万花筒 2009-02-26&02-27 垃圾赚大钱

How are the bird feeders coming?

 

Tom Szaky is turning garbage into gold.

 

“From Capri Sun(1) juice pouches¹ we make into messenger bags and pencil cases, chip bags into homework folders², vinyl(2) records into clocks, circuit boards into frames”.

 

In 2003, Szaky dropped out of Princeton University to focus on his company Terracycle. His first product was fertilizer. But now he can’t take his eyes off the trash.

 

“Just in 2008. we saved somewhere over 100 million units of waste”. Terracycle takes ordinary garbage like juice pouches, cookie wrappers and plastic bags and turns them into new products. Companies like Kraft(3) and Frito-Lay(4) send their garbage to Szaky instead of to the dump. Schools, churches and other groups also help. For each item they collect, Terracycle donates two cents to the school or charity of their choice. While the weakened economy affects sales, Szaky isn’t worried.

 

“We keep cost low by having waste as our input³.”

 

And this may change consumer habits.

 

When you buy a Terracycle, pencil case, it’s not gonna cost more than a cotton pencil case. Green is sometimes just considered very elitist. You know it’s only for people who can afford it. We are trying to break that down and do it for everybody.

 

 

Notes:

 

(1) Capri Sun: Capri Sun is a brand of juice drink owned by the German Company WILD (Chairman Dr. Hans-Peter Wild) and sold in silver pouches.

 

(2) Vinyl: Vinyl is a strong plastic used for making things such as floor coverings and furniture. You can use vinyl to refer to records, especially in contrast to cassettes or compact discs.

 

(3) Kraft: Kraft Foods, Inc. (NYSE: KFT) is the second-largest food and beverage⁴ company headquartered in the United States (after PepsiCo) and the third largest in the world (after Nestlé SA and PepsiCo).

 

(4) Frito-Lay: Frito-Lay North America (FLNA) is a division of PepsiCo, Inc. which manufactures, markets and sells a variety of corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods.

 

(4) Frito-Lay:

 

1 pouches   

n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋

参考例句：

• Pouches are a peculiarity of marsupials. 腹袋是有袋动物的特色。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Under my eyes the pouches were heavy. 我眼睛下的眼袋很深。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 folders   

n.文件夹( folder的名词复数 )；纸夹；（某些计算机系统中的）文件夹；页面叠

参考例句：

• Encrypt and compress individual files and folders. The program is compact, efficient and user friendly. 加密和压缩的个人档案和folders.the计划是紧凑，高效和用户友好。 来自互联网
• By insertion of photocopies,all folders can be maintained complete with little extra effort. 插入它的复制本，不费多大力量就能使所有文件夹保持完整。 来自辞典例句

3 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

4 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。