TerraCycle: Get Paid For Trash

• Tweet
• Sharebar

flickr.com/theimpulsivebuy

TerraCycle turns waste into profitable products.

It’s an awesome business that embodies the idea of a sustainable economy, as it creates a market for products made from trash.

TerraCycle began with two freshmen at Princeton University, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer. Basically, they sold worm castings (fertilizer) in a wasted soda bottle. They took food waste from their school dining hall, fed it to their friendly worms, and voila, a commodity to be sold. This packaging of dining hall-sourced fertilizer in junk plastic bottles continued to sell, and eventually TerraCycle fertilizer was being sold at Home Depot and Whole Foods. Now, TerraCycle has expanded to include purses, bags, fences, and boxes–all made from trash.

Watch this video, you’ll love it (for more video education, visit TerraCycle.net):

And the fun part? Get paid for your trash! TerraCycle has set up neighborhood brigades, collecting certain pieces of trash such as Capri Sun pouches, candy wrappers, yogurt cups, and lotion bottles. See these trash heaps get transformed (by magic, of course) into lawn fences, recycling bins, clipboards, or bags.

Sign up to start your own brigade, or join an existing one!