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All organisms produce outputs that are useless to them but useful for others. For example, a squirrel breathes out carbon dioxide and expels waste; these are outputs that it cannot beneficially consume. But they are valuable inputs to other organisms, like trees— which need carbon dioxide to inhale and microorganisms that thrive on that poop. This was also the case for our waste until recently—even for our product waste. A worn-out wooden chair or tattered cotton shirt would become valuable nutrients for other organisms at the end of its life, just like any other organic waste.
This all changed dramatically in the 1950s. With the ability to industrially produce exciting and affordable new materials, that cotton shirt became nylon, and that wooden chair became complex plastics. Because of this shift in materials, we began producing, and ultimately buying, more than ever. Today, a person consumes roughly ten times more than someone alive a century ago. Just think of how many socks we have in our drawers compared to our grandparents (and if we’ve ever bothered to darn them).
Learn about the theory of waste by reading Outsmart Waste.
Read moreHumanity started recognizing waste as an issue because of unsightly litter, bringing about anti-litter laws. Then came the first Earth Day in 1970, which birthed the modern environmental movement and led to the invention of recycling.
Now, 70 years since the modern idea of waste emerged, it’s a fast-growing crisis. We create products that nature doesn’t have systems to digest. We buy things we don’t need, use them for a short period of time, and dispose of them. The vast majority of this material is burned in incinerators, buried in landfills, or littered.
Only a small amount of our waste is recycled or reused. Each year, we use the resources of nearly two planets, and we throw out over two billion tons of trash.
Our current economy is primarily a linear “take, make, waste” model. We take resources from the Earth and make them into products. Then the products become waste once we’re done with them, typically after a very short useful life. Ultimately, we need to move to a circular economy where materials are circulated through reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling. This avoids the need to extract new materials and the associated impact on our planet.
With that said, the only silver bullet to most environmental challenges we face today is to buy less.
Learn about the circular economy by reading The Future of Packaging.
Read moreTerraCycle’s mission is Eliminating the Idea of Waste®. We partner with individuals, businesses, and communities around the world on our journey toward a circular economy.
We also work to clean up trash from waterways through the TerraCycle Foundation.
And see how we create innovations with waste, like tiniestBiome™, through TerraCycle Discovery.
As citizens and consumers, we have more influence than we may realize. We can all make a meaningful difference both with our actions and our voices.
• Vote with your money for the future we want by buying less and choosing to purchase regenerative and circular products. Remember that whatever we buy is an active financial vote for more of that product to be made.
• Compost at home, if possible, using a home compost pile or pickup service. Food waste is the most common material landfilled and incinerated in the US.
• Avoid products that don’t have a circular end-of-life solution. Buy reusable, then locally recyclable, and then products that can be recycled with TerraCycle.
• Take action by hosting a local cleanup.
• Reach out to local law lawmakers and tell them to pass laws addressing the waste crisis and promoting circular business models.
• Encourage your favorite brands to offer a recycling or reuse solution for their products.
What were the early days of fighting the waste crisis like at TerraCycle? Read how it all began—with worm poop in a used soda bottle.
Learn more about our humble roots
