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.

Terracycle <http://terracycle.net/> , founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky when he was a 19 year old Princeton freshman, began by selling all-natural plant fertilizers using old plastic soda bottles. The chemical fertilizer was literally "all-natural" because it was harvested from vermicompost <http://www.redwormcomposting.com/ecopreneurs/ten-things-i-love-about-terracycle/> : earthworm waste. Nearly ten years later, Terracycle products are being sold at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market.

I’m not going to judge you for your obsession with Real Housewives, but if you’d like to tune in to some trashy television of the more guilt-free variety, you won’t want to miss the Garbage Moguls marathon airing this Saturday (starting at 7 pm) on the National Geographic Channel. The show follows the inner workings of one of my favorite eco-minded companies, TerraCycle, as its crew works to transform trash into treasure.

Garbage Moguls on Nat Geo, August 21st, features TerraCycle founder Tom Szaky and the company's mission to make eco-friendly products out of ordinarily unrecycled and unrecyclable products.

Have you heard of TerraCycle <http://www.terracycleshop.com/> ? They make environmentally friendly and affordable products, made from non-recyclable waste materials. They have over 50 products that sell at retailers such as Walmart, Target and Petco. TerraCycle products range from fertilizers to household cleaners to backpacks and toys. Their goal is to find unique uses for items that would go into landfills, and eliminate the idea of waste. TerraCycle also has a national program called TerraCycle Brigades <http://www.terracycle.net/Brigades> . This program allows you to earn cash for trash (money paid to schools and non-profits). You may choose which "Brigade" you want to join to begin collecting. Some of the Brigades include: Drink Pouch, Aveeno Beauty, Chip Bag, Writing Instruments and Cell Phone. Payout ranges from $.02 per item to $0.25 per item for cell phones.

While many companies boast of using 100% recycled materials for their paper or cardboard products, there are not many companies who take the extra step in saving the earth by "upcycling" previously non reusable products. TerraCyle is one company that is seeking to change that. TerraCycle's slogan is "outsmart waste" and this is exactly that this company has been doing since its inception nine years ago. Founded by a 19 year old Princeton student <http://www.terracycle.net/about_us> , TerraCycle has been focused on finding ways to upcycle everything from Capri Sun packages to Frito Lay chip bags. Because TerraCycle is an upcycling company, and not a recycling <http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/607/recycling.html>  plant, the company does not turn juice packages into more juice packages. Instead, old "trash" finds a new life as it is changed into fashion bags, backpacks, fences, and more for a total of 186 upcycled products to date <http://www.terracycle.net/products> . Many of these products can be found for sale in stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, The Home Depot, Office Max, Petco, and Whole Foods Market.  The purpose of upcycling, overall, is to reduce landfill waste by producing products that are even better than the original item; in fact, most of the items used in TerraCycle's upcycling program would normally be considered non-recyclable.

Tom Szaky's ambitions to turn one of America's fastest-growing private companies into a multi-billion dollar global empire didn't have glamorous beginnings. Szaky's Trenton-based TerraCycle got off the ground eight years ago out of a Princeton University student business plan contest. Szaky's idea was to establish a company that would transform biodegradable waste into high-yield fertilizer made from worm poop. Szaky, 28, drew his inspiration for the fertilizer plan from the success he and some of his Canadian high school buddies had in growing robust plants in fertilizer made from worm poop. He decided to drop out of Princeton during his sophomore year to give his full attention to the waste-into-fertilizer business he dubbed TerraCycle. Today, the company that Szaky founded in 2002 with a $20,000 machine for feeding organic waste to millions of little worms that would turn that waste into fertilizer has moved well beyond being merely a fertilizer-specialty manufacturer. It is a high-profile player in a niche corner of the recycling market known as "upcycling," in which used materials such as aluminum drink pouches, plastic soda bottles and plastic food wrappers are collected and transformed for use in new products without being broken down into their raw material components.

To its credit, Green Mountain is exploring more recyclable and compostable packaging. Mars partners with TerraCycle in a program that permits offices to ship used Flavia packs to a facility that churns them into products like pencil cases or notebooks—so that is one workaround Green Mountain could pursue.  Darby Hoover of the Natural Resources Defense Council suggested prepaid envelopes that consumers can just fill with empty pods, which would then end up in facilities that would repurpose them.

I love school supplies! But before my mom and I go shopping for them, we think of the environment, and I hope you will too. First, check your school supply list carefully: You’ll find that you have lots of things already in your house from last year, like crayons, scissors, or leftover glue sticks. Then plan for the new stuff! This year, let’s all try to buy at least one eco-friendly school supply. You can find them at most of the big stores like Target and Wal-Mart and also online at theultimategreenstore.com. What’s the one green thing you bought or are planning to buy for this school year? Let me know and you’ll be entered to win one of two eco-friendly school supply kits from our friends at TerraCycle!