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Media Coverage (2007)
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2007
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2003
Below is a sample of our media coverage. If you know of a story that we have missed, please e-mail it to 
Courier News
Local schools to recycle yogurt cups, drink pouches (December 31, 2007)
Those crusty, empty yogurt cups and drink pouches, when finished and cleaned, could soon yield cash for local schools and nonprofit organizations.
TerraCycle, a Trenton-based company that got its start selling organic fertilizer in recycled soda bottles, has begun two new incentive programs for schools and community groups to collect yogurt containers and used drink pouches -- items often trashed instead of recycled -- for cash, said Albe Zakes, a TerraCycle spokesman.
Hunterdon Central Regional High School and First Baptist Preschool in Somerville already have registered, he said.
The Drink Pouch Brigade and the Yogurt Brigade are free programs. Groups can earn 2 cents per used drink pouch collected. In the Yogurt Brigade, schools will earn 2 cents for 6-ounce yogurt containers and...
Chattanooga Christian Family News
Join the Drink Pouch Brigade (December 30, 2007)
Fruit drink pouches are a staple in school cafeterias. According to the container recycling institute, 3.6 billion drink pouches are produced each year, and because they are non-recyclable, virtually every single one is sent to a landfill....
Northcountry News
Stonyfield Farm Partners with TerraCycle on Yogurt Cup Reuse Program (December 28, 2007)
Organic yogurt makers cups will be turned into Yo Plater Planting Containers. Stonyfield Farm, the organic food leader and environmental pioneer...
The Independent Weekly
Finally, a way to dispose of yogurt containers (December 26, 2007)
The bane of local recycling: There's no place to take your leaning tower of yogurt containers or sacks of plastic drink pouches. But a new statewide reuse program is encouraging schools and community groups to collect those items for fundraising. After signing up at www.terracycle.net/brigades, organizations can earn 1 cent for every drink pouch or 2 cents for Honest Kids drink pouches. Yogurt containers fetch 2 cents for six-ounce cups, and 5 cents for 32-ounce versions. All yogurt containers must be cleaned....
American Way Magazine
Dirty Business (December 21, 2007)
Tom Szaky is convinced that he's found miracle substance that will both make him millions and save the world: worm poop...
Plastics News
Reusing seldom-recycled containers (December 20, 2007)
Is this for real? A Trenton, N.J.-based company called TerraCycle Inc. is reusing plastic containers to package worm poop (which it sells as a plant food), as well as products like bird feeders. The company even takes rarely recycled plastic containers like yogurt tubs and drink pouches....
Trenton Downtowner
What do Worm Poop and Trenton have in common? (December 15, 2007)
It all started with a quest for beer. I came down to New Jersey from Canada to go to Princeton University. I quickly found that I was no longer able to buy alcohol....
Thompson Villager
Recycling program aims to help children do their part (December 13, 2007)
Recycling is a habit that all Americans should get into, especially with all the environmental changes that have been taking place over the last several years due to pollution and other factors...
The Examiner
The TerraCycle Bird Feeder (December 13, 2007)
This ingenious bird feeder is the ideal entry-level bird feeder for young people and less serious birders. The TerraCycle bird feeder is made from recycling or reused materials and is already filled with quality birdseed....
The Times
TerraCycle gets a little help from its friends (December 13, 2007)
Worm poop today - planters and pencil cases tomorrow.
Trenton-based TerraCycle is famous for inspiring young people to collect empty soda bottles the company then washes and reuses as containers for its liquid organic plant fertilizer, which is made from worm excrement....
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Wild Bird Feeder (December 13, 2007)
Feed the birds and do your eco-duty with this imaginative feeder made from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle that might have ended up in a landfill....
Haywood County News
Waynesville groups can raise money recycling (December 11, 2007)
WAYNESVILLE — Schools and other community groups in Waynesville can raise money by collecting used items for recycling through two programs offered across the state. The Drink Pouch Brigade and the Yogurt Brigade allow groups to ship out used drink pouches and yogurt containers free of charge to be recycled in exchange for cash. The New Jersey-based recycling company TerraCycle is sponsoring the program, in partnership with Stonyfield Farms and Honest Tea, companies that produce yogurt and drink containers. ...
Community Paper
Local schools challenged to take part in recycling program (December 9, 2007)
Two new recycling efforts are taking place in communities in Virginia, including Pearsiburg. Schools are being challenged to start collecting used yogurt containers and used drink pouches as part of a nationwide program...
In The Village
TerraCycle Recycling (December 7, 2007)
Two new recycling efforts are taking place in communities across North Carolina, including Hatteras Schools and other community groups which are being challenged to start collecting used yogurt containers and used drink pouches...
American Way Magazine
Dirty Business (December 3, 2007)
Tom Szaky is convinced that he’s found a miracle substance that will both make him millions and save the world: worm poop. Yes, it may sound laughable, but don’t be too hasty to judge. Szaky, a scruffy 25-year-old Princeton dropout who founded TerraCycle, a small company based in Trenton, New Jersey, that makes organic plant food by using worm excrement (known as castings) as the key ingredient, can weave a pretty compelling case.
...
The Star Ledger
TerraCycel gets a little help from its friends (December 3, 2007)
Worm poop today - planters and pencil cases tomorrow. Trenton-based TerraCycle is famous for inspiring young people to collect empty soda bottles the company then washes and reuses as containers for its liquid organic plant fertilizer, which is made from worm excrement. It's a business model straight out of summer camp. Now, TerraCycle is diversifying into a variation of recycling known as "sponsored waste"...
Parenting Magazine
A Site We Love (December 3, 2007)
TerraCycle makes recycling easy and lets kids actually see the fruit of their labor. Go to terracycle.net/brigades and sign up to collect soda bottles, yogurt containers, or drink pouches...
The Phillidephia Inquirer
Help your gardener glow (December 2, 2007)
Feed the birds and do your eco-duty with this imaginative feeder made from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle that might have ended up in a landfill. How cool is that? It's one of many recycled gardening products made by TerraCycle Inc., of Trenton. Cost is $4.98 at selected Wal-Marts in our area. Information at http://www.terracycle.net/...
The Monterey Herald
Entrepreneur uses compost-producing red wigglers to break down garbage — and his idea has caught fire (December 1, 2007)
Has a brilliant idea ever had such a birth? It was 2001. Tom Szaky took some freshman buddies from Princeton University to visit a friend in Montreal. While there, he discovered his pal's gonzo marijuana plants.
How'd you do that? Szaky asked. Easy. Worms eating table scraps in a makeshift compost bin were producing mineral- and nutrient-rich feces, which in turn became cheap fertilizer for the pot plants. ...
ZD NET
Turning HP printers into hip flower pots (November 25, 2007)
Now, TerraCycle is getting ready to release the urban art flower pot line, which is made entirely out of mixed plastic and rubber waste. Specifically, the stuff that goes into making the pots is from Hewlett-Packard tech products, according to Szaky....
Bangor Daily News
Shopping for the gardener on your list (November 24, 2007)
Because nothing says love like a bottle of liquefied worm castings. TerraCycle Plant Food is about as Earth-friendly as gardening gets. First, a gazillion worms are fed "premium organic waste," according to the bottle label. And then the worms do what worms do: They "create worm poop." That is turned into liquid fertilizer and packaged in a reused soda bottle, which the company collects by running community and school fundraisers.
I found my 20-ounce bottle — with its little bottle-cap ring still around its neck — last weekend at Tillson True Value in Dexter where I was shopping for LED Christmas lights — also an excellent way to be kind to the world and your electric bill. The all-purpose fertilizer was $6.99 and comes with a spray nozzle....
Philadelphia Inquirer
Building a soil team (November 23, 2007)
Organic gardeners have long known the TerraCycle secret. They count on earthworms to improve soil structure, drainage and fertility.
"You want to encourage earthworms in your garden, definitely," says Jackie Ricotta, associate horticulture professor at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown....
The Phillidephia Inquirer
A business built on worm power (November 23, 2007)
Has a brilliant idea ever had such a birth? It was 2001. Tom Szaky took some freshman buddies from Princeton University to visit a friend in Montreal. While there, he discovered his pal's gonzo marijuana plants.
How'd you do that? Szaky asked. Easy. Worms eating table scraps in a makeshift compost bin were producing mineral- and nutrient-rich feces, which in turn became cheap fertilizer for the pot plants.
"I'd never thought of garbage before," says Szaky, who instantly saw dollar signs. In 2002, he dropped out of Princeton to turn liquefied "worm poop" into the centerpiece of a new organic-fertilizer business....
Supermarket News
Earth-Friendly Waste (November 21, 2007)
General Merchandise company TerraCycle here has teamed with Honest Tea, Bethesda Ma., and Stonyfield Farm. Londonderry, NH. to launch two promotional recycling programs called the...
Free Press
Recycling can be used as fundraiser (November 21, 2007)
Schools and other community groups are being challenged to start collecting used yogurt containers and used drink pouches...
Rolling Thunder Express
TERRACYCLE LOCAL RECYCLING PROGRAM (November 20, 2007)
Two new recycling efforts are taking place in communities across
Maine, including Newport. Schools and other community groups are being
challenged to start collecting used yogurt containers and used drink
pouches as part of a statewide program that allows schools to raise
funds while teaching their students about recycling and the environment.
Schools and other community groups can sign up for free, pay no
shipping costs, and will earn 1 cent for every drink pouch or 2 cents
for Honest Kids Drink Pouches. In the Yogurt Brigade, schools will
earn 2 cents for 6-ounce yogurt containers, and 5 cents for 32-ounce
yogurt containers. All yogurt containers must be cleaned. To sign up
visit www.terracycle.net/brigades.
