TerraCycle sued by Scotts, laughing all the way to the bank

A David v. Goliath story

Posted by David Roberts at 12:32 PM on 28 Apr 2007

Read more about: green living | business | green products | jackassery | gardening

Here's a marketing rule of thumb for the modern age: there's no better advertising for a small company than getting sued by a big company.

A little organic plant-food company called TerraCycle (which makes fertilizer out of worm poop) has gotten boatloads of free advertising out of its innovative strategy: rather than creating new bottles for the product, it asks schools and churches to collect used 20-oz. soda bottles. For each bottle collected, the company donates a nickel to the charity of the collector's choice.

Now TerraCycle is being sued by Scotts, maker of MiracleGro, which alleges that TerraCycle's product looks too much like its own. See, look:

TerraCycle

You can barely tell them apart!

Scotts also doesn't like that TerraCycle says on its bottle that its product works better than "a leading synthetic plant food."

TerraCycle seems to realize that this development is a potential goldmine. It's even started a new website: SuedByScotts.com. Some seriously funny reading.

You don't need me to tell you that MiracleGro is fracking evil. Now you have an alternative.

For story: TerraCycle sued by Scotts, laughing all the way to the bank
20 Comments | Post a Comment

This is great.

Well not great that TerraCycle is being sued for absurd reasons, but the way they're fighting back. Plus, I've been researching natural lawn care products, and thanks to this post, I've found the right fertilizer at least!

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal." - Albert Pine

by pattyp at 4:37 PM on 28 Apr 2007

Good one, Dave

Funny. Where can I get some of this poop?

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 6:47 PM on 28 Apr 2007

Home Depot!

To biodiversivist or anyone else who cares:

Home Depot had TerraCycle listed in their eco-friendly ad last Sunday, so I'm assuming it's available at all Home Depot stores.

I know I'll be heading out to find some very soon. This little farce by Scotts has made me want to give TerraCycle all my money (okay, not really, but it does make me want to support TerraCycle). I'll be writing to Scotts (whose products I have used in the past) to let them know that their pettiness (among other things) has cost them a customer.

Thanks for the info!

by sm00bs at 8:29 PM on 28 Apr 2007

worm poop!

This (from the TerraCycle site) is great:

<<
Worm Poop -- Mother Nature's Purest Sustained-Release Plant Food "Worms have played a more important part in the history of the world than most persons would at first suppose." -- Charles Darwin
Worms and plants have fed off one another in symbiotic harmony for billions of years. Worms consume dead plant matter, and in doing so, they excrete a natural fertilizer known as castings. That worm castings - actually worm poop - provide food for the plants that, in turn, will eventually become more dead plant matter for the worms.
>>

"Castings" is one of those cute euphemisms invented by Victorian scientists, I guess.

Still, it would be fascinating to visit TerraCycle's worm plantation, and watch all the little worms as they merrily munch and poop. Maybe there is even a petting zoo!

My favorite Richard Scarry character was always Lowly Worm, whether because he made his way so resourcefully in a town otherwise inhabited by mammals mostly, or just because of the way he looked, with that sock-puppet face and that nerdy Alpine hat.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 11:44 PM on 28 Apr 2007

alternatives

Alternatives have been around since long before Miracle Gro even existed...kelp meal for example, that you can buy in liquid or powder form at garden centers, added to water and applied with a watering can to plants, is a phenomenal growth stimulant. Better yet, next time at the beach, bring home the kelp you find in a big leakproof bag, soak in fresh water, and then chop up and compost with your kitchen scraps. This compost is killer for fat veggies.

The Orion Grassroots Network: 1,200+ grassroots groups working for conservation & more

by Erik Hoffner at 6:32 PM on 29 Apr 2007

Thanks for a good time

Thanks to this post, I spent the better part of Sunday morning reading at the TerraCycle home page! They're my new "favorite" eco-capitalist example. And I'll never look at empty plastic pop bottles the same way. I'm inquiring at my work place to see if we can start collecting 20 oz. empties for TerraCycle -- to be filled with worm poop!

