Trash to Cash: Teen’s Modest Goal is Just Saving the Planet
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For Dylan Balcom, saving the planet is important enough to get involved in the most hands-on – and entrepreneurial – way he can.
“Not every 13-year-old boy drops off a box of trash to a UPS store,” the Charlestown teen admits with a wry grin.
He’s started a program at his school to collect non-recyclable trash he sends to TerraCycle, a company based in New Jersey that donates 2 cents to Charlestown Middle School’s student council for each piece of waste.
The company uses the trash as the base materials of different products. Dylan has an impressive collection of these “upcycled” goods, which include lunch boxes and school supplies and often bear the logo of the snack company that produced the original, discarded packaging.
Dylan’s sister Alexis Balcom, 18, remembers discovering the program last year, the summer before Dylan started 6th grade.
“Mom and I were going back-to-school shopping and we found these folders that were made out of Lay’s (potato) chip bags,” she said. “I remember thinking it was perfect for Dylan because he was so interested in recycling and the environment.”
The folder had the company’s contact details on the back. “We spent that entire night surfing the website and setting up the account, and I just remember that he was really excited,” Alexis said.