The programs are open for any organization or charity to sign up...
INC Magazine
Reading the Tea Leaves (November 19, 2007)
You've teamed with TerraCycle, the plant food maker, to recycle the Honest Kids pouches. How did that come about? We're always looking for ways to push the envelope. And when we looked at the kids package, we realized that most of the package is recyclable, but there's a foil liner at the bottom that makes it non-recyclable. We use the most recyclable form of plastic for our bottles and we wanted to find a way for the pouches to be reused. So I was talking to [TerraCycle CEO] Tom Szaky and he said, "We can use them," before he even knew how. He already has a model where he collects bottles, so it was a natural partnership. And it empowers children to play a role in recycling for a product that they consume. Kids are more eco-centric, but they don't necessarily have the opportunity to take...
US1
Lawsuit Settled (November 19, 2007)
A lawsuit filed in March against "liquid worm poop" plant-food packager TerraCycle by competitor the Scotts Company, of Marysville, Ohio, has been settled. Scotts sells fertilizer products under the well-known label Miracle-Gro. The legal dispute involved Scotts' claims of false advertising and trade dress infringement. In response, TerraCycle is changing the graphics on its shrink-sleeve-labeled bottles of organic plant food. It packages its products in recycled plastic soda and milk bottles. ...
Packaging World Magazine
TerraCycle: Packaging with a repurpose (November 19, 2007)
The procurement of retail packaging based on discarded containers won뭪 work well for most products, but it works perfectly for 뱇iquid worm poop�and related plant-food products from TerraCycle, Trenton, NJ. The company뭩 certified organic products are packaged in discarded 1- and 2-L, and 20-oz soda bottles that have been collected and shipped at TerraCycle뭩 expense from around the country...in reused boxes, of course. It also uses 1-gal HDPE containers the company procures from local recyclers for other products. The company sorts, cleans, delabels bottles if needed, then shrink-sleeves, fills, and seals them using discarded sprayers or caps....
The Times Leader
Up and coming business starts with worms (November 18, 2007)
What started as a business plan contest at Princeton University for two students, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer, has developed into a thriving business....
MSNBC
Business Secrets (November 15, 2007)
Norm asks Tom if he has a business secret...
Design NJ
For Bird Lovers (November 15, 2007)
Winter is one of the best times to feed birds, and TerraCycle Inc. offers ready-to-hang feeders made from plastic soda soft drink bottles decorated with a swirl design. Under $5....
20/20
Winning: Only in America (November 13, 2007)
Twenty-five-year-old Tom Szaky is the CEO of Terracycle, a company that creates garden products entirely from waste. "I think America by far is one of the best countries for people to come to as an immigrant, especially as an entrepreneur," said Szaky, who was born in Hungary and raised in Canada. Szaky came to the United States to attend college, where he came up with the crazy idea to sell worm waste as a fertilizer for plants. ...
The Financial Post
It pays to be socially responsible (November 12, 2007)
One of my favourite examples is Terracycle. The company makes organic fertilizer and has put CSR at the forefront since its inception. In its early cash-strapped days, Terracycle realized it could package liquid fertilizer in used plastic pop bottles. It was perfect solution -- zero cost for inputs and good for the environment, too....
Village Soup
Reduce, reuse, raise money (November 11, 2007)
Two new recycling efforts are taking place in communities across Maine, including Belfast. Schools and other community groups are being challenged to collect used yogurt containers and used drink pouches as part of a statewide program that allows schools to raise funds while teaching students about recycling and the environment. Schools and other community groups may sign up for free, pay no shipping costs, and earn 1 cent for every drink pouch or 2 cents for Honest Kids Drink Pouches.
...
Floral Management
Eco-Friendly Feeder (November 10, 2007)
The TerraCycle bird feeder is made from recycled or reused materials and is already filled with quality birdseed. Unlike other feeders, you can take it home and hang it outside immediately. ...
Town Talk
Earth Friendly Fundraising Idea for Area Schools (November 10, 2007)
Tow new recycling efforts are taking place in local communities. Schools and other community groups are being challenged to start collecting used yogurt containers and used drink pouches...
Trenton Downtowner
Office built from trash (November 10, 2007)
Elaine Guaghran gazed almost wistfully out her steel-grated window, remembering her old office at United Water...
Marin Independent Journal
Stop treating worms like dirt (November 9, 2007)
I have good news for those of you who don't have the time, space or guts to build and maintain your own worm bin. Allow me to proudly introduce to you an organic gardener's best friend - Terracycle Worm Poop. Yes, you read that right. Worm poop in a recycled bottle. Now that's American ingenuity!...
The Big Idea
Go Green, Make Millions (November 8, 2007)
And, learn how to turn waste into a business that generates cold hard cash. Tom Szaky is the co-founder and CEO of Terracycle Inc, a company that products made from and packaged in waste. Also tonight, Stonyfield Farm, Eco Hangers, 360 Vodka, Recycline, Josie Maran Cosmetics and G Diaper all share their secrets of how they’ve made millions by going green. Tune in tonight and see if you’ve got a green idea worth millions. ...
Water Garden News
TerraCycle Bird Feeder (November 5, 2007)
The TerraCycle bird feeder is made from recycled or reused materials and is already filled with quality birdseed. Unlike other feeders, you can take it home and hang it outside immediately. ...
arizona daily star
Kids: Get paid to collect drink pouches for recycling (November 4, 2007)
TerraCycle, a company that made a name for itself recycling plastic bottles, is now looking to collect these types of formerly nonrecyclable pouches. "A surprising amount of kids drink these every day," said Chris Lynn, director of TerraCycle's Drink Pouch Brigade, who noted statistics from the Container Recycling Institute estimating Americans throw away about 3.6 billion of these containers yearly. The firm partnered with Honest Tea (maker of the Honest Kids pouch drinks) to collect the containers and turn them into accessories such as tote bags....
McClatchy Newspapers
Maybe it’s time for Fido and Felix to go green, too (November 1, 2007)
Why you should sit up: Plastic soda bottles take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills, so why not find another use for them and feed birds in the process?
Why you should roll over: Watch the birds come when you hang the TerraCycle Wild Bird Feeder, made from a used soda bottle and a recycled plastic feeding pan. The feeder comes with birdseed and can be refilled....
Gardening How-To
Test in Progress (November 1, 2007)
TerraCycle Garden is an organic fertilizer made of concentrated, liquefied worm poop for use on outdoor plants, shrubs, and vegetables. Packaged in two 20-ounce reused soda bottles....
Justine
Cash for your favorite charity (November 1, 2007)
It's as easy as drinking a Coke! Every day, over 30 million soda bottles end up in landfills across America. TerraCycle, Inc. is working to change that through the national bottle brigade program. For every 20-ounce soda bottle you collect, they will donate five cents...
NoseArk
The Worm Turns (October 31, 2007)
TerraCycle Inc began producing and marketing natural plant fertilisers a couple of years ago, packaging a worm poo-based liquid in brightly-labelled used cooldrink bottles. The company was founded in 2001 by a bunch of under-25-year-olds whose business ethic has led them to setting up operation in an “urban enterprise zone” in crime- and unemployment-riddled Trenton, New Jersey. The TerraCycle website includes an essay on “eco capitalism” which displays rather more of a left-liberal bent to it than the diatribes provided by Jim Hagedorn, CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro, the domestic fertiliser giant that is challenging TerraCycle’s very right to exist....
The Seattle Times
Staghorn sumacs taking over (October 31, 2007)
Q: Last summer I used a spray called TerraCycle on my container flowers, and they're still blooming in October. The guy at the Home Depot recommended it so highly that even though it was expensive I bought some. Do you think it really helps, or maybe it was the packaged soil I used? I hope to repeat this success next summer.
A: Wouldn't it be great if Home Depot and other big-box stores carried more organic products like TerraCycle so we could shop in their gardening aisles without feeling overwhelmed by poisonous fumes? It seems so wrong for gardening supplies to smell like chemical death, don't you think?...
Today's Garden Center
Entry Level Feeder (October 31, 2007)
The TerraCycle Bird Feeder is a good option for less serious bird watchers. Made from recycled materials and already filled with quality birdseed, customers can take it home and hang it outside immediately with no filling or assembly required....
Organic Gardening Magazine
Bird Giveaway (October 29, 2007)
Enter to win a TerraCycle Bird Feeder! It's eco- and wildlife-friendly and a fun introduction to birding!...
The Charlotte Observer
Recycling not just for humans (October 29, 2007)
Why you should sit up: Plastic soda bottles take hundreds of years to decompose, so why not find another use for them and feed birds in the process?
Why you should roll over: Watch the birds come when you hang the TerraCycle Wild Bird Feeder, made from a used soda bottle and a recycled plastic feeding pan. The feeder comes with birdseed and can be refilled.
Why you should play dead: Even though green is the new black, you'll still have a two-liter plastic bottle hanging in your yard.
Where to fetch it: Select Wal-Mart stores or www.terracycle.net
How much you'll have to beg: $4.88...
The Advocate
Audubon Girl Scouts earn Silver Awards (October 29, 2007)
Help save the environment and earn money in the process by participating in a program that allows schools, houses of worship, and others to take used drink pouch containers off the nonrecyclable list.
The program pays 2 cents for each Honest Kids® drink pouch; 1 cent for all other drink pouch brands. Registered participants receive containers and postage-paid labels to return the used pouches.
The material will be reused to make school supplies such as pencil cases, as well as handbags of various sizes and styles tentatively scheduled to be sold at major retailers in 2008, program sponsors said....