I haven't written to the folks at MiracleGro yet -- but I did tell my next door neighbor the whole story. He dumped an entire bottle of MG down the toilet and offered me the empty to send to corporate headquarters with my protest letter! (I've never bought the stuff). And yes, Home Depot carries TerraCycle -- and it costs about the same as the competition.

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Ghandi

by Green Granny at 11:26 AM on 30 Apr 2007

comparing CEOs

Vital to this discussion is noting the comparative attractiveness of each CEO, as well as which one already appeared in the Grist List.

by Holly Richmond at 3:05 PM on 30 Apr 2007

i love grist

see, its small, but great pieces of litrature like this that makes me put grist on my bookmark tabs at the top of my computer!

GO worm poop, and keep on keepin' on GRIST!

by BSchott at 9:46 PM on 30 Apr 2007

Great Stuff

I just can't understand the wasted time and money when some lawyer follows through on such a stupid lawsuit. They must be feeling very threatened by the little worm poop company that thought it could. I really think some people have way too much time on their hands, wouldn't someone along the way say this is crazy?

FYI for those who haven't tried it, its great! Saw it reviewed in ecoLogical Home Ideas, ordered it and love the product. I have no need to buy anything else. Bye bye chem grow.

by green hornet at 3:06 PM on 04 May 2007

FYI for those who haven't tried it, its great! Saw it reviewed in ecoLogical Home Ideas, ordered it and love the product. I have no need to buy anything else. Bye bye chem grow.

by green hornet at 3:07 PM on 04 May 2007

oh, Tom!

Oh, Tom, how could I have forgotten, so soon after it happened!

This was included among Grist's New Year's Resolutions for 2007, written by someone clearly at the time as fluttery as I am feeling right now, having just beheld the lad's portrait:
<<
Photo: TerraCycleDate sexy eco-geek(s)
Hey Tom Szaky -- we like worm poop too. Or we could, for you. Call us -- we've got you programmed in as "bare-shanked screech-owl." If you know what we mean.
>>

Unclear what scenario the "we" suggests. But at least it sounds like something possibly interesting. The owl business, on the other hand, is rather over my head.

Needless to say, the facts of life being what they are, I rather identify with the poor hairless villain on the Miracle-Gro side, age-wise. I still have some hair left, but that hardly matters at this point, does it ...

Thanks very much, Holly Richmond, for the heads-up, which I only just now noticed.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 1:40 AM on 05 May 2007

Not so fast

I love to use green products as much as anyone, but what's fair is fair. The products in the picture that you have here are obviously not similar. However, if you look at this link:

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/photoExpansion.jsp?id=90 ...

You will see that the two products in this picture look virtually identical. Anyone could easily buy the product thinking it was miracle-gro. Environment-friendly products speak for themselves. Cheap tricks like that just hurt the environmental cause.

by helios47 at 9:14 AM on 22 May 2007

Except, uh ...

... one's in a recycled 2-liter pop bottle. Visible to the naked eye!

grist.org

by David Roberts at 9:21 AM on 22 May 2007

A redirect

Hey, all:

From Helios47:

"You will see that the two products in this picture look virtually identical. Anyone could easily buy the product thinking it was miracle-gro. Environment-friendly products speak for themselves. Cheap tricks like that just hurt the environmental cause."

I will presume you make this statement out of ignorance or a fit of hyperbole, as it is clearly in the class of "nothing could be further from the truth."

Otherwise, talk about cheap tricks. And hurting the cause of truth, which is integral to the environmental cause.

David
Sustainability For Life

Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

by SustainableGreen at 11:51 AM on 22 May 2007

sarcasm?

I assumed Helios was being sarcastic -- but what do I know, I did not go to Princeton.

Possibly what MiracleGro's lawyers were commenting on is that although the containers look nothing alike, they use a similar green-and-yellow color scheme. It sounds like a pretty far-fetched case to me; but you know, those lawyers need those billable hours ...

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 11:58 AM on 22 May 2007

Re: Sarcasm?

Hey, all:

Hey, mythical dog Canis candida:

Gee, I simply did not detect any sarcasm at all, so it would indeed be a big assumption. If one wishes to use sarcasm one needs to leave a hint or two of that sarcasm. I mean, what do you want me to do, be a mindreader?! [<--- See--like that!]

