I was contacted today by someone who had read my Examiner column (which I haven’t updated in months due to the time I’m spending on Five Seed) and who wanted me to write about a TV program called Garbage Moguls airing on National Geographic on Saturday, August 21st. I did a little research on it and it looks pretty legit – and interesting. I decided to post about it here rather than on Examiner for reasons I won’t bore you with here.

New Jersey-based TerraCycle has gained a well-earned reputation for turning garbage into great new products. On Saturday, August 21st, National Geographic will feature this amazingly innovative company in their new series, Garbage Moguls. The show will air three segments in which it follows the team of this innovative “repurposing” industry leader - “the coolest little start-up in American” (Inc. Magazine) - through their zany creative process to create products made completely out of trash.

MTV's Jersey Shore is no longer the trashiest New Jersey-based reality show on television thanks to a new series premiering this weekend.  Garbage Moguls will hit the air Saturday, August 21 on the National Geographic Channel as the trashiest of all reality shows...literally! Garbage Moguls will take "an inside look at the zany way" TerraCycle, develops products made completely out of trash. Led by Princeton University drop-out and worm poop connoisseur Tom Szaky, the show follows TerraCycle's team of young "eco-capitalists" as they brainstorm, argue over, go dumpster diving for, and eventually create new products that help solve America’s waste problem.

According to a Keep Blount Beautiful press release, TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. With more than 50 products available at major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world. Their hope is to eliminate the idea of waste by finding innovative, unique uses for materials others deem garbage. Free collection programs pay schools and non-profits nationwide to collect used packaging such as drink pouches, energy bar wrappers, yogurt cups, cookie wrappers, chip bags, corks and more. The collected materials are upcycled into affordable, high quality products ranging from tote bags and purses to shower curtains and kites.

As many great companies do, this one started in a dorm room. Tom Szaky, now at the ripe old age of 27, is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle and was named one of the fastest growing private companies by Inc. magazine in 2009. The idea of upcycling wasn't trendy at the time, and the first few years at Terracycle were rocky. Hurdles involved near bankruptcy and the hard choice of turning down a $1 million grant because the investor's principles were not in line with Szaky's idea of a truly sustainable company — now that's a man with faith in his idea!

As many great companies do, this one started in a dorm room. Tom Szaky, now at the ripe old age of 27, is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  and was named one of the fastest growing private companies by Inc. magazine in 2009. The idea of upcycling wasn't trendy at the time, and the first few years at Terracycle were rocky. Hurdles involved near bankruptcy and the hard choice of turning down a $1 million grant because the investor's principles were not in line with Szaky's idea of a truly sustainable company — now that's a man with faith in his idea! TerraCycle upcycles the collected "waste" material into affordable, eco-friendly products. Since 2007, over 60,000 locations and 7 million people are helping to collect, instead of discard, their trash. Over 1 billion pieces of pre- and post-consumer packaging have been collected and over 250,000 dollars has been donated to schools and nonprofits.

Fashionable?  Well, maybe not to my taste.  Smart marketing?  I think so.  TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.net/) is a company that collects food wrappers and containers and upcycles them into other products ranging from pet clean up products to school supplies. The program is somewhat similar to some of your favorite loyalty programs; Yoplait's "Save Lids to Save Lives,"  General Mills "Box Tops for Education" or Campbell's soup wrapper program.  Like those programs, groups, such as schools, can collect wrappers or containers and get ~.02-.03 per unit as a donation.  The wrappers and containers must be from specific sponsoring brands/products such as Frito Lay, Mars Candies and Kimberly Clark.  The sponsoring companies get "green"  halo from partnering with a green company, build consumer loyalty since TerraCycle only collects waste from specific products and then get major retailers like Home Depot and Walmart selling book bags, folders, Christmas bows, etc made from their packaging.

The financial crisis has resulted in a wave of business creativity and innovation. Many businesses have turned to implementing new green technology solutions as a way of reducing costs. Many big corporations suffer from a lack of innovation due to their size. Like the proverbial captain of an oil tanker trying to change direction, they can take ages to respond. It’s not just a question of developing new products, it’s also a matter of marketing and making them commercially viable. Read more:http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=4073#ixzz17RehZLoc

Trenton, NJ — The market for products made from waste packaging is getting a big boost this month as Walmart stocks items made by TerraCycle at all of its stores. Walmart will offer 60 products made by TerraCycle, which collects packaging and trashed products to turn into usable goods, throughout April as part of its Earth Month campaign. Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/04/07/Walmart-Celebrates-Earth-Day-by-Selling-Upcycled-Trash#ixzz17RPqSOcp

"At TerraCycle, everything is made from garbage, and garbage is free." says owner Tom Szaky.  His green company makes usable products from throwaways and worse...that stinky garbage no one wants to have around. It started from a college project that mushroomed into a viable green business for the 21st century, now worth $7.45 million.  Not bad for garbage!