October 2010 – Gabrielle Chung

Recycling=Entrepreneur?

Tom Szaky is a 28 year old Canadian entrepreneur who is the founder of TerraCycle. His personal motto is that “there is no such thing as garbage,” and thus, created a company solely based on recycling. For example, TerraCycle makes backpacks from drink pouches, kites from skittle wrappers, and picture frames from bicycle chains. I couldn’t help but to think that this whole company is a brilliant idea! In fact, TerraCycle is the first of its kind and it is quickly gaining great popularity. This posting reminded me of brand positioning in class and the importance of being “first” in the market. Furthermore, TerraCycle just made its own category. The idea is appealing in so many levels, especially to the trend of being environmentally friendly. By assigning value to waste, instead of WasteManagement just moving garbage from a dumpster to a landfill, TerraCycle is in it for the long run. The company even encourages society to send in any recyclable items for a bit of cash and eventually wants to collect all non-recyclable items.

and check out the TerraCycle website: http://www.terracycle.net/

GM, Chevron, and Texaco are preventing fuel efficient cars!

I came across an interesting posting called NIMH batteries Held Hostage by Chevron-Texaco and I realized how big of an issue it really is. Currently plug in hybrids are forced to use lead-acid or lithium batteries even though the NIMH batteries last longer, drive an EV at 80mph for up to 120 miles, and have 1500 charges (150, 000 miles before they need replacement). The reason behind this is because GM purchased control of the patent, which was later bought by Chevron and Texaco, so no car companies can make hybrid vehicles without their permission. The frustrating part about this is that the NIMH went into production in 1997! That was 13 years ago and yet this technology cannot be used because of a “patent.” Car companies are only allowed to use NIMH batteries if they have consent from Chevron even though companies, like Toyota, already have the technology to make it. Therefore, Toyota can only produce plug in vehicles if they think of another battery technology or until the patent expires in 2014. And this is all because GM, Chevron, and Texaco want to continue making money from gasoline operated cars!