G Living
Terra Cycle | Reversing the Terra-ble Cycle (October 29, 2007)
Going for the green, getting wasted, dropping out of college and collecting bottles is not the first thing you’d think of when you meet Tom Szaky, Princeton dropout. But the 25-year-old Hungarian born refugee, raised in Toronto, Canada, has done just that. The Ivy League freshman went home to visit friends who happened to be growing ganga plants. And they were doing really well. The secret wasn’t in the seed or the weed. It was in the soil. Vermicompost, the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms — also called worm castings — is rich in nutrients and serves as nature’s soil conditioner and fertilization. And when Szaky saw worm poop, he saw dollar signs....
Family Circle
It's Easy Being Green (October 29, 2007)
Flue season has arrived. Time to chill out in front of a roaring fire. But burning firewood produces lots of soot and carbon monoxide. Instead, heat things up with logs that won't harm the environment....
The Star Telegram
Pet project and critters environment (October 27, 2007)
Why you should sit up: Plastic soda bottles take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills, so why not find another use for them and feed birds in the process?
Why you should roll over: Watch the birds come when you hang the TerraCycle Wild Bird Premium Feeder, made from a used soda bottle and a recycled plastic feeding pan. The refillable feeder comes with birdseed.
Why you should play dead: Even though green is the new black, you'll still have a 2-liter plastic bottle hanging in your yard.
Where to fetch it: Select Wal-Mart stores or www.terracycle.net...
The Lawrence Ledger
School turning trash into treasure (October 25, 2007)
Over the last 150 years, through the modern industrial revolution to the technological revolution going on today, humanity has made great leaps in how it lives, works and plays. Something as simple as driving from one end of the state to the other once took a whole day. Computers the size of a fist once took up an entire room and only computed simple math equations.
However, progress has a price, and all the coal needed to power those trains in the 1850s, and all the toxic chemicals needed to make those microchips today, have hit the planet hard. But there’s an even more ubiquitous presence in our lives that has had its own negative impact: plastic....
Straus Newspaper
New recycling effort (October 25, 2007)
Sussex County - Schools around New Jersey have a chance to earn money for recycling items not usually associated with recycling programs. Yogurt containers and used drink pouches are recyclable as part of a statewide program that allows schools to raise funds while teaching their students about recycling and the environment.
The initiatives are Yogurt Brigade and Honest Kids Drink Pouches. Schools and other community groups can sign up for free, pay no shipping costs, and will earn a 1 cent for every drink pouch or 2 cents for Honest Kids Drink Pouches. In the Yogurt Brigade schools will earn 2 cents for 6 oz yogurt containers, and 5 cents for 32 ounce yogurt containers. All yogurt containers must be cleaned. To sign up visit: www.terracycle.net/brigades
...
Hippo Press
Yogurt cups = flower pots (October 25, 2007)
Do you have a bunch of empty yogurt containers lying around that you don’t know what to do with? Seek a Yogurt Brigade near you.
The Yogurt Brigade, a new program by TerraCycle, helps to solve the issue of what to do with those pesky yogurt containers. They’ll take, clean and paint them to create small flower pots they plan to sell to nurseries.
Stonyfield Farm of Londonderry is paying to have the containers shipped to TerraCycle in New Jersey from participating locations — mostly schools and organizations — along the East Coast. Stonyfield will provide the boxes and postage, but those participating in the program have to save about 400 containers before they ship them out....
Williamsport Sun-Gazette
TerraCycle Bird Feeder (October 22, 2007)
Just in time for winter feeding, this eco-friendly plant food and fertilizer company called TerraCycle has come out with a new ecofriendly bird feeder.
The TerraCycle Bird Feeder is the world’s first bird feeder to be packaged in a reused soda bottle, according to Mike Avale of Terracycle Inc.
It comes already prepped for feeding and is filled with high-quality birdseed....
The Sun Gazette
TerraCycle Bird Feeder (October 22, 2007)
Just in time for winter feeding, this eco-friendly plant food and fertilizer company called TerraCycle has come out with a new eco-friendly bird feeder. The TerraCycle Bird Feeder is the world’s first bird feeder to be packaged in a re-used soda bottle, according to Mike Avale of Terracycle Inc.
It comes already prepped for feeding and is filled with high-quality birdseed. The company boasted that this bird feeder is perfect for individuals or families who have never tried their hand at taking care of a bird before. I feed the wild birds with about four feeders all year long....
MacLeans Magazine
Worm poop barons avoid a legal mess (October 22, 2007)
Everything was going well for TerraCycle, the small eco-friendly start-up that makes plant food and fertilizer out of worm waste and packages it in recycled pop bottles. Until it got slapped with a lawsuit by competitor Scotts Co. in March, that is. "We were shocked and worried," says TerraCycle's spokesman, Albe Zakes. "When the largest company in your industry sues you, you've made a very powerful enemy." Scotts had complained that TerraCycle's green and yellow packaging looked too similar to their own Miracle-Gro brand, and that TerraCycle was making false claims about the superiority of their products over synthetic brands -- claims that Zakes says were based on research conducted at Rutgers University for the New Jersey-based company. When TerraCycle refused to hand over the research findings...
CSR Wire
20 Companies & Funds Push for Patient Capital (October 22, 2007)
Investors' Circle hosts two venture fairs a year where companies who address a social or environmental issue present to over 150 investors who are looking for socially responsible investments. Over the past 15 years, Investors' Circle members have invested over $112 million in 183 deals. ...
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Children, firm can team for more green (October 22, 2007)
School children like Payton Marshall could learn about recycling while helping their schools raise money.
Two weeks ago, TerraCycle Inc. of Trenton, N.J., teamed up with two companies that will pay schools, organizations, churches and other groups on the East Coast for sending them juice pouches and yogurt containers.
Payton, 7, is a juice pouch drinker. ...
Green Talk
TerraCycle, Teaching Our Young through Worm Poop (October 22, 2007)
What does fundraising, soda bottles, yogurt cups, drinking pouches, and worm poop have in common? Give up? I know that is a tough set of words to figure out the correlation. Just ask the innovative folks over at TerraCycle, maker of worm poop fertilizer and other assorted eco-friendly gardening products. They will tell you that it’s their mission to rid the world of waste through creating innovative uses of products that you would ordinarily throw away. Their worm poop product is bottled in recycled soda bottles.
How does this involve our young? What better way to teach this lesson than to create fundraisers involving children to collect items that can be reused? If our young can be taught at an early age to respect the Earth, then when they grow up as adults this thought process...
Maclean's
Worm Poop Barons Avoid Legal Mess (October 22, 2007)
Everything was going well for TerraCycle, the small eco-friendly start-up that makes plant food and fertilizer out of worm waste packages it in recycled pop bottles....
Packaging World Magazine
Lawsuit settled, TerraCycle changes graphics (October 22, 2007)
A lawsuit filed in March against "liquid worm poop" plant-food packager TerraCycle, Trenton, NJ, by competitor The Scotts Co., Marysville, OH, was settled in September. The legal dispute involved Scotts' claims of false advertising and trade dress infringement. In response, TerraCycle is changing the graphics on its shrink-sleeve-labeled bottles of organic plant food. Its packaging comprises reused 20-oz and 1- and 2-L PET bottles, and 1-gal HDPE milk jugs.
In the settlement, TerraCycle Inc. has agreed to change certain advertising claims and its package design to avoid possible consumer confusion, and Scotts has agreed to dismiss its false advertising and infringement claims....
West Windsor & Plainsboro News
TerraCycle Brigades (October 19, 2007)
Terracycle offers donations to schools and non-profit organizations in exchange for empty yogurt containers and used drink pouches. www.teracycle.net/brigades....
Social Funds
Green Angels: Venture and Private Equity Capitalists Help Sprout a New Generation of Environmentally Friendly Companies (October 18, 2007)
"We started as a likeminded group of high-net worth individuals looking to invest in the next Ben and Jerry's and the Body Shop," said Woody Tasch, Investors' Circle's chairman. "Fifteen years ago, the terms 'double and triple bottom lines' were not being used, but we were earlier adopters, looking to be part of the social investment movement." Investors' Circle was one of the early supporters of TerraCycle, a Trenton, NJ-based company started in 2001 that packages worm droppings in soda bottles as plant food. TerraCycle has a 2007 sale's goal of over $5 million. ...
Mahoning Valley Parent Magazine
Recycle Pouches for Fund Raising (October 17, 2007)
Fruit drink pouches are a staple in American schools' cafeterias. According to the container recycling institute, 3.6 billion drink pouches are produced every year. Because the material used to make these pouches is non-recyclable, virtually all are sent to a landfill. To help combat this huge loss of resources, TerraCycle and Honest Tea created a program called the Drink Pouch Brigade. ...
The Inadvertant Gardener
Keep Marion Jones out of the garden (October 17, 2007)
But when we talk about acting locally in the global fight against environmental catastrophe, the one place we all have the most control is in our own yards. We have the choice: use Scotts Miracle-Gro? Or Terracycle? Dump a bunch of chemical fertilizer on the vegetables we plan to eat, and let that leach into the soil and run off into the local water supply, or try a less harmful product? We might lose a little in terms of how big our tomatoes grow, but we gain a long-term benefit that we can’t even quantify yet....
The Star Democrat
Easy-to-use bird feeder (October 17, 2007)
The TerraCycle Bird Feeder is the ideal entry-level bird feeder for young people, family and less serious birders. The TerraCycle Bird Feeder is made from recycled or reused materials and is already filled with quality birdseed. Unlike other bird feeders, you can take it home and hang it outside immediately. No filling or assembly is required.
