- TerraCycle
TerraCycle is a private U.S.
small business headquartered inTrenton, New Jersey , which specializes in natural plant food products.Products
TerraCycle produces a natural plant food made from worm waste products, and packaged in reused containers. They feed organic waste to
worm s. The worms' excrement is liquefied and brewed into a compost tea. It is then bottled in used soda bottles, many of which are collected through "Bottle Brigade" fund raising programs at schools and charities aroundNorth America .Walker, Rob. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/magazine/20wwln-consumed-t.html "The Worm Turns"] , "The New York Times ",May 20 ,2007 . AccessedDecember 15 ,2007 .]A new word being used to explain TerraCycle's business plan is "
eco-capitalism "; this term describes a company that is for profit, yet approaches every task from an eco-friendly perspective.Founding
TerraCycle was founded in the fall of 2001 by
Upper Canada College graduateTom Szaky , and Jon Beyer, two freshmen atPrinceton University .The initial idea came about as a submission to a business plan contest sponsored by the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club. The following summer, Szaky and Beyer made arrangements with Princeton Dining Services to take dining hall
waste and process it in their prototype "Worm Gin". By the end of the summer, TerraCycle had found its first investor. The company shortly moved into their first office at 20 Nassau St, Unit 14,Princeton, New Jersey .By 2002, the firm had created a continuous flow process to take garbage and have it processed by worms into fertilizer. [Piazza, Jo. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E0DB173BF93BA15754C0A9649C8B63 "UP FRONT: WORTH NOTING; Garbage In, Garbage Out. A Princeton Success Story."] , "
The New York Times ",July 28 ,2002 . AccessedDecember 15 ,2007 .]Szaky took an extended leave of absence from Princeton in the spring of 2003. In May of that year he entered the Carrot Capital business plan contest, which offered $1 million in seed capital to the winning team. TerraCycle won the competition, but turned down the money because of the direction in which Carrot Capital wanted to take the company.
Recent developments
Funded by prize money from various contests and angel investors, TerraCycle was able to persevere despite not accepting the million dollars. A major breakthrough came in May 2004, when
Home Depot began offering TerraCycle Plant Food on their website. TerraCycle continued its growth in 2005 asWhole Foods Market ,Home Depot Canada,Wal-Mart Canada,Wild Oats Markets and Do-It-Best began carrying TerraCycle products.TerraCycle has since been named one of the 100 most innovative companies by Red Herring Magazine and has received the Environmental Stewardship Award from
Home Depot Canada. The company has been featured onCBS , ABC, Fox News,CNBC , RobTV, CBC, andCitytv , and has also received coverage in "TIME", "Profit", "Canadian Gardener", "BusinessWeek ", "The New York Times ", "The Globe and Mail ", "Toronto Star ", "The Vancouver Sun ", "the Chicago Sun Times ", "National Post ", and "The Philadelphia Inquirer ". In July 2006, "Inc. magazine" ran a cover story calling TerraCycle " [http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060701/coolest-startup.html The Coolest Little Start-up in America] ".Currently, TerraCycle's head office, production facility, and R&D department are located in the
Urban Enterprise Zone ofTrenton, New Jersey . The company also has offices inToronto .TerraCycle sued by Scotts Miracle-Gro
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company recently sued TerraCycle for copyright infringement and false advertising. Scotts claims that TerraCycle's packaging takes from designs and shapes from Scotts products. Scotts, in the 177-page lawsuit, also claims that TerraCycle falsely advertises the superiority of its products.In response to the lawsuit, TerraCycle and affiliates launched an
internet and media campaign to bring attention to the lawsuit. The central website, www.suedbyscotts.com, paints the lawsuit inDavid and Goliath terms, claiming that the lawsuit is simply the big company picking on the little guy.References
External links
* [http://www.terracycle.net TerraCycle Website]
* [http://designverb.com/2006/12/08/terracycle-inc/ designverb summary]
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