: The answer, package garbage in garbage. Terracycle bottles are > reused soda bottles, many actually collected by school children and > organizations all over the country. The spray tops are leftovers from > other companies. And the shipping boxes, other corporations' misprints. > > In the two years that followed, Terracycle raised over $4 million from > private investors. And the plant food can now be found in the world's > largest retailer retailers, like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and CVS. > > The company has recruited a team of experts. Many have more years of > industry experience than Szaky has had on the planet. > > SZAKY: Everyone here knows more than I do about what they do. And I'm > more here just to challenge them and think differently. > > CHERNOFF: And his youthful creativity permeates the whole office, from > the graffiti on the walls to the ex-dorm room furniture that, you > guessed it, was once garbage. > > Szaky hopes his eco-friendly business model can set an example for other > companies. But it's not all sunshine and chlorophyll. Szaky admits > there's still room to grow. Purchasing more machines could seriously > speed up production. > > SZAKY: I can't wait for the day we get our auto-tightening (ph) machine > for these tights. > > UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please. > > SZAKY: It will save some blisters. > > CHERNOFF: Terracycle has yet to make a profit but expects to break even > by next year, with projected sales estimated at about $5 million. > > As for the company's future... > > SZAKY: The goal for Terracycle is to make $100 million business that's > based on ecocapitalism, where you can make lots of money and save the > world at the same time. And to do it in a really big way. > > CHERNOFF: A pretty lofty goal, but if you buy into a business model > where trash is opportunity, the sources for success are practically > limitless. > > Allan Chernoff, CNN. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GreenYes" group. To post to this group, send email to GreenYes@no.address To unsubscribe from this group, send email to GreenYes-unsubscribe@no.address For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- |
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