This extremely affordable and easy-to-use Bird Feeder is perfect for individuals or families who have never tried their hand at birding before. No mounting unsightly poles in your garden or screwing holes in your siding simply hang from any branch. The compact and attractive design makes the Feeder perfect for decks or yards of any size. Because the Feeder comes pre-filled with quality seed, no need to buy a bulky bag of seed that might never get used....
MacLeans Magazine
TerraCycle update: Worm poop vs. Goliath (October 15, 2007)
Everything was going well for TerraCycle, the small eco-friendly start-up that makes plant food and fertilizer out of worm waste and packages it in recycled pop bottles. Until it got slapped with a lawsuit by competitor Scotts Co. in March, that is. “We were shocked and worried,” says TerraCycle’s spokesman, Albe Zakes. “When the largest company in your industry sues you, you’ve made a very powerful enemy.”...
Go Getter
5 innovative environmental business ideas (October 15, 2007)
TerraCycle is a truly innovative company. Their products, fertilizers, are packaged in cleansed pop bottles that each of us use every day. By providing a Pepsi bottle or whatnot, you receive $0.06 along with an ever important contribution to the already 1,098,440 bottles collected to date. This model could be applied to hundreds and thousands of different liquid based products that we use and eliminate the entire process of having to crush, melt, and re-form new bottles....
Sacramento Bee
WILD BIRD FEEDER (October 13, 2007)
Why you should sit up: Plastic soda bottles take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills, so why not find another use for them and feed birds in the process? Why you should roll over: Watch the birds come when you hang the TerraCycle Wild Bird Feeder, made from a used soda bottle and a recycled plastic feeding pan. The feeder comes with birdseed and can be refilled. Why you should play dead: Even though green is the new black, you'll still have a 2-liter plastic bottle hanging in your yard.
...
Herald News
FYI: Juice pouches not trash, after all (October 12, 2007)
Juice pouches not trash, after all. Get out the cardboard boxes. There is a new collectible in town. Save those juice pouches. Not the juice boxes -- the pouches. TerraCycle and Honest Tea created a program called Drink Pouch Brigade. The program allows schools, churches and community groups to collect previously nonrecyclable items in return for cash. Groups can participate free, and they'll be sent containers with shipping labels already attached.
...
Kitchen and Bath Business
Most Thought-Provoking Product of the Week: TerraCycle Drain Maintainer (October 11, 2007)
Drain cleaners have long had an ecologically unfriendly reputation, but TerraCycle tries to change that. Packaged in a reused 2-liter soda bottle, the product has a DfE (Designed for the Environment) certification from the Environmental Protection Agency and is part of the Eco-Options line at Home Depot. Rather than using potentially toxic chemicals, it unclogs drains using a special type of bacteria....
MacLeans Magazine
Worm poop barons avoid a legal mess (October 11, 2007)
Tom Szaky has managed to settle a suit from his major rival. Everything was going well for TerraCycle, the small eco-friendly start-up that makes plant food and fertilizer out of worm waste and packages it in recycled pop bottles. Until it got slapped with a lawsuit by competitor Scotts Co. in March, that is. "We were shocked and worried," says TerraCycle's spokesman, Albe Zakes. "When the largest company in your industry sues you, you've made a very powerful enemy." Scotts had complained that TerraCycle's green and yellow packaging looked too similar to their own Miracle-Gro brand, and that TerraCycle was making false claims about the superiority of their products over synthetic brands -- claims that Zakes says were based on research conducted at Rutgers University for the New Jersey-based...
Birds & Blooms
OCTOBER'S CONTEST (October 11, 2007)
TerraCycle bird feeders are made from recycled or reused material, and they are already filled with quality birdseed. You can hang it outside immediately. No filling or assembly required. Feeders are available at Wal-Mart. To learn more about Terracycle and their products, visit their Web site....
Green Options
5 Ways to Make Your Home More Energy-Wise (October 11, 2007)
While charges of greenwashing and opportunism have been among the responses to the program’s roll-out, Jarvis told me that Eco-Options is the end result of seventeen years of work and planning by the company. "This isn’t a marketing ploy," he said. "We’ve been studying these issues, and leading the industry during this period." Jarvis described the program as "merchant-driven," and noted that Home Depot has gone to its vendors with specific requests for more environmentally-friendly products. He told me "A lot of the changes you’re seeing are driven by us." The results of this effort have included a eco-friendly green cleaning product from Terracycle, low-VOC paints from Glidden, and plantable pots for live plants, among others....
Metro Family Magazine
An Easy Way to Make a Difference (October 10, 2007)
According to the Container Recycling Institute, 3.6 billion drink pouches are produced each year from non-recyclable materials. This means that once used, the pouches go to a landfill. To help curb this waste, TerraCycle and Honest Tea created a program to recycle the pouches......
KIDS Harford County's Parenting MAgazine
Recycling Juice Pouch Program (October 10, 2007)
The Drink Pouch Brigade program (www.terracycle.net/dpb) is a nationwide program collecting all used drink pouch containers, while paying participants $0.02 for every Honest Kids drink pouch that they return......
Packaging World
SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING - Podcast: TerraCycle talks (October 10, 2007)
Packaging World editor Rick Lingle interviews Albe Zakes, "eco-revolutionary" and company spokesman for TerraCycle, makers of plant food made from liquid worm poop that's filled in reused containers. Learn in 10 minutes about the unique challenges and successes for this one-of-a-kind company that reuses discarded 20-oz PET bottles provided by TerraCycle's nationwide Bottle Brigade. ...
NJBIZ
Goliath Takes David to School (October 9, 2007)
TerraCycle makes plant food and fertilizers created from liquefied earthworm droppings and uses recycled soda bottles as containers. Szaky, 25, expects TerraCycle to generate $4 million in revenue this year up from $1.5 million in 2006. Terracycle also makes bird feeders, drain cleaners and deer repellent. The products are available through Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and independent garden centers....
Social Funds
From Worm Poop to Wal-Mart (October 9, 2007)
In 2001, Tom Szaky had a crazy idea to turn worm poop into plant food and package it in used soda bottles. And it worked. 6 years later, TerraCycle employs over 30 workers in their 20,000 square foot Trenton, NJ plant and they have a 2007 sales goal of well over $5 million. This year they are selling 9 products in many major, nationwide retailers, including Target, Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Whole Foods and others. Tom and TerraCycle have been featured everywhere from the Evening News with Dan Rather to the cover of Inc. Magazine. ...
Citizens Voice
Eco-friendly company hopes to boost interest in recycling (October 8, 2007)
A company that built its fortune by recycling worm excrement into plant food is hoping to turn on Luzerne County students to the environment. TerraCycle Inc., a New Jersey-based firm that bills itself as "eco-capitalist" and takes pride in creating products entirely out of waste, is offering free bird feeders made of reused 2-liter soda bottles to any local school that wants to participate....
Bennington Banner
Recycling company looks toward Vermont (October 8, 2007)
An eco-friendly company based in New Jersey is looking to partner with Vermont schools and community organizations on two new recycling programs. TerraCycle, a company based out of Trenton, N.J., uses products sent to them by schools, religious organizations and other community groups to make and package eco-friendly and socially responsible products. In return, the schools get paid to recycle. ...
NJ BIZ
State Capital Thinks Green To Promote Jobs and Growth (October 8, 2007)
Trenton is currently lacking in green businesses that promote energy efficiency and other environmentally friendly measures, notes Marty Johnson, president and CEO of Isles Inc., a Trenton-based community development and environmental organization that builds and restores energy-efficient homes. Aside from SunPower, a solar panel retailer, and TerraCycle, a manufacturer of fertilizer made with worm excrement, “there’s not a whole lot of presence here of the green sector,” he says....
The Evening Sun
TerraCycle Inc. provides eco-friendly bird feeders to local schools (October 8, 2007)
NORWICH – In an attempt to raise awareness of ecological and social responsibility, TerraCycle Inc. has worked out a way to provide their newest product, eco-friendly bird feeders, to local area schools. From now until Wednesday, TerraCycle Inc. will be selling their new eco-friendly bird feeder at area Wal-Mart locations for under $5, and for every three bird feeders sold, Perry Browne Elementary School will receive one free of charge....
Maine Coast Now
Businesses join forces to encourage recycling (October 8, 2007)
Two new recycling efforts are taking place in communities across Maine. Schools and other community groups are being challenged to start collecting used yogurt containers and used drink pouches as part of a statewide program that allows schools to raise funds while teaching their students about recycling and the environment. Schools and other community groups can sign up for free, pay no shipping costs and will earn 1 cent for every drink pouch or 2 cents for Honest Kids drink pouches. In the Yogurt Brigade schools will earn 2 cents for 6-ounce yogurt containers, and 5 cents for 32-ounce yogurt containers. All yogurt containers must be cleaned. To sign up visit www.terracycle.net/brigades.
...
The Green Report
Terracycle & The Secret Life of Worms (October 7, 2007)
Ever wondered what worms do all day? I recently discovered that some worms are making a profit for a small fertilizer company based in New Jersey. The company is called Terracycle and they put worms to work. Terracycle employs them to turn tons (literally) of solid waste into an organic fertilizer. As their website boasts, they have created “an all-natural, all-organic, ‘goof-proof’ liquid plant food made from waste (worm poop) and packaged in waste (reused soda bottles).”...
CEO Magazine
Fertilizer Foes Settle Fight (October 4, 2007)
"Legal outcomes generally take quite a long time and are usually settled long before the case gets to trial, either from the Bench or with a jury. I'm sure that's going to happen in this case," Robert Dilenschneider, a PR strategist and CEO of the Dilenschneider Group specializing in strategic communications had predicted in his interview with CE Online. Read {Brand Battle/ September Issue}. This is what has precisely happened!
