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resource box below is included. ----------------------------------------------------------Turn Worm Poop into Cash
By Stephen Bucaro
Two University students, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer, entered their "Worm Project" into a business plan contest at Princeton. The project involved taking organic garbage from
dining halls at Princeton University and feeding it to worms. The worms processed
garbage into organic fertilizer for flowers, house plants, and vegetables.
- Most fertilizer products available today use synthetic chemicals which destroy
microbes that improve
soil and promote plant growth. In addition, runoff from fields into water supplies causes harm to
environment.
- The popularity of organically grown foods is growing. As a result, more farms are using organic fertilizers. The USDA projects that sales of organically grown food will be $20 billion this year and are expected to grow at an annual rate of 20 percent.
Szaky decided to drop out of school and dedicate his time to turning
Worm Project into reality. His company TerraCycle International Inc. www.terracycle.net signed contracts through which it will receive 130 tons of organic garbage daily from clients throughout northern New Jersey.