Like many others, we already loved TerraCycle before reviewing Tom Szaky’s book, Revolution in a Bottle—How TerraCycle Is Redefining Green Business. Szaky’s little book is incredibly readable and takes you through the ups and downs (there were lots of downs). Starting with his freshman year at Princeton and his decision to drop-out, Szaky takes us with him through every agonizing detail of the struggle to start the company and keep it afloat. Think garbage bins filled with maggots, overflowing swimming pools filled with worm poop “tea”, etc… This could have been subtitled: The Little Green Company That Could.
Szaky goes on to tell how he chipped away at the big box retailer one by one. And how they eventually prevailed in an epic battle with a company much, much larger then themselves. He talks about TerraCycle’s innovations in ‘branded waste’ and ‘sponsored waste’—two concepts every entrepreneur should know about. Finally, some really practical words of wisdom about marketing and new product devleopment
Szaky also talks about his belief in PR. He gives five essential PR rules that really translate into a commitment to customer service—for journalists. My own dealings with Albe and George at TerraCycle have been nothing short of stellar. Friendly and responsive are the only adjectives that come to mind. Which goes to say, that when I let George know that I was writing this post today, he immediately updated me on new developments at TerraCycle. Which, since I like these guys so much, I will pass on to you:
First, the TerraCycle Drink Pouch Brigade, the original collection and upcycling program, has passed a major milestone by diverting over 50 million drink pouches from landfills and raising over a million dollars for schools, churches and non-profits. Woo hoo!
And second, as a prime example of they kind of ‘sponsored waste’ program TerraCycle innovated (page 115), they’re running a “Make a Difference Mom” contest in concert with Ziploc. This contest will ‘recognize moms around the country who are taking steps to make a difference for the environment and their communities.’ One grand prize winner will receive the title of “Make a Difference Mom”, a bunch of TerraCycle and Ziploc goodies, $1,500 to reward herself or her community and a video camera to document her experience. The contest runs until December 15, 2010.
Now for some great excerpts:
Page 52 …With the concept of the waste stream being redefined as a resource stream, we moved beyond being environmental friendly capitalists…
Page 62: …unless you make the product equally economical for consumers, they aren’t going to buy a product they don’t know anything about…
Page 63: …[the now replaced] Jeffrey Hollender, who runs Seventh Generation, will tell you with pride that he won’t sell to WalMart…unfortunately, his arguments work beautifully in an ideal world, not the everyday world of the average american consumer… [Ed note: We all saw Hollender's fate...]
Page 102: …I stopped seeing garbage as a garbage and instead slowly started to see it as a comodity…
Page 115: How Seth Goldman, CEO of Honest Tea, buys a TerraCycle composter for his wife’s birthday.
Page 154: …In eco-capitalism we think of trying to make business in America more like a tree and less like a fire…
Page 158: ...I would never discount the importance of the words “worm poop”…
Page 176: …Whenever we start on a new project, we follow a few basic golden rules:…1. Do not invent a new form of the product…2. Leverage your raw materials…3. Keep prices competitive… 4. Make sure it has the same (or more, or better) features…5. Keep it simple…6. Stay away form regulatory headaches…
In the end, Szaky concluded that his success can be attributed, in large part, to his unwavering belief in finding economic value in other people’s waste. Sounds simple, but having read the book, I now see it is a truly revolutionary concept.
This review is part of the second annual Green Books Campaign. Today, at 1 p.m. EST, 200 bloggers will simultaneously publish reviews of 200 books printed on eco-friendly paper to raise consumer awareness about considering the environment when making book purchases.
About Jennifer Kaplan
I hope businessmen and women are reading this book!
I also reviewed a Green book today. Hope you will stop by.
I read a book about POM that sounds similar to this one…a journey through a start up..an environmental startup.
This is one of the important new frontiers: changing the way we think about waste, and thinking of it instead as input. It’s something I talk about in Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, in fact. I’ll have to put this book on my reading list.
BTW, I’d have been happy to participate in the Green Books Campaign. I somehow didn’t hear about it until just now. And I’m proud to say that Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green is printed on paper that is both recycled *and* FSC-certified.