I had the pleasure of speaking to the 2008 Green Business Conference yesterday in my lovely home city of San Francisco. I was on a panel that addressed the way businesses and financial institutions were handled the crazy financial times we’re in. Let me tell you, people could not be more optimistic. With the lost credibilty of the world of high finance and greed, people are hungering for something more real and authentic. The Green Business community provides this in spades.
I would like to claim that I stole the show, but that honor goes hands down to Tom Szaky of Terracycle. In a true show of audacity, he proposed the elimination of the concept of waste in favor of “upcycling”. In his company, Caprisun pouches are turned into tote bags and old floppy disks into jot pads. What separates Tom is not just that he’s a visionary, but that he’s scaled his enterprise, growing over 100% a year and working with some of the biggest names in packaged goods.
Ending the concept of garbage completely… I think that rivals ending illiteracy by selling books in the audacity department. Congrats to Tom and his team for everything they’ve done.
