April 17, 2010
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A New Love (and a Longstanding Hatred)
Terracycle. Love it.
Walmart. Hate it.
Why do these two things go together, you ask? Well, first let me tell you about my new love for all things Terracycle. They are a company that I have been aware of for awhile, but have become more familiar with in recent months thanks to our school’s participation in the “drink pouch brigade” and the “chip bag brigade.” They pay schools, churches, families, etc. to collect particular kinds of trash — in our case we get $0.02 for each drink pouch or chip bag we send in — and they reuse it to make new products. I became a fan of the company on Facebook, and they provide a wealth of information about all things green — not just their products.
Through my Facebook connection with the company, I learned that Terracycle had worked out a deal with Walmart for the month of April. In honor of Earth Day, Walmart will be selling the largest inventory of Terracycle products ever offered. They will be stocking the Terracycle products along side the original products — like a lunch bag made out of drink pouches would be sold next to Capri Sun drinks.
Or at least that’s how it is supposed to work.
I found out about this arrangement awhile ago and was trying to get myself to write a blog about how although I don’t like Walmart (and have been known to refer to it as evil), they do reach the masses and if they reach the masses with a message about being earth friendly…….well, you get the drift.
I couldn’t do it. I tried and tried to stifle the Walmart hate enough to do it, but I never succeeded.
And then a friend went to Walmart to buy some Terracyle products for a school event. And they weren’t there. Anywhere. And she asked three Walmart employees and they had no clue what she was talking about. And didn’t offer to find out more.
What a relief! I can still hate Walmart.
And I can still love Terracycle, because when I posted something about this on their Facebook wall, they got back to me in less than 30 minutes with a toll-free number to call to report the incident and for help in locating the products we need.
I heart Terracycle. Please buy their stuff — but if you’re going into Walmart to find it, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Comments (3)
I have never heard of Terracycle, but we don’t even have a Wal-Mart in our town. In our county, in fact. No Wal-Mart for miles around. So I won’t be tempted to go there and buy Terracycle even though they don’t have any.
I’ve heard about Terracycle and would love to check out their stuff. Not surprised about Walmart, but glad you can keep hating them.
I was just at a book launch event last night that focused on the new “green” capitalism and there was a whole room full of people who thought Walmart is evil
Unfortunately the author of the book also effectively demonstrated to me how Whole Foods and many “organic” companies are also pretty evil…