3p Contributor: Tom Szaky
Recent Articles
Help TerraCycle Find New Life for Old Toothbrushes
Toothbrush Terrain. Image credit: krossbow on Flickr.
Look at your toothbrush. It’s likely made of some form of plastic, rubber, and inventive design engineering, packed into a small space. After your initial decision process, where color, teeth cleaning wizardry, and perhaps recycled content and recyclability came into play, you don’t really notice it that much anymore. It’s become part of the background.
Until now.
Now being the start of another round of winter colds, one of the preventative practices being to throw away your toothbrush and get a new one. Hang on, you know I can’t let that be how it goes!
Wake Up Call: Interview with the Global Campaign for Climate Action
Something amazing is happening. This week in NYC, Climate Week is in progress, with leaders from 90 countries gathering for a United Nations-organized event focused on climate change. And there, along with 1000 events in 100 countries on September 21st, an unprecedented alliance of people and groups will be gathering for a truly global “Wake Up Call” to world leaders as part of the TckTckTck campaign.
In NYC today, people will form a giant earth moving through an hourglass: the ‘Human Countdown’. The event aims to demonstrate that the time to act on climate change is running out. The event’s actions are many, but its goal is singular, according to Kumi Naidoo, Chair of the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA): “Ultimately we want world leaders to commit to attending the talks in Copenhagen , where they must sign a deal that is fair, ambitious, binding and that reflects the latest science.”
I recently had a chance to interview Naidoo about TckTckTck, and asked:
“What about this will help leaders see this as more than a well organized protest with colorful, but ultimately dismissable people involved?” to which Naidoo firmly answered, “This isn’t a protest. We’re looking to have a proactive influence on the decision making process. The size and breadth of the TckTckTck coalition demonstrates that this is something that leaders should listen to. If world leaders see support from their electorate for a fair, ambitious and binding deal at Copenhagen, they will have the space they need to take action. TckTckTck is about mobilizing a massive number of people from a broad cross-section of society and ensuring that world leaders take action in Copenhagen.”
Re-Imagining the Scotch Tape Dispenser Without Changing it at All
If you’re reading this, it’s pretty likely you recycle. You sort. You do your best (most of the time) But what about those plastic Scotch Tape dispensers you use? Most recyclers don’t take them. You don’t have much use for them, being empty. What do you do? Toss them in the recycle bin and hope for the best, or just toss them out in the trash?
We’d like to propose a different option, one we hope encourages other companies to do the same. Starting in September we will be collecting Scotch Tape dispensers from the public, giving them the choice of which charity 2 cents for each goes.
But instead of doing what we’re known for, taking packaging and finding a different use for it as is or sewing it like fabric into bags, umbrellas etc—we will be giving them back to 3M to use for the exact same use they were before—tape dispensers. This is as close to Cradle to Cradle design as we’ve seen, but without the need to radically redesign the product packaging. Or redesign at all, in this case.
Can a Global Company Be Local?
Globalization has long gotten a bad rap. And for good reason. So many companies arrogantly decide that, one way or another, what they create will become what people desire, unaltered, in countries around the world. And in many cases, it’s worked, homogenizing cultures, at least on an aesthetic level, with no real benefit to the people on an economic or environmental level. It’s largely pop culture crap that ends up adding to landfills when done.
What if globalization could be flipped on its head, taking a business model and localizing it wherever it is, glocalizing if you will? That’s what we’re attempting to do with our upcoming launch in the UK in September together with Kraft UK. Customizing a business to be culturally sensitive and appropriate in other countries is nothing new, but what might be new is to what depth it’s being done here.
On a surface level, we are replicating what we’ve succeeded in doing here in the US – collecting waste with the help of the public and companies, and upcycling it into both product packaging as is, repurposed, and entirely new executions by turning layers of material into sewable fabric.
But things differ vastly from there.
Tom Szaky: Thinking In and Outside the Wrapper
When you think of socially responsible companies, Mars, the candy-focused food company is not likely to be the first one that comes to mind. And yet, perhaps it will, as they have recently made two monumental commitments, with action and money to back it up. They encompass both what’s in and outside the wrapper.
100 million tons of sustainably certified cocoa bean purchases by 2020 sounds impressive, but especially so when it’s with $10+ million a year being spent to enable the right conditions for there to be enough supply for such a goal. And this is not just for some niche candy lines, but all chocolate used in Mars products.
