I have a confession to make: I am a chronic over-projector. This fact has even been reported several times by The New York Times. In May 2008 I was quoted predicting that our revenue would be “an estimated $8.5 million this year.” We actually finished the year at $6.6 million. Even as recently as June 2010, I thought we’d hit sales of “$16 million in 2010.” We finished the year at $13.5 million. A writer for The New York Times Magazine, Rob Walker, had this to say about TerraCycle in May 2007: “The privately held start-up can get a little carried away with its own hype at times. In 2005, the company projected sales of $3 million; it ended up selling a little less than $500,000. In 2006, the company said it expected annual sales of $2.5 million; the actual figure turned out to be a bit under $1.6 million.” The writer went on to quote our head of public relations, Albe Zakes, as calling me “very optimistic” — but he also reported that “even the actual figures represent a solid growth record.”

At TerraCycle, consumers can interact with our business in two crucial ways. First, they can send us garbage (postage paid), and for each piece of waste they collect, we typically give 2 cents to the charity or school of their choice. Today, more than 21 million people in the United States are actively involved in our collection programs, and there’s another 2 million participating outside of the United States. The second way to interact with TerraCycle is for consumers to buy the products that are made from the waste we’ve collected. These products are typically available at major big-box stores, including Wal-Mart and Target.

With all the talk of making packaging biodegradable, compostable, recycled and recyclable, one option seems to have been left out of the party: reusable.Once a commonplace practice–far before green, sustainability, even environmentalism were a part of the mass consciousness–this simple, practical, common sense use of resources occurred in several sectors, milk being the most common. But even beer often included a 1-2 cent rebate for returning bottles (or so my Pop tells me!) Now it’s barely a part of the conversation. Why is this? Have we become so convenience oriented that having to do anything more than put something in the blue bin is too much effort? It’s not completely off the map, as milk in returnable glass jars is still practiced by Strauss Family Creamery on a regional basis. Pay a deposit amount for the bottle, get it credited back when you buy the next bottle. Growlers are another example, being large resealable glass bottles of beer you can buy from brewpubs, getting a deal on subsequent refills. But in both cases, these are locally focused. Could something like this happen on a national level? I can hear you coming up with a ready list of why not. I say to you, why not work around these obstacles, or create a whole new way to make packaging reusable, “repurposable”?

In my last post, I mentioned how critical education is in influencing consumer behavior, and how the onus for change falls largely on the consumer. Educating consumers about the effect of toxins from products is crucial in consumers’ understanding of how something affects their overall health and the environment, and how the product can be used in a way that minimizes impact. However, education isn’t the only role a brand must play in promoting a green lifestyle. While consumers have various options for what they do with the packaging after they’ve used the product, it’s only been recently that they have more green choices when it comes to what’s inside that product they purchase. The only party that can be held responsible for what’s inside the packaging is the manufacturer itself. While I feel strongly that consumers must demand change in order to achieve change, in the end, it’s the responsibility of brands to be accountable for what goes inside the packaging. Consumers can help affect the choices that brands make by voting with their dollars, but if consumers only have green options to choose from they will go green. They’ll have no other choice. Let’s take CFCs, for example. CFC stands for chlorofluorocarbon, which was a popular chemical compound used for dry cleaning, aerosol cans, and refrigeration/air conditioning, until it was realized that CFCs have an incredibly negative effect on the ozone, eating away at it quite quickly. When this was discovered, regulations on CFC use were put into place and countries around the world began making efforts and timelines to cut down on (and eventually try to cut out) CFC use. Governments enacted standards and regulations, and brands made efforts to move away from CFC use in their products and maintain tighter control. Brands had to change their habits in order to adhere to regulations. Consumers had no choice but to buy products with limited CFCs – and other ways to fulfill the same needs were found.  A more recent, example is the use of low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints. But with limited government regulation, as was the case with CFC, the move to low VOC has been much more tempered. While most negative environmental factors don’t have such a timely impact on the atmosphere or the Earth, they have an impact nonetheless. Government, brands, and consumers all need to play their part in cutting back on use of products that have a negative impact, whether it be environmental or health. Consumers must realize that what lies inside a package can affect environmental health and personal health. Brands must take responsibility for the scale of those effects and take control over what they expose both consumers and the environment to. When consumers don’t have the choice to expose toxins to the environment, they won’t do it – simply because they can’t. And finally, in order to get all brands on board, corporate responsibility regulations and standards must be enacted so that these brands are held responsible by someone other than themselves – this will make them take action. Consumers can influence this as well by choosing wisely from the options on the shelf. Brands will have to take into account both the consumer and the government, and with everybody on board to make a change, the positive green differences will begin to surface. The CFC and VOC example shows clearly that it takes all three of these stakeholders in order to enact any massive social change. So instead of finger pointing and hand wringing it is time for a little more teamwork and shared responsibility between consumers, corporations and governments. The only question left should be – to what degree can we start holding brands responsible for what they’re providing to the environment? How about consumers? Or Governments? For TerraCycle, the answer is easy. Because we’re an environmental company, we hold ourselves to the highest standard. Otherwise, our mission would be pointless and null. For other environmental companies, the same truth holds. How can other businesses and companies be brought on board?

