One of the humbling things about straddling the line between the Baby Boomers and Generation X isn’t getting older. After all as far as we’ve understood that’s the only option unless you have a real hankering to become worm food. No the humbling part is coming to realize that so many of those things your mother told you over and over and over again were true.
Things like, “Brush your teeth or you’ll be sorry!” Or “Save your money for a rainy day” not to mention the even more timely “Better to rip up your credit cards than use them,” or the oft repeated “Youth is wasted on the young”
Though there’s one thing about that last one, about youth, that I recently was reminded about when learning what the folks at Terracycle are up to.
Terracycle is an innovative and creative company out of the good old Garden State that (that’s New Jersey if you don’t know your license plates) reminded us that the flip side of the youth is wasted on the young coin, is thank the FREAKIN’ LORD for youthful inspiration. Middle age makes us cynical and we need the energy and enthusiasm now more than ever.
Founded by two Princeton students (one was a dropout which makes us like this outfit even more), the folks at TerraCycle make products out of garbage and have had a terrific amount of success gaining retail distribution with giants like Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Office Max, coverage on major media outlets that would make a B-list actor jealous and partnerships with companies like that big Kraft.
The company makes a wide range of garbage, um we mean stuff, ranging from household cleaners to binders, garbage cans, recycling bins and a variety of bags and pencil cases (yes people still use pencils especially those smaller creatures called children and crossword fanatics too,) all made from garbage. They use garbage, for everything. Garbage in! New products out!
Further the company encourages people to send them their garbage. You can sign up (for a limited time) and mail in wrappers from a variety of products from Kraft owned brands including Balance Bars, Chips Ahoy Capri-Sun and Oreos provide TerraCycle with their raw materials and make some cash money at the same time. Yes they will pay you!
We’ll have more on TerraCycle after we finish our relaunch that will include our long awaited (man we’ve been talking about this for more than a year) Product Review section.
In the meantime, reduce, reuse and recycle and while you’re at it take a look at TerraCycle’s Eco-Capitalist Guidebook and learn more about triple bottom line business management that will make you feel so young you’ll wonder why you ever even worried about wasting your youth.