History of Terracycle

Two ambitious young Princeton students, Tom Szasky and Jon Beyer, founded Terracycle in 2001. Their main idea in founding the company was to do something productive using waste products. They used worms to turn garbage into useful items like fertilizer. This is a process known as upcycling.

Some of the products produced by Terracycle include fertilizer, all-purpose cleaner, recycled fence, picture frames, and cactus plant food. Rubbermaid and Oxo Good Grips are two U.S. plastic companies that have purchased plastics from TerraCycle. Old Navy and Office Depot each had promotions sponsored by Terracycle for Earth Day. Terracycle also had a program called Bottle Brigade that was used for fundraising for schools.

Although Terracycle has some innovative ideas, I do not believe that this company is making a huge impact on the world today. They seem like a company that has gained some recognition because they are environmentally-friendly; however, they do not make many useful products, and they are not a well-known name brand. I think they could become more prolific as they do more research and testing in the future, but as of now I think that their impact on the market is minimal.

Thoughts on Undercover Boss

I found the Undercover Boss show to be very engaging, and it provided a new perspective for me on how companies operate. Since large corporations such as American Building Maintenance Industries, Inc. (ABM) have thousands of employees, it is sometimes hard for executives and high-level managers to relate to the everyday workforce. Doing janitorial work or driving a bus around might seem like a simple task to those in charge, but when Henrik Slipsager, the CEO of ABM, actually got out there and did the work, it proved to be much more difficult than he imagined. In fact, he wouldn't have even gotten the driver job had he been actually applying for it as a Joe-Schmo off the street! The film showed that many of the low-level employees are "unsung heroes" and take pride in doing their work the right way.

At the end of the episode, the unsung workers who did well were rewarded for their services. This reality series was a great example of why you should try to do your best and be a good employee, no matter what your line of work may be.

Joe Paterno/Gerry Sandusky Case

There was recently a scandal that has been documented at Penn State University. For years, Gerry Sandusky, one of the football coaches at Penn State, was involved in the sexual harassment of young boys. The most shocking part of this case was that Sandusky was known to have been a sex offender for years, but nothing was done about it. He never went to jail, got fired from the University, or was punished in any way.

This kind of criminal activity being swept under the rug is very disturbing. Not only is it illegal and immoral, but this behavior is also just repulsive and disgusting to a normal human being. The fact that the other coaches and people with the team allowed this to go on for such a length of time is just horrific. When something of this magnitude can remain hidden for so long, it just makes you wonder how much other corruption is going on in our world.

Government's Responsibility to Censor Content in Video Games?

The Supreme Court recently had a case about censorship of video games in the United States. As many people are aware, there are video games on the market today which contain extremely disgusting and anti-social content, and games are getting worse and worse over time. This particular court case was brought forth to decide whether or not the government has the right and/or responsibility to remove such games from the market, and whether the 1st Amendment protects the right to put out any material the game developers want, no matter how offensive.

Basically, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1st Amendment covers the right to put out just about any kind of video game you could imagine; however, sales of offensive games would have to be regulated and limited. There is a rating system for games that prevents minors from buying games with offensive content. Any games with a "mature" rating cannot be purchased by anyone under 17 years of age.

My opinion on this subject is that the government should have the right to censor video games. I think that the right to free speech only goes so far and that these video games influence us negatively, whether we realize it or not. We shouldn't be surprised about how the murder and rape rates have gone up over the years. When the youth are growing up playing games that promote violence and rape, in many cases that is going to influence their behavior. I guess it is good that there is a rating system, but a lot of times, children will find a way to get a hold of these games despite the rating. I believe the best solution is to get rid of these games altogether.