The tiny Trenton NJ based organic plant food maker, TerraCycle has finally announced the settlement of legal dispute with Marysville, Ohio based industry leader Scotts Miracle-Gro.
In an interview with Chief Executive Online, Tom Szaky, CEO of the tiny upstart said that the cost of fighting the lawsuit was burgeoning and the lawsuit was a massive distraction in...
Pike County Courier
School needed for promotion (October 4, 2007)
TerraCycle Inc. is looking for a Milford area school interested in receiving free Bird Feeders and an entire Ornithology curriculum to help teach their students about nature and the importance of protecting wildlife.
In early October a representative from TerraCycle will be presenting the company’s newest eco-friendly product, an entry Bird Feeder packaged in a reused 2-liter soda bottle, at Milford Wal*Mart, For every three Bird Feeders that are purchased at $4.88 each on that day, TerraCycle will donate one Feeder to the school along with the Pennsylvania State Ornithology curriculum to the school....
Wall Street Journal
Bird Feeders, Some Stylish, Eco-Friendly (October 4, 2007)
TerraCycle Bird Feeder. Price: $4.88. Availability: Wal-Mart stores. Comment: It is made out of a reused soda bottle and comes filled with birdseed. The feeder was very easy to assemble and hang -- no fiddling required. It attracted a gold finch and a chickadee when we tried it. It is designed more for smaller birds....
Advertiser Democrat
Bird call goes out to local schools (October 4, 2007)
Area schools with hopes of adding some free wildlife curriculum to their classrooms will want to hear this bird call. TerraCycle In.c, the Trenton, New Jersey-based eco-friendly recycling product company wants to provide a school in Oxford Hills with free "revolutionary" bird feeders, in addition to an entire ornithology curriculum....
Organic Gardening
Win a TerraCycle Bird Feeder! (October 3, 2007)
If you and your family love to see wildlife around your home, the TerraCycle Bird Feeder is the perfect introduction to your home to attract birds. With no assembly required, the bird feeder comes pre-filled with quality seed -- just hang and start bird watching from your window!
The TerraCycle Bird Feeder is extremely affordable and easy-to-use -- ideal for children or any individual who has never tried their hand at birding before. The compact and attractive design makes the feeder perfect for decks or yards of any size....
The Star
Business Briefs (October 3, 2007)
EASTON TerraCycle Inc. is looking for an Easton area school interested in receiving free bird feeders and an entire ornithology curriculum to help teach their students about nature and the importance of protecting wildlife.
In early October, a representative from TerraCycle will be presenting the company's newest eco-friendly product, an entry bird feeder packaged in a reused 2-liter soda bottle, at the Easton Wal-Mart on Elliott Road....
CSR Wire
Social Venture Network Announces SVN Innovation Award Winners (October 2, 2007)
TerraCycle, Tom Szaky, CEO and Co-Founder (Trenton, NJ): TerraCycle manufactures affordable, organic fertilizer that is not only made from garbage—organic waste composted naturally by worms—but also packaged entirely in garbage—reused soda bottles. Szaky dropped out of Princeton to pursue this idea. TerraCycle started selling its fertilizer through Home Depot in 2004 and collected more than 2 million plastic bottles in its first 18 months through a recycling program called the Bottle Brigade, which generates enthusiasm for recycling among children by allowing them to fundraise for special projects....
St Marys Today
School Needed for Donation (October 2, 2007)
TerraCycle Inc. is looking for Maryland area schools interested in receiving free Bird Feeders and an entire Ornithology curriculum to help teach their students about nature and the importance of protecting wildlife.
In early October a representative from TerraCycle will be presenting the company’s newest eco-friendly product, an entry Bird Feeder packaged in a reused 2-liter soda bottle, at the California Wal*Mart, For every three Bird Feeders that are purchased from local stores, TerraCycle will donate one Feeder to the school along with the State of Maryland Ornithology curriculum to the school.
TerraCycle developed the Bird Feeder and this program with hopes of inspiring young children to love and appreciate wildlife. If younger generations learn to respect and enjoy wildlife at...
The Citizen
Schools asked to participate in eco program (October 2, 2007)
TerraCycle Inc. is seeking schools in Cayuga County interested in teaching students about protecting the environment. In early October, a representative from TerraCycle will be presenting the company's newest eco-friendly product, an entry bird feeder packaged in a reused 2-liter soda bottle that can be purchased at Wal-Mart. For every three bird feeders that are purchased from the store, located on Grant Avenue in Auburn, Terracycle will donate one feeder to the school along with the New York State Ornithology curriculum to the school. At least three feeders and the curriculum will be donated to any participating schools.
...
Packaging World
The wrap-up: Truly custom packaging (October 1, 2007)
There’s even a “green” twist on customization, from TerraCycle, which uses recycled bottles for many of its plant food products. Starting in November 2006, it began including neck tags in all of its empty boxes sent to its Bottle Brigade members—those who collect and ship the collected used bottles at TerreCycle's expense in boxes. The collectors can sign the tags with their first name and state location. The neck tags hang from bottles sold at select retailers including Target....
The Press Republican
Recycling program (September 30, 2007)
TerraCycle Inc. is looking for a Plattsburgh area school interested in receiving free bird feeders and an entire Ornithology curriculum to help teach their students about nature and the importance of protecting wildlife. In early October, a representative from TerraCycle will be presenting the company's newest eco-friendly product, an entry bird feeder packaged in a reused two-liter soda bottle, at the Plattsburgh Wal-Mart....
Ecotality
TerraCycle Makes Money by Going Green & Kids Can Too (September 27, 2007)
Yogurt, drink pouches and worm poop? And yes, actually, I am kind of hungry as I write this…well, not THAT hungry.
I came upon a neat story that gives me the opportunity to stay within my “Green Money” realm and throw ”poop” into one of my posts. Maybe I’ll be able to now entice one of my nephews who are at “that stage” to read something I’ve written. As bright as they (hey, Con-Con and Gav!) are, I just don’t see them being engaged by solar stocks or the latest in cellulosic ethanol. Where have my siblings gone wrong?
The green gadget folks here usually have the cool, fun and entertaining items come within their realm. Sigh. But they can eat their hearts out on this one — while hopefully also eating their yogurt out (of the cups)! Once empty, those cups can be collected,...
Plain Dealer
St. Mark's Lutheran School recycling project (September 27, 2007)
From worm poop to baby-in-backpack hiking, there are plenty of ways to enjoy and improve the diverse environment all around us.
A recycling program at St. Mark's Lutheran School, 4464 Pearl Road, Cleveland, is all about taking plastic out of the waste stream -- and then streaming lique fied worm waste back into the plastic....
Wall Street Journal
When It’s Good to Be Sued (September 27, 2007)
In the annals of David and Goliath battles, the recently settled litigation brought by lawn-care giant Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. against tiny Trenton, N.J.-based fertilizer maker TerraCycle Inc., may go down as a lawsuit that probably helped the defendant a lot more than the plaintiff. Thanks to the Internet and the blogging community, TerraCycle was able to turn the lawsuit from a time and money-sapping nuisance into a publicity advantage.
On March 7, TerraCycle, which makes fertilizer from liquefied worm droppings, was sued by Scotts for, among other things, infringing on the yellow-and-green trade dress of Scotts’s Miracle-Gro brand. Scotts also claimed that TerraCycle was falsely advertising its products as superior to others, including Scotts’s. The settlement calls for TerraCycle...
Daily Princetonian
Student-grown fertilizer co. settles Miracle-Gro suit over trademark (September 25, 2007)
A local fertilizer company started by two former Princeton students has settled a lawsuit brought by Miracle-Gro accusing them of false advertising and trademark infringement.
Though Scotts Miracle-Gro Company did not receive any monetary damages from TerraCycle, Inc. — which Tom Szaky '05 and Jon Beyer '05 founded in 2001 — the fertilizer giant got everything else it sought in the complaint. Two news websites reported that Beyer and Szaky's tiny, Trenton-based company was "forced" to settle in the face of mounting legal fees....
Inc Magazine
After a Good Fight, David Forced to Settle with Goliath (September 24, 2007)
TerraCycle, the small inner-city fertilizer start-up that tried to fend off a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit with humor and an irreverent blog, has reached a settlement with garden products giant Scotts Miracle Gro.
In a settlement announced last week, Scotts said it was dropping the case after Trenton, N.J.-based TerraCycle, which sells fertilizer made from worm waste in recycled plastic bottles, agreed to alter its packaging and stop claiming its products were superior to Miracle Gro.
Scotts, which is based in Marysville, Ohio, and has more than $2 billion in assets, sued TerraCycle in March, claiming its green and yellow packaging could "lead consumers to believe, mistakenly, that there is a connection with or association between TerraCycle and Scotts," according to court documents....
PR Week
TerraCycle still free to sell worm poop (September 24, 2007)
Back in the beginning of the summer, I wrote a web exclusive story about Terracycle, a tiny New Jersey-based company that sells fertilizer (worm poop, to be exact). They were being sued by the industry leader, Scotts Miracle Gro, for trademark infringement and making false advertising claims about the superiority of their product. In response, Terracycle started a blog, http://www.suedbyscotts.com/, which generated a lot of attention from the media, who love a good “David vs. Goliath” story.
I got an e-mail from Scotts on Friday saying the case had now been settled with Terracycle after it agreed to redesign its packaging, change its advertising claims, and pull down its blog in three months. The settlement agreement will appear on the blog until then....
