'the gross heathenism of civilizationhas generally destroyed nature,
and poetry, and all that is spiritual.'
- john muir
this is tom szaky the founder of terracycle... for quite a while i have been wanting to blog about him and his business, just to spread the word... i found out about terracycle a few years ago on a pouch of honestkids juice (you know, the honest tea people?)... as i have a very hard time throwing things out, i was intrigued by their offer to accept juice pouches... land fills are a nightmare to me - NOT... even... kidding!
so, szaky uses waste as a resource... i am going to let you read about him (if you so choose), his company, the article on eco-capitalism, the materials they are accepting & the products they are making... it is very thorough and way too much for me to condense... but i know you will be happy if you do... i recently found some of their home cleaners at target in with the method products... they work well, are packaged in reused plastic bottles & leave a zero carbon footprint!
we have picked up pencils, pencil cases, etc... and they are now promoting a school fundraiser selling backpacks and the like...szaky's wife is a concert pianist who wore a gown made of 6,000 pouches at carnegie hall!
i am just so impressed by this entrepreneur... i always think it is so incredible when someone is able to think outside of the box and find success...
being environmentally conscious doesn't have to be hard... i collected the juice pouches from two 4th grade classes this year... that is usually how drinks come in for the elementary school kids, right? we donated a couple of hundred pouches, it was nice to be able to keep them out of the trash...
'alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.'
- helen keller
- helen keller
Interesting!
ReplyDeleteI was at Target yesterday and they have pencil pouches made from chip bags there. I also saw folders made from the boxes from chips that have been folded and laminated. Cool!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the day!
Erin
P.S. I think that dress looks amazing! We have students at the local university that do stuff like that...couture dresses made from feed bags or a sundress made from plastic bags that have been crocheted. Ingenious use of materials. I keep wondering what sort of jewelry we might make to go with her recycled juice pouch dress!
i love this concept... have always tried to make my purchasing power go far in this direction, but being able to send things from my home to be used as a resource really pleases me...
ReplyDeleteyes, would certainly have to come up with something eco-friendly but funky to go with that dress! thanks erin and sue...
Fantastic. I search out eco freindly, re-use, upcycle when ever I can. Thanks for posting yet another option!
ReplyDeletewow!! fantastic!!! thanks for sharing this :)
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I saw him and the company in a television profile show. They were trying to make kites from Oreo cookie wrappers to market to Walmart. These wrappers, btw cannot be recycled. So upcycling them is such a wonderful way to reduce waste. I seriously think upcycling is the wave of the future! Thanks so much for spreading the word! :)
ReplyDeletethanks you guys...
ReplyDeleteit is such a productive innovation and makes such a difference... plus besides making a difference by how we purchase, we can now contribute to this great company... glad you liked it!