UTZ Certified is who they’re working with on this initiative. While not as well known by you and I as, say, TransfairUSA, their work is of no less substance. Along with source sustainability certification and verification of supportive workplace practices, they actively reach out to farmers and those in the surrounding communities the viability of and market for sustainably grown cocoa.
Does Everybody Have a Waste Problem?
Subaru, a company that you may assume creates significant waste, recycles 97% of its manufacturing waste and reuses the rest to generate electricity. (Photo: Eric Castro on Flickr)
I make products out of what would otherwise be garbage. That’s all we at TerraCycle do. So of course garbage is an issue that’s front of mind for us. But what about your company? What about any company? Does every company have a waste problem? Or turned around, a waste opportunity? Is there any company that doesn’t have a waste problem?
When Do Partnerships Make Sense?
How Terracycle is partnering with name brands to upcycle everyday goods.
Have you heard of a company called FAB? I’m guessing not, and at the same time, it’s a safe bet you’ve seen their products. And depending on how old you are, you have been running towards or running away from them for years. And fast.
FAB has licenses for a huge variety of today’s biggest pop culture brands: Paul Frank, Hello Kitty, Hannah Montana, Nickelodeon, Hello Kitty, Disney, Marvel, and on. From backpacks to snow globes to “novelty clocks,” their collective licensing and manufacturing might create an enormous amount of trinkets that will likely end up in the trash months after purchase.
And we’re now partnered with them.
What Is More Valuable: Material or People’s Time?
So many coffee lovers have switched to single portion delivery devices produced by a variety of brands, including Tassimo, Flavia and Green Mountain. The coffee taste is always fresh, perfectly brewed and one doesn’t waste extra coffee left from brewing a full pot.
The single dose cartridge is a composite of aluminum, plastic and coffee. Its used cartridge is currently not recyclable and is what Bill McDonough would call a “monstrous hybrid” since all three parts on their own are either compostable or recyclable, but together they make a unit that isn’t readily recyclable and thus is headed to the landfill. (The same is true for a wide range of common products too long to list here).
The solution to waste streams like this is to collect them and “dissemble.” The separation of the three basic materials is hard to automate and likely must be done by hand, at which point, the coffee can be easily be composted and the plastic and aluminum recycled.
Garbage Moguls: The New TerraCycle Reality TV Show
After 3 years of pitching networks, meeting with various producers, and all of the other Hollywood headaches we finally have our own TerraCycle Reality TV Show. Garbage Moguls, which debuts on the National Geographic Channel on Earth Day (4/22) at 9pm EST/PST, follows our team at TerraCycle as we take waste (in Episode 1, Oreo Wrappers and Coca-Cola Billboards) and figure out how to upcycle them into products (Oreo wrappers will become kites and billboards will be messenger bags) and then finally sell them to a major retailer (Oreo wrapper kites to Wal-Mart and Billboard messenger bags to Office Max). So tune in and also don’t forget to spread the word.
Can the Recycling System Be Upgraded?
Are things like Tetrapaks and Dannon/Stonyfield yogurt recyclable today? Yes and no. Here’s why: There are a few recycling centers that accept Tetrapaks and yogurt cups, but they are the exception. Most recycling centers do not except these materials, and those that do are so few and far between that only a small percentage of the American population can participate.
This creates a few problems: First, companies like Tetrapak and Dannon cannot state on their package that their product is recyclable since there is only service in a few communities. Second, a company like Tetrapak, that has invested millions to build Tetrapak recycling centers, cannot get any credit for their investment and continue to get bad PR for producing a non-recyclable product.
The reason this issue exists is that today’s recycling system is a reflection of the lowest common denominator in recycling. While many products are recyclable, the products that actually do get recycled are those for which the process exists in the majority of American recycling centers, and only a small percentage of recyclable plastics are recyclable nationally. There is very little incentive for local independent recycling centers to build the added capability since unless a solution is implemented nationally, the solution doesn’t get national marketing and people don’t get education about the opportunity for a new waste stream (or form of plastic or packaging) to be recycled.
Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle Redefines Green Business
My book, Revolution in a Bottle, hit the streets this week. It is a quick read that is meant to flow more like a novel, less like a business book. It follows the story of TerraCycle from our beginnings in my dorm room, shoveling maggot filled organic waste to creating products we sold to Wal-Mart and other major big box retailers, getting sued by Scotts and creating “sponsored waste” programs to upcycle branded waste. It also offers insights on how we approach media and pursue new opportunities. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction:
While it has not always led to the “right” decision, I have learned that I must always trust my gut. Sometimes this has led to hiring people without requisite experience but who have turned out to be gems as they developed their art. In some cases, I’ve opened doors to people and situations that have been problematic, but through each adverse experience, the company grew stronger. As one pathway we were pursuing became blocked or looked less promising, another would always open. As I think over the roller coaster of TerraCycle’s early history, I can see that it would have been impossible to predict or plan how to develop TerraCycle to the place where it stands today. The trick was to be ever vigilant in seeking opportunities, and to be ready to jump on them if they felt right inside and consistent with core mission, even before they could be well thought out. And, I have learned, by picking up the shovel (when we made our first years’ batches of worm poop), to actually working the iron and sewing machine as we made our first prototype upcycled materials and bags, that I could ground an idea in real time, and shortcut speculation about hypotheticals.
Who Is Responsible for a Better World? Government, Corporations or Us?
Here is a continuation of a conversation I am having with a friend, Melissa, in the CSR department of a major US consumer product good company.
The question that we have been grappling is one of responsibility. While the finger can be pointed at everyone, who really is in charge? Government, Corporations or us? Please join our dialogue as the point of this post is not to theorize about the answer, but to start the discussion. Here’s what Melissa had to say:
I can’t help but notice how we overwhelmingly blame corporations or government for our growing environmental problems while forgetting our responsibility as consumers. Sure, corporations produce a lot of stuff we don’t need in unsustainable ways, but we buy it! Yes, government could up the ante on environmental regulation, preservation and funding; but if we don’t tell legislators what we want and hold them accountable, we can’t expect much.
Accepting responsibility isn’t a sacrifice, but freedom and empowerment – the realization that we have a choice and aren’t helpless pawns.
Recycling and Reuse: Are Financial Incentives Necessary?
Call me cynical (and you’d be right), but I think that humans as a species have a couple of basic tenancies. We want life to be better and want to do less to make it so. In other words, we want more comfort and convenience at less cost. That is why we live in a consumer based society with disposable products. We also focus almost entirely on short term gain vs. long term gain. There are obviously exceptions to these rules – like our friends the Mennonites – but in general I think this holds true.
So here comes the million dollar question. If the above is true then how do we solve the environmental problem since it is a long term problem (vs. short term) and most of the solutions come at a higher cost and less convenience. Even a simple tasks like recycling takes time and energy (vs. throwing everything in the trash can) and has no immediate reward (only long term). With all this said I do also think that people want to do the right thing. However wanting something is less powerful than doing and the act of doing is governed by the aforementioned rules.
The solution is incentive. A fantastic case study in RecycleBank’s approach to recycling demonstrates this point. Recyclebank simply pays people to recycle. Prior to recyclebank recycling rates in Philly were under 30%, after recycle bank they were above 80%. Amazing.
TerraCycle (my company) runs brigade programs where millions of Americans sign up to collect waste (from Oreo wrappers to Stonyfield yogurt cups). Currently we donate $0.02 to $0.06 per unit of waste collected to the charity of the collectors choice. So here is my question: do we need to be giving out $0.02 to $0.06 per unit of waste? Over 1 million Americans are now sending specific non-recyclable waste to TerraCycle, postage paid, with the contribution to the charity of their choice. What will it take for you to collect your packaging waste and send it to TerraCycle (or another company), rather than sending it to an landfill? Is $0.02 or $0.06 not enough?
The Village Green: Building Partnerships to Create Environmental Value
They say it takes a whole village to raise a child. A child, like an idea, must be nurtured by many people working together for a common cause. So too must socially responsible companies join together if we are to achieve our common goal of a socially responsible, environmentally stable world.
Eco-friendly or triple bottom line start ups and small businesses face a steep climb to success. Traditional companies are able to make products and services faster and cheaper because they are not necessarily as concerned with the effect of their practices. So small start ups must find ways to compete with companies that have a well developed relationship with retailers and consumers, have more sales/marketing dollars, and only have one bottom line to reach.
I believe that to succeed “Green” must be a movement, a group of unified businesses that are willing to help, support and guide each other through the many challenges so that we all can reach our goals in unison. TerraCycle strives to do this through our Brigade programs, which we first launched with the help of Honest Tea and Stonyfield Farm. I think both of these partnerships represent a different, but important way that triple bottom line companies can partner.
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