For most people, recycling is boring. It's something they know is a good thing to do. But for many, that's just not enough motivation. I see recyclables in the trash all the time and the nation's horrid recycling rate (which estimates peg around 30-35%) is widely discussed. Over the years, many paths have been tried: paying people money per pound, a nickel deposit back per bottle, curbside collection, and to make it as easy as tossing in the trash, the single blue bin that's been popular since the 90s. Recently, companies like Greenopolis have been getting creative with incentivizing recycling, as I discussed here last week. But what about making recycling fun, something you'd even want to take an active part in doing? Is that possible? Our partnership with NBC New York is another step on that path for us. Putting the silly in recycling is a ridiculous animated Rube Goldberg style machine that "processes" things like Starburst wrappers, with the resulting new product popping out the other end. And this NBC recycling machine doesn't just stay put on their site. We've made it embeddable, and shareable on Facebook and Twitter. It may look silly, but it does two things: gets people's attention, and makes it clear that things they're used to only being able to throw away can in fact be made into something else entirely. . .

TerraCycle’s staff has grown quickly. In 2008, we had about 35 employees, all in the United States. We now have about 100, including 70 or so in the United States and 30 abroad, managing operations in 14 foreign countries. Given our anticipated growth, I expect we will have 125 employees around the world by the end of 2012. I guess some of my views about hiring are unconventional. While I have lectured at many of the major business schools in America, including Harvard and Wharton, I have no formal management training. Most of what I have learned has been through trial and error. And I’ve made plenty of errors, so many that the list is almost endless — for example, hiring senior folks who dazzled me with their credentials and experience until I figured out that they were positioning themselves to take my job.

My Top 10 Business Travel Tips By TOM SZAKY <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/author/tom-szaky/> Over the past decade, I have gone from being an aggressive domestic traveler to being an aggressive global traveler, constantly visiting our various foreign locations <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/how-we-decided-to-go-global/>  and opening up new operations. I travel so much that I can relate to George Clooney’s character in the movie “Up In the Air <http://www.theupintheairmovie.com/> .” (Last year, I traveled more than half a million miles!) Rather than moan about having to go to an airport three times a week, I’ll share some of the tips I have picked up along the way. By far, my most important rule — and one that too few people follow — is to pack lightly, in fact as ridiculously lightly as possible. After careful consideration, I have been able to get my baggage for any length of business trip down to one medium-sized backpack small enough to put under the seat in front of me. Not only does this free me from checking baggage (of course!), it also frees me from the overhead-compartment scramble — which can be especially important if you arrive late. If I have samples or something that I will need to support my presentation or meeting, I generally send it to my hotel ahead of time. Here are my suggestions for getting everything into a backpack (along with a laptop): 1. Take one pair of pants, one pair of shoes (black running shoes, comfort is key), one sweater (which, according to our general manager in Europe, Chris Baker, is a great way to hide an unironed shirt) and one jacket. None of these have to be packed since you just wear them. 2. Take a week’s worth of T-shirts, socks and underwear. A week is all you need since every city in the world has laundry facilities. Throw in a few dress shirts. 3. Other random items that I have found useful: sunglasses, international power converters, first aid kit, gloves, hat, swimsuit, a few USB drives and toiletries. 4. Hiking clothes are great because they are easy to clean, they’re classy enough to wear to most meetings, and they can work in almost any weather situation — from a Mediterranean beach to a Canadian snow storm. Most important, of course, is to take only things that are critical and to remember that you can always buy things that you forget. Of course, this is much easier for men than for women and it also requires a certain disdain for fashion — but you’ll thank me if you can pull it off, as will your back. A few other travel secrets that I have found useful: 1. If the plane is not packed, look at the back and see if you can find an empty row. It’s a gamble, but if the plane is light you can often get the entire row. It’s one way of getting the “flat seat” comfort you’d be enjoying in business class for a fraction of the cost. 2. Don’t rush getting on and off the plane. How many times does everyone jump up as the plane gets to the gate — only to wait in line for 30 minutes or more before the door actually opens. 3.  If you’re on the red-eye or dealing with time-zone changes, consider handing the time change on the plane versus on the ground when you need to be productive. That may mean sleeping right away or forcing yourself to stay awake – whatever the time change requires. 4. I have becoming a fan of using Skype <http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home>  when traveling abroad. The program allows you to connect to various Wi-Fi hot spots without signing up and paying the typical hot spot fee. Instead you pay a few cents per minute to Skype and you can upload and download e-mails quickly. Wireless modems are great, too. In the United States, my AT&T iPhone serves as a mobile hot spot. My Verizon-using colleagues use a Mifi, which lets up to 5 devices go wireless in hotels or on trains and taxis. If you require your staff to be on Skype throughout the day, you’ll be amazed at how effective you can be, connecting with people instantaneously — even when you are in remote locations. 5. If you’re late to the airport and the check-in agent says that you’ve missed the 30-minute cut off, don’t bother yelling. Instead, ask for a gate pass (the agents will usually give that to you) and if you can get to the gate within 15 minutes of take-off, the gate person will often get you on the flight. This has saved me more times than I’d like to recall.  Of course, check in before you get to the airport, so that you already have your boarding pass. 6. Book your tickets using Kayak <http://www.kayak.com/>  and your rooms with Hotwire <http://www.hotwire.com/seo/> . You can save a lot of money if you explore the various options. Choose an airline alliance (Star Alliance, SkyTeam or One World), and try to stick with it. Ultimately, it will save you money and it sure helps to have clout with an airline when you need to request an accommodation. (Here are some other tech tips for power travelers <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/web-tools-for-the-flexible-flyer-2/> .) Please share any travel secrets you have.

