I was reading an article in a local paper called the "HIPPO". There was an article about how Candia, New Hamphire, was collecting plastic bottles and receiving $.05 per bottle from a company that fills them with "worm poop." I thought this is a great marketing idea to share with my colleagues on AR.
I began researching the company and the story that unfolded was amazing ~~
"Worms have played a more important part in the history of the world than most persons would at first suppose." - Charles Darwin
In 2001 two Princeton University dropouts, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer, developed an eco-friendly system to mass produce castings using millions of worms and organic waste from the university's student dining halls which they developed into a liquid organic fertilizer. The process they revolutionized is called vermicomposting. It is a process by which earthworms eat, digest and excrete castings (aka worm poop). Water is mixed with the worm castings to produce a nitrogen rich ‘tea'.
"MADE FROM WASTE AND PACKAGED IN WASTE" ~ Motto
The company is called TerraCycle and it is based in New Jersey.
Every part of the product is recycled.
The worms are fed organic waste. The bottles are sent from school cafeterias, citizen fundraisers and non-profits. The sprayers come from other companies' extras. The boxes used to package the finished product are boxes with misprinted mistakes. TerraCycle sells a dozen products, from potting soil packaged in recycled gallon milk jugs to seed starter produced in trays made from recycled paper. TerraCycle claims that studies at Rutgers University proved that its products outperform the chemical alternatives.
GREAT MARKETING OPPORTUNITY 
TerraCycle is looking for people to collect used 20 oz. soda bottles. They are setting up collection points all across America at locations ranging from elementary schools to colleges to yoga studios. For every bottle that is collected, TerraCycle will donate $0.05 to the charity of your choice or save 10 square feet of the rainforest through The Nature Conservancy. The company will provide four boxes with prepaid UPS labels and all you have to do is mail them back full of 20 oz. soda bottles with the labels removed. Check the site to find out which bottles qualify. After they are cleaned, the bottles are used to package TerraCycle Plant FoodTM. The company will also supply neck tags in their Bottle Brigade boxes on which you can put your name and state where you collected your bottle from. Click here to learn more.
DAVID VS. GOLIATH
TerraCycle recently was sued by Scotts®, the maker of Miracle-Gro® on a variety of counts. Among other things, Scotts ®claims that TerraCycle's packaging -- with its yellow-and-green color scheme, brand name in the center and photos of flowers and vegetables at the bottom -- infringes on the trade dress of Scotts's Miracle-Gro® brand. Scotts also accuses TerraCycle of falsely advertising that its products are superior to others, including Scotts's. In addition to requesting that TerraCycle destroy existing labels and signage at issue in the suit, Scotts asks that all gains, profits and benefits generated from the alleged infractions be awarded to Scotts -- a move that might wipe out TerraCycle. TerraCycle has set up a website and a defense fund. To read more about the lawsuit click here.
All graphics/photos courtesy of TerraCycle
Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Aquafina are protected trademarks of PepsiCo. Inc.
© 2007 Joan Whitebook - all rights reserved
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