Pacific Sun
Home: The conqueror worms (September 21, 2007)
I have good news for those of you who don't have the time, space or guts to build and maintain your own worm bin. Who needs more work, anyway? Allow me then to proudly introduce to you an organic gardener's—and diva's—best friend. Drum roll please...ta-da! TerraCycle worm poop! Yup, you read that right. Worm poop in a recycled bottle. Now that's American ingenuity.
It all began back in 2001 in a Princeton University dorm room, after former students and future CEOs Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer witnessed a classmate feeding food scraps to a box of worms. They learned their classmate fed the worms in exchange for their castings, which were loaded with the abundant nutrients he required to support the special plants he was furtively growing in his basement. (I'll let you take a guess.)
Anyway,...
Henrico Citizen
Business New (September 20, 2007)
Kroger stores in Metro Richmond are currently testing an organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle, Inc., known informally as the “worm poop” plant food, a fertilizer that comes ready to use with no mixing required.
TerraCycle's All-Purpose Plant Food is the first product to be sold at Kroger stores that is not only made from garbage but also packaged in garbage. TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles.
The used 20-ounce. soda bottles used to package TerraCycle Plant Foods are collected through the TerraCycle Bottle Brigade™, a nationwide recycling program composed of more than 3,600 schools, churches and other community groups that collect used soda bottles. For every bottle they collect TerraCycle...
Scottsdale Independent
Fry's supermarkets carry new plant food (September 19, 2007)
Fry's Food and Drug and Fry's Marketplace locations in North Scottsdale are testing a certified organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle. TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles. The plant food is a high quality fertilizer that comes ready to use with no mixing required....
Mother Jones
Worm Poop Threatens Corporate Profits (September 19, 2007)
Some of the nation's biggest corporations have found that baseless lawsuits are often a useful tool for squashing upstart competition. The latest example of this kind of noxious behavior comes from Scotts Miracle-Gro, a $2 billion company that claims 60 percent of the nation's garden-care market. Earlier this year, Scotts sued the tiny New Jersey start-up TerraCycle, which sells fertilizer made from all-natural worm poop, packaged in recycled soda bottles. Scotts alleges that TerraCycle has copied its packaging design and engaged in false advertising.
TerraCycle was started by college students and has never made a profit, but has made in-roads into some of the bigger retail outlets. Apparently Scotts sees the worm poop as a threat. TerraCycle has fought back mainly with PR. They've put up...
BoomerGirl.com
Attack of the worms! (September 19, 2007)
Drum roll please ... Ta-da! Terracycle Worm Poop! Yup, you read that right. Worm poop in a recycled bottle. Now that’s American ingenuity.
A worm compost bin In New Jersey at the TerraCycle greenhouse. It all began back in 2001, in a Princeton University dorm room...
St Petersburg Times
Put an old soda bottle to good use (September 15, 2007)
Support recycling and feed your feathered friends. You can do both with the TerraCycle Bird Feeder,which is made from a reused 2-liter soda bottle with a recycled plastic base. It comes filled with a wild bird seed mix. Just hang the bottle from a tree and it's chow time. It's $4.99, at many Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target stores. (The manufacturers are the same people who sell a fertilizer made from worm poop packed in recycled soda bottles.) See the video, learn more and find a retailer at http://www.terracycle.net/....
Hartford Courant
Waste Not, Waste Not With TerraCycle (September 14, 2007)
TerraCycle - a Trenton, N.J., company founded by two Princeton University students in 2001 - has reused more than 1 million soda and water bottles to package its plant food, itself the product of recycled garbage and affectionately known as "worm poop."
Now TerraCycle is using recycled bottles as bird feeders as well, already packed with seed and priced at $4.88.
Many of the bottles have been collected by more than 4,000 school groups and charities. TerraCycle spokesman Albe Zakes says the company pays 6 cents per bottle.
A big fan of the "Bottle Brigade" program is Lee Gluck, the library media specialist at Whiting Lane School in West Hartford who previously taught at Wolcott Elementary School for about 12 years, including the past four years teaching fifth-graders....
Daily Advertiser
Government seems to be run by corporations (September 13, 2007)
I have been worried about the way that "corporate America" seems to be getting bigger, more powerful, and pushing their weight around. I feel like our government is controlled by corporations rather than people.
Recently, I read an article about how the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. is suing a small company, TerraCycle, which bottles "worm poop" in a green bottle. The product is organic, and the bottles are recycled. Miracle-Gro claims that the color is too similar to their packaging color (green) and therefore confusing to the consumer.
So rather than feeling powerless in this chaotic world of corporate scandals and take-overs, I decided to let my purchasing power mean something. No longer will I buy Scotts' products....
East Valley Tribune
More Greenery (September 12, 2007)
Not to ruin appetites, but here is an unusual product available in north East Valley supermarkets.
Manufacturer TerraCycle said it is testing a certified organic plant food at Fry’s stores in Scottsdale and northeast Phoenix. The stores are at 6321 E. Greenway Road, 10450 N. 90th St., 7628 E. Indian School Road, 8900 E. Via Linda, 4842 E. Bell Road and 6080 E. Thomas Road.
The product is made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in recycled soda bottles.
TerraCycle claims the “Worm Poop” plant food is the first product sold at Fry’s that is not only made from garbage, but also is packaged in garbage....
Lexington Herald Leader
Let 'em go to worm waste (September 12, 2007)
Instead of throwing away that empty soda bottle, Whitney Schlansky has a better idea: Send it to the worms.
Since June, Lexington's High Street Neighborhood Center, a downtown, nonprofit day care center that serves low-income and at-risk children, has been collecting empty 20-ounce soda bottles. Schlansky and her young assistants then send them to a company called TerraCycle Inc., based in Trenton, N.J., which reuses the bottles to market its line of natural plant foods made from, in the company's own words, liquefied "worm poop."...
Kansas City Star
Gardening entrepreneurs worm their way into business (September 9, 2007)
Two young New Jersey entrepreneurs are busy turning what they affectionately call “worm poop” into usable plant food.
And major players like Kroger and Home Depot are buying.TerraCycle is both made of garbage and packaged in garbage. Organic waste composted by worms is liquefied, then packaged in reused soda bottles.
“We are officially the most eco-friendly product in the country right now,” says 25-year-old Princeton University dropout Tom Szaky, who dreamed of creating an environmentally beneficial business model.
By making products out of waste materials, he theorized, the waste stream could be reversed so that nothing became “trash.”...
Flyer Group
Company offers plant food for the environment (September 7, 2007)
New Jersey's TerraCycle may be one of the most self-contained companies there is. The group is responsible for an organic plant food made from worm poop or, in a more polite term, worm castings. Such fertilizer has been used for years by serious gardeners and eco-minded individuals. "We're not doing anything revolutionary," said Albe Zakes, TerraCycle's public relations directory. "But we're the first company that has made a widespread consumer fertilizer out of worm poop."...
SchizoFrenetic
Drink Pouches Saved From Landfill (September 6, 2007)
The Drink Pouch Brigade, a Terracycle program encourages people to collect their used drink pouches. “Every year over 30 billion kids drink containers are thrown out in North America. A large portion of these containers are juice pouches” You send 100 empty pouches at a time back to the company, which makes a charitable donation of 2 cents per Honest Kids branded pouch, and 1 cent per competitor. After the pouches are cleaned they are used as the raw materials for bags of various sizes that will ultimately be available for purchase.
Could you imagine the impact if elementary schools across America participated in this program? TerraCycle would be swimming in drink pouches....
New Jersey Master Gardener
Eating like a bird (September 5, 2007)
TerraCycle, the company that brought you worm poop in a bottle, has a new product -- a wild bird premium feeder.
The entry-level bird feeder is made out of a recycled two liter soda bottle. It comes filled with birdseed. No filling or assembly required.
Beginning Friday, Sept. 7, the feeders will be available at Wal-Mart. TerraCyle hopes to have Home Depot selling them by spring 2008. It sells for $4.88....
Goody Blog
Get Involved: Cafeteria Fundraiser (September 4, 2007)
Did you know that most of the materials used to make drink pouches are non-recyclable? That means once your child has washed down their turkey sandwhich at lunch, the empty drink pouch gets thrown away and sent to a landfill where it sits and sits and sits. (The Container Recycling Institute reports that 3.6 billion drink pouches are produced each year!) To help cut down on this waste, Terracycle and Honest Tea created the Drink Pouch Brigade program (a spin off of the very successful Bottle Brigade). Schools and other organizations nationwide can sign up to receive collection bags (each with prepaid return postage) that hold 100 drink pouches....
Santana Sun
Organic worm food at Fry's (September 1, 2007)
An organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle Inc is now available at select Fry's Food and Drug Store locations in Chandler. The plant food is made from organic waste composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles. Area schools, churches and other community groups wanting to raise money by supplying the used soda bottles should join the Bottle Brigade at www.terracycle.net/bb...
CEO Magazine
IP Lawsuit Becomes Brand Battle on the Web: Lessons for Upstart Market Entrants (September 1, 2007)
“What’s the doughboy afraid of?” This was the famous retort coined by Ben & Jerry’s, when Pillsbury, parent company of Haagen Dazs, gave an ultimatum to distributors: sell Hagen-Dazs or sell Ben & Jerry’s, but not both.
Tiny Trenton, NJ-based TerraCycle, an upstart maker of organic fertilizer for the lawn and garden market, sees a parallel in its fight with Marysville, Ohio–based industry leader Scotts Miracle-Gro. Scotts with annual revenues of $2.7 billion is suing TerraCycle with revenues of just $1.5 million and has yet to show a profit.
