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Reality shows are often classified as trashy TV. Now things have come full circle with a reality program focusing on--you guessed it--garbage. Garbage Moguls, premiering today on The National Geographic Channel, follows a team from "upcycling" start-up Terracycle as they take different waste products and figure out how to turn them into products that can be sold to retailers.
Terracycle, founded in 2001, got its start selling natural plant food made out of worm waste products. Now the company takes waste products of all stripes that can't be recycled and upcycles them into backpacks, pencil cases, folders, and more. Earlier this month, Terracycle inked a deal with Mars, Inc. to recycle waste packaging from cell phone holders and laptop sleeves into messenger bags.
The first episode of Garbage Moguls featured Oreo wrappers and Coca-Cola billboards transformed into kites and messenger bags that are ultimately sold to Wal-Mart and Office Max. As with every reality show, Garbage Moguls features a colorful cast of characters: CEO Tom, graphic designers (and sisters) Lea and Dara, Tiffany the product designer, Albe the PR guy, and Milton, the ex-con turned factory supervisor. The preview looks about as interesting as any other guilty pleasure reality show out there, but at least this one embraces its trashy roots.
Learn more about the show on the National Geographic website.
2 Comments
Add CommentAerin Dunford (Author) wrote:
Well hmmmmm . . . When I heard about this show aboutTerracycle through the everydaytrash blog I was really excited to see upcycling hit the mainstream via The National Geographic channel. I was even more excited to realize that I would be able to watch it when it premiered on April 22nd. So, I watched it. I guess I was a little surprised by the tone of Garbage Moguls. There were certain things that really bothered me: for instance why were the girls who had to go collect seat belts from the junkyard so skeeved out by the job, when they work for a place that's fundamentally about trash. It just seemed a little weird and it wasn't until I read this article that I realized that Garbage Moguls is a REALITY SHOW, it wasn't a one-time documentary-type show about an innovative and profitable idea. I mean don't get me wrong Tom says some really cool things about garbage and how he sees it as a resource, etc. etc. But really, a reality show? I don't know, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway, I guess if National Geographic wants to do a series about their business, that's cool but the show did seem to have the same dumb quality as most other reality shows. And the fact that they're making it (and making it big) in the upcycling business seems a bit trivialized by the nature of the production - just the way that it was all about these superficial relationships and dramas (which I am sure actually happen). I'd rather know about how they're doing what they're doing and not about if Lea and Dara are pissed at Milton, or who's got a crush on whom. I don't know if this resonates, it's just what I've been pondering since seeing the show a few weeks back.
Little Shiva - wrote:
It's the difference between SEEMING and BEING.