Who’s Who in Green: Tom Szaky

When TerraCycle co-founder and CEO Tom Szaky was 19 years old and a freshman at Princeton University, he entered a business plan competition with a friend that would change his life and lead to one of the most inspiring, truly eco-friendly companies ever created. Little did he know at the time that despite not winning the contest – he came in fourth – Szaky had taken his first step on a relatively short path to the top spot at his very own multi-million-dollar company.

So, what was Szaky’s bright idea? Worm poop. What would become Szaky’s breakout product actually grew from a need for a better fertilizer for his pot plants. It turned out that worm castings did the trick, and Szaky was encouraged by the fact that what most people consider garbage could be so useful. So, he dropped out of Princeton and decided to give entrepreneurship a shot. TerraCycle worm-casting fertilizer was packaged in used soda bottles with spray tops donated by companies who didn’t need them. Soon, it was picked up by Home Depot and Wal-Mart in Szaky’s home country of Canada, earning nearly half a million dollars in sales in 2005. By 2006, TerraCycle debuted in the U.S. and earned over $2.5 million.

Despite the fact that he showed up at important meetings with big-shot head buyers of mass merchandisers looking like he just rolled out of bed, the young CEO charmed his way to success with passion and an intimate knowledge of the product he had created. It helps, too, that TerraCycle offers retailers huge margins on its products due to the fact that, as Szaky has said, worms don’t charge for their labor, never take a day off, produce their body weight in waste every 24 hours and double their numbers ever three months.

TerraCycle has since expanded to offer a range of products including reusable totes made entirely from recycled plastic bags, rain barrels, bird feeders, deer repellent, composters, potting mix, seed starters, natural cleaners, school supplies, eco-friendly fire starters and other items created mostly from post-consumer waste. Even the cleaners come in used 2-liter soda bottles. The plant food made from worm waste is still TerraCycle’s flagship product, and it’s all-natural, all-organic, absolutely goof proof, cheaper than conventional products and actually works better as well.

They’re products made from waste, packaged in waste, and the production process produces virtually zero waste itself. Technically, TerraCycle could be making even more money by being paid to haul away the garbage that the worms eat. Right now, they don’t – but if they choose to go that way, it could mean even more success. Szaky parlayed garbage into useful, eco-friendly products – it’s a win-win for everyone involved.  As the CBS evening news said in a profile of TerraCycle, “[the] story is a reminder about following your dreams. The pot of gold may require dealing with a ton of crap.”

Szaky is hoping to inspire others to create environmentally responsible business models with his musings on ‘eco-capitalism’, which can be read on the TerraCycle website. Given the success that TerraCycle has achieved, people should definitely take notice – we could all learn a thing or two from Szaky’s innovative ways of doing business.  He has provided a model for all eco-entrepreneurs to emulate, and we hope that it’ll inspire an army of new green businesses ready to change the definition of capitalism in the United States and across the world.

Tom Szaky’s Green Score: 72,945

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