TerraCycle’s green media strategy is actually fundamental to the company’s marketing position and a cheap way to obtain empty 2 litre cola bottles which TerraCycle cleans and repackages with its product....
Pacific Sun
Home: Well, mow me down! (August 31, 2007)
For a general fertilizer, I like TerraCycle's organic lawn fertilizer (with "worm poop"). Worm poop is an ideal fertilizer. It's rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
How to fertilize with worm poop:
Step one: Apply lipstick.
Step two: Connect fertilizer attachment to your hose.
Step three: Turn hose on and water your lawn.
I swear, worm poop from a hose is so fun!...
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Bottle Brigade raises money to restore Braddock library (August 30, 2007)
John Hempel doesn't drink soda. But the University of Pittsburgh biologist has helped to collect about 6,500, 20-ounce soda bottles to help the environment and raise money for restoring the Braddock Carnegie Library.
Hempel sends the bottles to New Jersey-based TerraCycle as part of its Bottle Brigade program. TerraCycle makes and distributes lawn and garden fertilizer -- essentially worm poop, as company publicist Paul D'Eramo puts it....
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Recycled bottles could help restore Carnegie Library Music Hall (August 30, 2007)
Twenty-ounce plastic bottles may seem small, but they could make a big difference in one day restoring the Braddock Carnegie Library Music Hall to its former glory.
That's because John Hempel, 57, of Pittsburgh, is donating to the library the 5 cents per bottle he receives for recycling them.
"I am a habitual recycler," he said, "but it was recycling something and using it directly, rather than reprocessing it, and earning some money for my favorite nonprofit to boot," Mr. Hempel said.
Mr. Hempel's passion in this endeavor comes naturally -- besides being an avid recycler, he's chairman of the library board's restoration committee. Supporting the environment and one of the region's oldest Carnegie libraries are his focus.
"The amount of money that I am going to raise for the library...
Woodland Progress
TerraCycle develops bottle cap concepts (August 29, 2007)
Hooray for the environment, but what about all those plastic bottle caps?
TerraCycle is in development for uses of the constant onslaught of lids that it receives -- already warehoused in the millions.
There's even a contest at terracycle.net that offers a lifetime supply of its garden products to innovators.
So get started like some of our creative correspondents who came up with these cap concepts....
Debonair Magazine
Terracycle - Poop Salesman Trumps Zuckerberg (August 23, 2007)
When Tom Szaky dropped out of Ivy League Princeton at the age of 19 to start his own business, he had only the two things that would lead to his success, a million plastic bottles and a whole lot of worm poop.
The genius behind Szaky’s product is that it’s completely made from waste. Some say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and in Szaky’s case everyone’s trash has become his millions. Using organic waste digested by worms, TerraCycle brews the poop into a tea and packages it in used, 20oz. soda bottles.
The bottles are collected by school children in a nationwide program called the Bottle Brigade™ campaign. The end result is not only a product which rides the wave of environmental concern that has been dominating the media, but the also provides living proof...
Wall Street Journal
Big Fish, Smaller Ponds (August 20, 2007)
Tom Szaky, the 25-year-old CEO and co-founder of TerraCycle Inc., a maker of organic plant food, has hired several large-company veterans at fractions of their previous salaries. He finds it easiest to attract older executives looking for a second career, who might have even taken a retirement package from their previous employer -- "people who don't really need the job but want to get back in the game." But he also recently hired a midcareer executive away from Philips Electronics NV to be vice president of sales.
Mr. Szaky leans heavily on his vision of TerraCycle as an environmentally friendly company with a social conscience in his recruiting, but he also sweetens the deal with stock options that anticipate the four-year-old company going public, something he says it may do in five years....
Educate Deviate
UN Youth Assembly Day 3 - Our Commitment To Our House - Mother Earth - Ensuring Environmental Sustainability (August 16, 2007)
Next was Jon Beyer, founder of TerraCycle, a company that makes environmentally-friendly products using recycled packaging. The Aquafina bottle I’m drinking out of now will turn into a plant food spray in their factory. They also sell worm poop (yes, literally) as fertilizer - the worms eat through the waste and apparently it’s very good. It all started from writing a business plan for a college competition about the worm poop idea - while they didn’t succeed in the competition, they borrowed money to make a larger-scale device and got started. Apparently cafeteria waste is horrid to work it. THey started out as a waste-disposal company but decided to focus more on their end products, while still maintaining the environmental focus. They also had faced challenges trying to get their packaging...
Western Chesterfield Exchange
Natural Fertilizer's Name Might Make You Squirm (August 16, 2007)
The label of the bottle on the shelf declares the product's name in large, bold red words: 'Worm Poop'. You see it, you titter with adolescent laughter, you take a second glance to make sure you read correctly, then you point it out to others … or management, depending on your demeanor.
Whether you have yet to notice, the bottles of liquid organic plant food named Worm Poop have been recently, well, plopping down on store shelves throughout the area. New Jersey based TerraCycle Inc. chose the Midlothian area as one market to test their new ecologically friendly fertilizer product. ...
Avenue News
St. Michael the Archangel kindergarten students excited about helping the Earth (August 15, 2007)
Students at St. Michael the Archangel School in Overlea have been participating in a revolutionary new recycling program that is sweeping the nation. Through a company called TerraCycle, kindergarten students at St. Michael have been collecting used soda bottles to raise money for sea turtle habitats in Costa Rica. In addition to helping the sea turtles, the students have also been able to help the environment by recycling the bottles.
TerraCycle, Inc. is a New Jersey based company that sells liquefied worm poop fertilizer packaged into recycled 20 oz. soda bottles. The company receives the bottles through their Bottle Brigade program. Through the Bottle Brigade, TerraCycle collects bottles from schools, churches and other non-profit organizations. TerraCycle then uses the bottles to package...
Progress Plus
Kroger Aids Recycling by Selling "Worm Poop" (August 15, 2007)
The Kroger Stores in Charlottesville are now testing an organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle, Inc. The "Worm Poop" plant food is a high quality fertilizer that comes ready to use, no mixing required! Unlike many eco-friendly and organic products, TerraCycle comes at no premium, costing only 4 dollars a bottle!...
US1
The Write Stuff (August 15, 2007)
Just on the heels of last week's article on Trenton resident and photographer Jon Naar's new book, 'The Birth of Graffiti', we found out about another graffiti event - this one live. TerraCycle, the company that brings you worm poop for your garden, holds its annual 'Worm Poop Factory Graffiti Jam,' on Saturday, August 18, hosting more than 50 artists from across the country to repaint TerraCycle's entire factory....
Woodland Progress
Pitt professors' recycling aids Braddock library, music hall (August 15, 2007)
University of Pittsburgh professors are collecting used 20-ounce pop bottles to help protect the environment and assist in efforts to preserve and restore Braddock Carnegie Library and its music hall.
The professors are members of Bottle Brigade, a nationwide recycling program that donates money to charitable causes. For every bottle they collect, TerraCycle Inc., which organizes Bottle Brig-ades nationwide, will donate 5 cents to Braddock Carnegie Library and its music hall.
Heading Pitt's Bottle Brigade is John Hempel, a professor in the biological sciences department. He has collected more than 6,000 used bottles, resulting in more than $350 for the restoration efforts....
Intelligencer
Organic Plant Food Available (August 13, 2007)
The Kroger Store on Mt. de Chantal Road in Wheeling is now testing an organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle Inc. The plant food is a high-quality fertilizer that comes ready to use, no mixing required. Unlike many eco-friendly and organic products, TerraCycle comes with a friendly price.
TerraCycle is the first product to be sold at Kroger Stores that is not only made from garbage, but also packaged in garbage. TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles. The production of this super eco-friendly product is actually consuming waste.
Kroger will be selling the All-Purpose Plant Food in its Kroger stores to test the eco-friendly product’s appeal to its customers....
Journal Gazette
Business at a Glance (August 12, 2007)
Kroger markets in the Fort Wayne area are now testing a organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle Inc. The “Worm Poop” organic plant food is a high-quality fertilizer that comes ready to use....
Baltimore Sun
Kindergardners Recycle (August 8, 2007)
Kudos to the kindergardners at St. Michael the Archangel School of Baltimore. They have recycled more than 400 soda bottles, which they have sent to a company called terraCycle. You can find their handiwork at local Home Depots and other places where terraCycle plant fertilizer is sold. TerraCycle washes the bottles, strips off the labels, then fills the recycled bottles with its product. For every bottle sent in, the company donates $5 to a charity of the school’s choosing. In this case, they chose Earth’s Birthday, which teaches children about our planet....
Globe and Mail
The worm turns ... a profit (August 7, 2007)
On the website of Cathy's Crawly Composters is a cartoon titled "Getting Into Heaven in the 21st Century.
In it, St. Peter is querying a would-be entrant on his recycling habits. Did he recycle: "absolutely." How about composting? Well he lived in an apartment. Well what about using composting worms? Well he didn't have a balcony. What about your living room, asks St. Pete. "Worms in my living room? For Pete's sake!" answers our hero—before realizing he's doomed....
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Here's the real poop on recycling (August 7, 2007)
While you're buying your tomatoes, chicken, eggs and dishwashing soap at your favorite Kroger's, you might want to check out the worm poop.
Don't worry, it won't get on your shoes. The worm leavings have been turned into plant food in recycled plastic drink bottles -- at least one Memphis nonprofit is gathering the bottles.
"We're testing the product to see if it will catch on (in supermarkets) and see if their (Kroger) customers are ready to go green," said Mike Avale, a spokesman for TerraCycle, the Trenton, N.J.-based company that makes and sells the product....
