everydaytrash

DVR alert for anyone who gets the National Geographic Channel! A new show called “Garbage Moguls” will launch next month (timed with Earth Day). The premise: follow around Tom Szaky, the 27-year-old CEO of TerraCycle who started his empire selling worm poop as organic plant food from his Princeton dorm room before dropping out to move on to larger ventures—like partnering with major companies to upcycle their trash into products he sells (and sometimes even getting paid by the companies to take their trash in the first place).

Tom Szaky

Check out this sneak peek of the show.

Prediction: That dude in the striped sweater has runaway reality star smeared all over him,  Steve-O meets Matthew Lillard‘s character from Hackers meets Leila’s lunatic vegan ex.

I’ve been endeared to the TerraCycle story since reading on the ill-fated BlueEgg.com that he got the worm poop idea from observing stoner friends in college. And a while back I posted a link to a video showing the life of an upcycled CapriSun pouch. Today, I started reading an advance copy of Revolution in a Bottle, Szaky’s autobiographical tale of TerraCycle and his vision of green capitalism. Since green and profit aren’t concepts that often go together, I’m hoping it will be an engaging and controversial read. Stay tuned for a critique and perhaps even a Q&A with the author.