Entrepreneurs: Tom Szaky and TerraCycle
by Miki Saxon
Clif Bar Wrapper Gown
I’m a renew (just fixed my office chair instead of replacing it), reuse (I love garage sales) and recycle (I save stuff that should be recyclable, but isn’t, until it is) nut and have driven a few friends nuts with my recycling “encouragement.”
So it’s no surprise that Tom Szaky, founder/CEO of TerraCycle is my hero and on several levels.
First, because where the rest of the planet saw garbage Tom saw potential profit.
Second, because he turned down a million dollar early stage investment, because it meant going against his/his company’s values.
Third, because his faith held and he didn’t take no for an answer.
Started in 2001, TerraCycle is the tortoise to the multiplicity of Net hares like Groupon, but in years to come it will be TerraCycle’s global reach that will truly change the world.
Flickr image credit: CSR Wire and YouTube.
