The Wild World of Waste
Albe Zakes, TerraCycle Vice President of Media Relations
Most people view a landfill as dirty, gross, repulsive even. If you have ever stood on or near an active landfill, it’s hard to disagree. They smell, and seagulls and pigeons flock by the hundreds, diving so close to your head that you are sure they’ll hit you. Food decomposes, and bacteria, mold and vermin run rampant through mounds of society’s unwanted junk. Long story short: it’s no walk in the park.
That is what I love about working at TerraCycle. Tom’s innovative and fearless thinking has turned society’s graveyard into a goldmine! An ugly, smelly pit of garbage has suddenly and effortlessly been transformed into mounds of untapped opportunity. Through some unusual thinking and creative problem solving, Tom and TerraCycle have transformed, turned on its head, the way I view waste.
Tom was quoted recently as saying he felt like he was in the “middle of gold rush, but he was the only person who could see the untapped resources” shining like golden nuggets in a river of refuse. I felt that feeling of excitement recently, as I stood atop a mountain of garbage, knee deep in the foulest of textures and smells. It was the feeling of my forefathers, the truest embodiment of the American spirit; it was the feeling of a pioneer standing before an unknown land full of endless opportunity. It made me feel alive.
Like most young boys of my generation, I idolized the great icons of the American West, the fearless men who forged a new “American Way” without constraint or worry. Yet as I sat in my desk reading U.S. history from a book those many years ago, I came to the realization that there was little left to explore—the undiscovered lands of promise had been charted, mapped, bought, sold, developed, razed, and built up once more. I realized that I was doomed to follow another man’s path. Working for TerraCycle has set me on my own uncharted path, lead no doubt by Tom, but following no footsteps, no directions, no textbook.
Working for Tom has resurrected that wide-eyed little boy and great adventurer trapped inside. Working for Tom has evoked my American Spirit. I have finally inherited the pioneer spirit that forged this great country; the spirit has persevered through our ‘Darkest Hours’ and will lead us past our mounting issues to better world!
It’s a young man’s world...
The majority of the TerraCycle team are ‘twenty-somethings.’ Young, hard-working, motivated to make a difference. This young business with young employees is quite inspirational in two different ways. First, that companies like TerraCycle are willing to put faith and trust in less experienced minds, allowing young professionals to drive innovative ideas, unhindered by the prospects of making mistakes or even failure. Second, that there are young people who would rather earn start up salaries with few benefits to work for a company trying to make a difference than work at a corporate office with a big paycheck and health insurance.
Too many people in our generation seem to be content with settling into a comfortable job, home, lifestyle. We are at a crossroads in our society, faced with problems financial, environmental, and otherwise. We need motivated young people to not only demand change but to make change happen! The crew here at TerraCycle represents a generation ready to move beyond the mistakes of the past and help to build a better world. TerraCycle is still very much a start up company and the salaries and benefits reflect that stage in development. However, the young people at Terracycle, despite a lack of pay or health insurance, work harder than most bankers or lawyers.
Any two days, the job is never the same. One day you are in the office, the next day you are in a landfill. One day you are writing press releases, the next day you are designing a kite. Yet despite the sometime hectic, high-pressure, challenging landscape that is a day working for TerraCycle, everyone is happy, proud to know that their efforts, no matter how difficult, random, or smelly are helping to grow a better world!
Now that is a company one can be proud of working for.
^M
