TerraCycle — garden supplier targeted
TerraCycle. A small company that sells gardening products. They appear to be everything good in terms of recycling, natural-based products that deliver what they promise. Boulder Belt Blog reports this company is the victim of apparent abuse of big-company access to the legal system.
TerraCycle involves school kids and others in collecting used 20-ounce plastic soda bottles, then re-uses those containers to package their product. From their web site: “At TerraCycle we manufacture affordable, potent, organic products that are not only made from waste, but are also packaged entirely in waste!”
And some career builder manager or lawyer at Monsanto/Scott’s wants to use the three-year old company as a grab for a note on their resume. Read more of the ‘Sued By Scotts‘ story on a site dedicated to the shameless grab for attention by the Monsanto-related Scott’s.
I dispute the tactic Boulder Belt Blog proposes, buying product then waiting to return it. For one, buying product (Scott’s is the target here, to protest) you intend to return later stinks of fraud. If there are no legal consequences, you still practice fraud. This is not honorable behavior. This also punishes the retailer, when Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Ace Hardware, and other merchants are not parties to Scott’s shameless shenanigans. And this also potentially injures your neighbors that have come to depend on Scott’s products. TerraCycle is not intending to break into Scott’s market, only provide an alternative that is manufactured in an ecologically sensitive manner, and is ecologically responsible in use. As Lucy at Boulder Belt Blog points out, TerraCycle users can hardly boycott Scott’s in protest, since most already avoid the kind of product Monsanto and Scott’s produce. There is very little market overlap between the two companies.
The real response would probably include writing to the courts and court officers hearing the case against TerraCyle. And also to Congress. Allowing corporate and legal weasels to bring frivolous law suits to further their careers or to generate new revenue streams is wrong, an abuse of the legal system, and abuse of the economy and thus a risk to the security of the US. (Yes, I do include the career-builders at the Department of Justice and their ‘crusade’ against adult material). We need to end lawsuits against legitimate individuals and companies, while retaining leverage against the unscrupulous. And I expect we will have to watch Congress, that graduate school for lawyers, very closely to assure they don’t simply pamper their colleagues, the corporate and lawyer weasels.
May 28th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I agree. We need to write congress and let them know. Perhaps what may be even more effective is to go to our local Home Depot’s (and the other stores that TerraCycle is in) and tell the store associates what is going on - I wonder if they know that Scotts is suing TerraCycle over such silly reasons and exerting its legal arsenal in a way that is completely unfair and unethical. Perhaps if the associates become as passionate as I am now that I know about this story they will recommend TerraCycle products to all of their customers. If that happens - well that could become the movement we all want to see happen. (I am a new TerraCycle customer!)
June 7th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I must respond to you accusationtions that I am not honorable. I guess you think it is okay for Scott’s to sue TerraCycle on basically bogus claims because they (Scot’s) have come up wih “organic” products (that are not OMRI Cert BTW because Scott’s says that would cost too much money-tells you where they are coming from) and now want to monopolize the market by sueing small companies in order put them out of business. Why not let he free market decide?
Any hoo in a legal sense I do no belive buying a product with the intent o return it is fraud or dishonerable anymore than a boycott is. People are not “harmed” by not being able to kill the flora in their soil with chemicals IMO.
As for punishing the retailer I feel if they carry the products of such a dishonerable company than they should also be punished in a small way (by having to restock) if people decide to take such action as I wrote about on my blog.
All I am doing is trying to make a point that there rerally is no free market if giants can and do use such tactics to shut down smaller competitors.
But you are entitled to your opinion
June 7th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Ohiorganic, thanks for visiting. I actually thought about this. And I won’t be promoting this type of action.
I understand you are unhappy, and want to deceive the merchant and Scott’s about sales, and to manipulate them using knowledge of common purchasing and other business practices to vent your unhappiness on Scott’s and the merchants, in this case Wal-Mart. I haven’t been to law school, but ‘deceptive practice, intended to cause harm’ is close enough to ‘fraud’, that I don’t want any. I also consider encouraging another to engage in fraud, or deceptive practice, to be conspiring, or an accessory, if in fact criminal charges are filed. This should also be covered under ‘thou shall not steal’.
Whether the law comes after you or me or not, I feel I would be doing a dishonorable thing by practicing deceit. It is not fear of what the state or Wal-Mart might do to me legally that deters me, it is the injury I would do to myself, by knowingly committing deceit, that makes me think I have better ways to communicate, better things to do with my life. Besides, I don’t wish to harm Wal-Mart, for a variety of reasons including the fact that friends work there, and I and my neighbors shop there.
There is a difference between calling you ‘dishonorable’, and what I stated, ‘is not honorable behavior’. Yes, I am being judgmental here, about the tactic alone. I don’t broadly claim you are dishonorable, only this action. (Hate the sin, not the sinner, kind of distinction.)
Anthony, good luck. Your approaches sound good, except history tells us they rarely help — you never get to pass your message to the people making decisions. Which is a big frustration, and likely the reason for Ohiorganic’s more drastic approach. Talk about helpless, the best I could come up with was this post, which is sympathetic to TerraCycle but critical of the tactic one of the bigger defenders is using. Making this a mixed message, and also likely naive and rarely effective. (Any Scott’s/Monsanto attorneys visiting, please leave a comment! Something simple, maybe ‘Visited, you misspelled ‘the”.)
I can just see a new media blitz ad campaign by TerraCycle — ‘TerraCycle organic garden products, Considered By Scott’s to be an organic alternative (per court filing [filing identifier index])’. The court filing is public record, it would be difficult for Scott’s to dispute. Perhaps TerraCycle could put a display placard order form on their site for merchants to request. Sell T-Shirts, etc. Getting their name and story into the public eye, even on T-Shirts and ball caps, can be immensely powerful.
I wish them well.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Here’s a link to TerraCycle’s appearance on BBC World News regarding the lawsuit with Scotts Miracle-Gro.. check it out!