Organic or Bust
Testing Organic Fertilizer (August 7, 2007)
The Kroger Store on Hardy Road in Vinton is now testing an organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle, Inc. The “Worm Poop” plant food is a high quality fertilizer that comes ready to use, with no mixing required. Unlike many eco-friendly and organic products, TerraCycle comes at no premium costing only 4 dollars a bottle.
TerraCycle is the first product to be sold at Kroger Stores that is not only made from garbage, but also packaged in garbage! TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles....
Our Valley
Organic product being test marketed in Vinton (August 7, 2007)
The Kroger Store on Hardy Road in Vinton is now testing an organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle, Inc. The “Worm Poop” plant food is a high quality fertilizer that comes ready to use, with no mixing required. Unlike many eco-friendly and organic products, TerraCycle comes at no premium costing only 4 dollars a bottle.
TerraCycle is the first product to be sold at Kroger Stores that is not only made from garbage, but also packaged in garbage! TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles. ...
Fort Collins Now
Worm Poop Hits Shelves (August 4, 2007)
Make room on your shopping list for worm poop.
Colorado-area King Soopers are now selling a new organic fertilizer which essentially is the dirty business of earth crawlers. “Worm Poop,” is a all-purpose plant food manufactured by TerraCycle, a newcomer in the fertilizer business.
Kroger, King Soopers’ parent company, is selling the product to test its eco-friendly appeal to customers. The fertilizer is certified organic by the Organic Materials Review Institute, according to TerraCyle.
Albe Zakes, the director of public relations for TerraCycle and self-described “eco-revolutionist” said the company is hoping to ride the current green trend consumers seem to be on....
York Region
Newmarket bottle brigade recycles, raises money for charity (August 4, 2007)
The bottle brigade brings two companies together to raise funds for a local charity.
Habitat for Humanity York Region will benefit from the partnership of the Newmarket Home Depot and TerraCycle Inc. The recycling initiative sees Home Depot employees collect 591-millimetre pop bottles in the lounge and, for each one, five cents goes to Habitat, a non-profit organization helping build homes for low-income families.
...
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Here's the real poop on recycling (August 7, 2007)
While you're buying your tomatoes, chicken, eggs and dishwashing soap at your favorite Kroger's, you might want to check out the worm poop. Don't worry, it won't get on your shoes. The worm leavings have been turned into plant food in recycled plastic drink bottles — at least one Memphis nonprofit is gathering the bottles. "We're testing the product to see if it will catch on (in supermarkets) and see if their (Kroger) customers are ready to go green," said Mike Avale, a spokesman for TerraCycle, the Trenton, N.J.-based company that makes and sells the product...
York Region
Newmarket bottle brigade recycles, raises money for charity (August 4, 2007)
The bottle brigade brings two companies together to raise funds for a local charity. Habitat for Humanity York Region will benefit from the partnership of the Newmarket Home Depot and TerraCycle Inc. The recycling initiative sees Home Depot employees collect 591-millimetre pop bottles in the lounge and, for each one, five cents goes to Habitat, a non-profit organization helping build homes for low-income families. The bottle brigade is being implemented at 3,000 locations across North America, where schools, community groups and businesses can choose which charity to support...
Post Tribune
Learning recycling: Students collect paper, plastic to raise funds, awareness (August 3, 2007)
A group of students at Merrillville High School is raising funds for their school while boosting environmental awareness. The school joined Bottle Brigade, a nationwide program through TerraCycle Inc., to raise money for the school's recycling efforts. For each used 20-ounce bottle the students collect, TerraCycle donates 5 cents to the school. Jared Pierson, a teacher at MHS, said he decided to get a recycling program going for his business education classes as a way to raise money and improve the community. Abitibi Paper Retriever provided an outlet for a paper recycling program in all the cooperating classes, Pierson said...
Hippo Press
Profitable poop (August 2, 2007)
How is Candia turning its plastic milk cartons into a money-making resource? Filling them with poop. Worm poop. No longer will one-gallon milk cartons be incinerated (and yes, it's actually legal to incinerate plastic if you have the proper permits). The kind folks at TerraCycle will not only take them off residents' hands; they'll pay the city 150 percent over market value, roughly seven cents a carton, which the city will put toward a new recycling center set to open next year that will recycle many kinds of plastic...
Plenty Magazine
August 1, 2007
PlentyTV interviews Tom Szaky, co-founder of TerraCycle, the leading maker of organic plant food...
Marketplace
July 31, 2007
Scotts, which owns Miracle-Gro, is a $3 billion behemoth, which leaves little room for an organic plant food maker with what you might call a creative new product. Alex Goldmark has that story...
Houston Chronicle
Trashy in a good way (July 31, 2007)
Where does the organic plant food now on sale at Kroger come from? New Jersey. What's it made of? Garbage. Launched in 2001 by two Princeton University freshman, TerraCycle Inc. sells potent organic waste that has been composted by worms and packed into re-used soda bottles. Although TerraCycle Plant Foods are available at some Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Target stores — apparently, trash sells — this summer marks the first time supermarkets will test their appeal...
l'annee de l'amusement
A Poop Revolution (July 31, 2007)
A few months ago I saw "big ideas for a small planet", a sundance channel show that featured terracycle. You may remember a previous post encouraging you to join the bottle brigade. I have a bad habit of bugging dianna with story ideas for morning edition. I have at least one a day and I get salty when they don't end up on the air. Terracycle seemed like the perfect NPR story — poop, worms, david and goliath, etc. and it just seemed so cool. So she decided that we would stop in trenton, nj our way to annie and vint's...
Mansfield News
Kroger selling organic plant food in recycled soda bottles (July 31, 2007)
Kroger stores in Mansfield are selling a certified organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle Inc. The "Worm Poop" plant food is a fertilizer that comes ready to use, no mixing required. TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles. Kroger will sell the all-purpose plant food in its Kroger, Dillon, Ralph's and Smith's stores from Ohio to Nevada testing the product's appeal to its customers. This product is 100 percent made in the U.S. and certified organic by the Organic Materials Review Institute...
Vail Daily
City Market stores in Vail and Avon now stock organic plant food in recycled bottles (July 31, 2007)
The City Market stores in Avon and Vail are now testing a certified organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle Inc. that is packaged in reused soda bottle. The "Worm Poop" plant food comes ready to use and costs $4 per bottle. TerraCycle claims it has the first product to be sold at Kroger Stores that is not only made from garbage, but also packaged in garbage. TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles. The 20-ounce soda bottles used to package TerraCycle Plant Foods are collected through the "TerraCycle Bottle Brigade," a nationwide recycling program with more than 3,600 schools, churches and other community groups collecting bottles...
Inc Magazine
Catching Up with the 2006 30 Under 30 Alumni (July 30, 2007)
#1 Tom Szaky, TerraCycle
Here's what we've been up to:
* We launched nationally in Target, Wal-Mart, Kroger and a number of other major retailers.
* TerraCycle expanded its product line from four products to 12 this year, and next year we will be expanding with 20 new introductions (ranging from fire logs to bird feeders).
* This year we will do $5 million in revenue versus $1.5 million last year. We anticipate $10 million for 2008.
* We opened another office in Atlanta.
* Grew from 30 people to closer to 60.
* We were sued by Scotts Miracle-Gro (check out http://www.suedbyscotts.com/).
* Closed a C round for $2 million in financing.
Chillicothe Gazette
Kroger stores testing organic plant product (July 29, 2007)
Local Kroger stores are going green by test-marketing a totally recycled product. Stores are selling TerraCycle All-Purpose Plant Food, which is made out of liquefied worm feces and packaged in a reused soda bottle. Kroger will be selling the All-Purpose Plant Food, which many call "Worm Poop," in its Kroger, Dillon, Ralph's and Smith's stores from Ohio to Nevada testing the eco-friendly product's appeal to its customers. This fertilizer is certified organic by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), and is non-toxic. The used 20-ounce soda bottles used to package TerraCycle Plant Foods are collected through the TerraCycle "Bottle Brigade." The brigade is a nationwide recycling program with more than 3,600 schools, churches and other community groups who collect used 20-ounce soda bottles. For every bottle they collect, TerraCycle donates five cents to a nonprofit organization of their choice...
JS Online
Fertilizing bottom line (July 28, 2007)
Fertilizing the garden has gone to the worms. TerraCycle Inc.'s line of plant foods and fertilizers is made from liquefied worm poop and packaged in recycled soda bottles. TerraCycle uses bottles from the Bottle Brigade Recycling program, which counts almost 3,500 schools, churches and community groups nationwide. Organizations earn 5 cents for every bottle they collect. Visit www.terracycle.net/bb to sign up your church, your school or office. Look for TerraCycle worm poop plant food and fertilizers at Target, Whole Foods and Home Depot...
The Forum
How Hard Is This? (July 28, 2007)
The Town of Candia has never accepted plastic containers as a recyclable material. For years, the town has incinerated plastic with the rest of the non-recyclable garbage. That is about to change! The town has joined forces with TerraCycle,Inc. to start recycling used one-gallon milk jugs. Better yet, for every used milk jug that is dropped off, TerraCycle is donating money to Candia...
Coloradoan
Applause (July 27, 2007)
The three King Soopers locations in Fort Collins are now testing a certified organic plant food manufactured by TerraCycle Inc. that is packaged in a reused soda bottle. The "Worm Poop" plant food comes ready to use, no mixing required. TerraCycle is the first product to be sold at Kroger Stores that is not only made from garbage, but also packaged in garbage. TerraCycle Plant Foods are made from organic waste that is composted by worms, liquefied and packaged in reused soda bottles...
Union Leader
Candia milk jug program off and recycling (July 2 | | |