Actually I am far more partial to the idea that corporate lawyers are now using the technique the corporations have long protested--lawsuit abuse--under which they suffered so greatly and unfairly--all they wanna do is make a few [billion] bucks. [<--See--again!]

Okay, sincerely, I think the same argument could then be made about all milk containers--they all suspiciously have similar themes and words and illustrations--like, oh, I don't know...cows, pastures, children with milk mustaches, "milk", "pasteurized", etc. Oooops, maybe I should keep quiet about this, lest I start another phenomenon of big corporations suing littler ones over contrived, imagined, manufactured similarities [Oh, darn, I did it again!]

Coincidentally, I was in a store recently and saw the products on the shelf, and they ALL have the same similarities, but out of necessity, and all are different, again out of necessity. I hope this chicken sh*t lawsuit gets canned, along with a corps of lawyers.

David
Sustainability For Life

Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

by SustainableGreen at 1:29 PM on 22 May 2007

Princeton Photo

The suggestion that packaging for the two products in this photo are similar is absurd!

Aren't those particular shades of green and yellow fairly standard for garden products? I'm sure I've purchased garden products that are green and/or yellow -- either the packaging or the product itself -- that were NOT made by Scotts (tm). Will Scotts (tm) be suing other companies incorporating green and yellow into product labels? Will they be suing the Green Bay Packers for using the colors and the word "miracle" occasionally? Or perhaps God should sue Scotts (tm) for claiming they have a "miracle" product. It is downright blasphemy. Perhaps the Religious Right should be boycotting all Scotts (tm) products!

Corporate control over the extent of trademarks -- and patents -- has reached obscene levels. I'm surprise other manufacturers of gardening products are even allowed to put "grow" or "fertilizer" on the label. Our warped justice system probably considers that trademark infringement!

On the bright side... Scotts (tm) apparently cannot compete by suggesting they have a better product. All they can do is try to silence the competition. If the worm-poop is inferior -- and customers purchased it by accident -- people will not buy it again. Hmmm.... Scotts (tm) is clearly suggesting THEIR product is inferior.

Hey Scotts (tm)!!! What are you afraid of???!!! People will realize they don't need Miracle Grow (tm)???!!!

By the way...

(1) Anyone who confuses the two products should not be allowed to purchase chemicals like Miracle Grow (tm). Perhaps Scotts (tm) knows that their customers have been adversely affected by their products and are not able to recognize the "subtle" differences in labeling?

(2) Wish I could boycott their products, but I don't put anything on my lawn. It seems to be able to take care of itself. And I already by a different product for house plants. Oh well. I guess they can do whatever they want, but they sure appear quite petty.

by wiscidea at 1:39 PM on 22 May 2007

Checked out their website...

and I'm going to try at least one of TerraCycle's products this gardening season! Perhaps I'll pick one up tonight on my way home.

Thanks Scotts (tm) for being such petty little trolls! Otherwise, I might not have learned about TerraCycle! It looks like they have an excellent selection of products and I look forward to support such an environmentally friendly, visionary, and creative company. Folks like those at TerraCycle understand free-market capitalism more than Scotts (tm) ever will.

by wiscidea at 2:00 PM on 22 May 2007

Scott's v. TerraCycle

This is great reading, and yes, I think this forum will help TerraCycle in their fight to defend themselves, but I don't think they'll be laughing about this for quite some time. It is going to take an incredible amount of money and support to get them through this legal travesty;
I know, unfortunately, from personal experience, and am at risk of losing my tiny company to another bully, Burt's Bees. They may be green, but they aren't fair or very 'socially conscious'
when they try to descimate small companies starting out just like they did, as a cottage industry.

Barb, a wee bee

by Barb at 11:39 AM on 26 May 2007

A Suggestion For Some Relief

Hey, all:

Hey, Barb:

It sounds like you are in an unpleasant position. Why don't you do what Terracycle has done, and open a second website and get some attention for your product and your cause? It would certainly make the issue less taxing, and it may even make the bully reconsider. I am sure the outfit that sued Terracycle has gotten plenty of critical comments directed toward them. Let us know what happens!

David
Sustainability For Life

Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

by SustainableGreen at 6:57 PM on 29 May 2007

ADVERTISING POLICY

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