Are Dream Machines the Answer to America's Recycling Woes? by Tom Szaky of TerraCycle, Trenton NJ As the head of a company focused on reducing waste, I spend a lot of time finding new ways to do it. While we've had increasing success getting people to send us their waste to put to work in new products, the overall rate of recycling in the US <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/01/how-to-go-green-recycling.php> , how do I say it? Sucks. With 40 years of efforts to increase recycling, from the 70s where you had to bring everything to a recycling center, to the curbside blue bin <http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/03/recycling-bins-from-around-the-world.php>  making even the laziest of us able to easily do our part, we're now barely pushing 30% recyclable waste recovery as a country. What's it going to take? RecycleBank <http://www.recyclebank.com/>  seems to be getting traction, with more than two million people signed up for a program where your curbside waste gets weighed, credits awarded, redeemable for local goods. It's a step forward, as it goes beyond relying on people's self motivation to help the greater good, and adds a direct incentive to recycle more, resulting in something tangible. Especially in this tough economy, people appreciate getting deals and even better, something for free. Now comes a new contender in a shiny polished package that I'll be interested to see how well it works: Greenopolis <http://greenopolis.com/> . Greenopolis is in a way a hybrid of that 70s model of recycling with the data rich, customizing model of business many take these days: You bring your recyclables to their "Dream Machine" <http://greenopolis.com/goblog/revolutionist/7-11-launches-dream-machine-west-virginia>  kiosks, and scan each item, one at a time. In return you get points, which are redeemable for things like discounted movie tickets, pizza, travel, and interestingly, helping post 9/11 disabled veterans. Perhaps taking a cue from TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net> , they're amplifying the impact and quantity recycled by engaging in schools, listing which school has collected the most <http://www.dreammachinerecyclerally.com/leaderboard/> . Nothing like competition to boost motivation! Like supermarket reward cards, the data on what you scanned into the recycler is likely used to garner localized insights on what people are buying, and I'm guessing make Greenopolis users offers based on these. To some, giving away their private information and purchase habits to companies is no biggie. It's become the norm. But I have to wonder, what's your take? Do you think it's wrong for companies to use your personal information for marketing aims? My guess is most people would appreciate having offers that are better suited to them made. And as recycling has become increasingly commoditized by the big players in China, finding ways to both increase the quality of what's brought in and monetize in ways not dependent on the recycling market sounds like a wise path to go down. Readers: What do you think it will take to substantially increase recycling in the US? What can we learn from other countries? What's your opinion about the Greenopolis model?

A few years ago we were approached by Nomacorc, leaders in the production of synthetic wine corks, to run a “cork brigade.” We needed millions of corks at the time to create a cork board product that Office Max was ordering from us, and we concluded that wine, as controlled vices go, is rather innocuous. In the end, there wasn’t much internal debate, so we partnered rather quickly with the alcohol industry. At TerraCycle we run free collection programs for waste that allow individuals, community groups and offices to collect waste and send it to TerraCycle to be recycled or “upcycled” into new products. Schools happen to be a very big source of collections for TerraCycle. In fact, we are in more than 60 percent of all schools in America.

When I started TerraCycle, we quickly came to a defining crossroads: Did we want to sell our made-from-waste products to independent retailers or to big-box retailers? Basically, we were told that if we sold to the big-box chains we would be blackballed by the independents. At the time, going independent seemed the more tempting path, and that was also what our advisers suggested. We would have a broader range of small distributors who care about green issues and who would help us build our brand. A broad range of clients would also offer security against the risk of being dropped by a big-box client. Perhaps an even more important factor attempting to avoid potential damage to the brand. If you go big-box, you may face backlash from consumers who will accuse you of making a deal with “the man.” Still, we decided to go big-box from the beginning for a simple reason: scale.