Welcome to Planet for All—a series that will empower you to change our world. This week, we’re teaming up with sustainable thought leaders to unpack five of the biggest threats to our environment and pinpoint accessible, meaningful, and heart-driven action that we can all take to make a huge difference. Today, we’re exploring the massive plastic waste problem with tell-it-like-it-is trailblazer Tom Szaky.

You might recognize today’s guest because he was on Mixergy back in the early days of Mixergy Interviews. I learned so much from that interview. One of the best lessons was when he said, “Everybody says to work your way up to the big guys. Screw that. I want to go after Walmart, because once you get the big guy, everyone else wants to work with you.” I’m looking forward to learning even more from him. Tom Szaky is the founder of TerraCycle, a company whose a mission is to eliminate even the idea of waste by recycling the non-recyclable.

For more than 30 years, Burt’s Bees says it has been committed to protecting “the beauty, wisdom and power of nature.” Now, through the Burt’s Bees Recycle On Us program, their consumers can recycle any and all Burt’s Bees packaging, nationwide. In partnership with TerraCycle, a leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, the program allows anyone to recycle their product packaging through a free mail-in program, regardless of any regional recycling limitations.

All-natural Clorox beauty brand Burt’s Bees has teamed up with recycling specialist TerraCycleto launch "Recycle On Us," an initiative that lets consumers recycle product packaging for free by mail  — including packaging with materials not accepted by local municipal programs.

For more than 30 years, Burt’s Bees has been committed to protecting the beauty, wisdom and power of nature. And now, through the Burt’s Bees Recycle On Us program, consumers can recycle any and all Burt’s Bees packaging nationwide.

De todos os indivíduos que quiseram fazer a diferença no mundo, Tom Szaky parecia ter menos probabilidade de alcançar o sucesso como empreendedor social.

For over thirty years, Burt’s Bees has been committed to protecting the beauty, wisdom and power of nature—and now, through the Burt’s Bees Recycle On Us program, their consumers can recycle any and all Burt’s Bees packaging, nationwide. In partnership with TerraCycle®, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, the program allows anyone to recycle their product packaging through a free mail-in program, regardless of any regional recycling limitations.

A local company has become a world leader in recycling the non-recyclable. "TerraCycle's mission is to eliminate the concept of waste. We now, across 21 countries, collect and recycle those waste streams that you can't put in your local recycling bin. So it's everything from the crazy stuff like dirty diapers, chewing gum, cigarette butts, all the way to more simple things like trigger sprays and flexible food packaging."

Boost your recycling knowledge to the next level with this quick reference guide. Take a look at the recyclability of the most common things you throw away. Earlier this week, I spent two minutes staring at our office trash can. In my hand, a manila folder lined with plastic Bubble Wrap sat ready to be discarded. But where? Did the paper envelope mean it qualified as recyclable? Or was the plastic wrap enough to render it trash-bound? This inner monologue went on long enough to become borderline obsessive, and it got me thinking about all the other everyday waste that falls into this gray space between trash and recyclables.

Leverage Negative Cost Marketing. Why pay to be advertised when you can get paid to be the content. In today’s day and age media outlets are looking for massive quantities of content and, in some cases, are willing to pay for it. We’ve leveraged this by blogging for dozens of major blogs from the New York Times to Huffington Post, writing three books (with a third one coming out this October called the Future of Packaging) and even having our own TV show (four seasons that aired around the world).”