This cliché has translated into success for one young entrepreneur.  Tom Szaky is co-founder and CEO of TerraCycle, Inc., the leading player in “upcycling”, or turning disposable items into new products:  fertilizers from worm poop, backpacks from juice pouches and reusable tote bags from plastic bags. The company has been named the producer of the most eco-friendly brands in America. Szaky sees a new model for doing business in the future: eco-capitalism. Forget recycling and trying to reduce Americans’ consumption, he says. Instead, get rid of the idea of garbage and waste altogether. “The only reason waste is waste is because we haven’t figured out what to do with the material once we use it the first time. If you can find uses for waste, you can eliminate the idea of waste,” says Szaky.

While writing a previous article on green dental care, I found out about a great company called TerraCycle, which offers a program to accept “non-recyclable or hard to recycle waste,” such as toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes. After looking at the website , I decided TerraCycle deserved an article of its own! Started by a young Princeton student, TerraCycle began as a small business that sold worm casting fertilizer in used soda bottles. TerraCycle started expanding its business by producing various products out of post-consumer waste, such as pencil cases out of used CapriSun drink pouches. This process, called upcycling, involves producing new, useful products out of waste materials and useless products that otherwise would go to the landfill. So, upcycling helps reduce landfill waste and reduces resource use. TerraCycle quickly grew into a global project with over 20 countries now participating in their upcycling efforts.