Tom Szaky and John Beyer met in their freshman dorm at Princeton in 2000, and a year later they were making plans to enter the business world together.

Tom Szaky and John Beyer met in their freshman dorm at Princeton in 2000, and a year later they were making plans to enter the business world together. On a visit to a friend in Canada, they discovered worm boxes - worm habitats that facilitate vermacomposting, which can be used to fertilize houseplants. Szaky and Beyer thought the concept had potential and went to work on a business plan that they entered in a contest. When they won, the partners decided to try their ideas out in the marketplace. They established TerraCycle Inc. in 2003.

The young and environmentally focused company produces a liquefied form of vermacompost called "worm tea" and packages it in used plastic soda bottles. According to spokesman Albe Zakes, worm tea is made by "taking worm poop, liquefying it and brewing it like you brew tea." The company developed a worm gin that serves as an automated feeder for the worms. The multilevel piece of machinery maintains a specific level of worm waste at all times. Worm waste is high in nitrogen - phosphorus and potassium, all key fertilizer ingredients, he notes.

The company's products are sold ready to use with no mixing required, unlike most competitors' products, he says. "They can be sprayed directly on the plant or applied to the root base and soil, and are completely goof-proof, meaning that [it] is impossible, in our tests, to over apply our product," Zakes says. "Synthetic fertilizers will cause plant burn when over applied. Because our products are all-natural, it is impossible to cause plant burn by using them."

TerraCycle purchases used soda bottles in large quantities from recycling centers, and the company also works with non-profit groups that submit bottles through fundraisers. Its Bottle Brigade program pays schools, churches and other groups five cents per 20-ounce bottle. A Girl Scouts troop (Troop 3803) is the company's No. 1 provider through the Bottle Brigade program, which, as a whole, collects many of the bottles the company uses. To date, the Bottle Brigade has rescued more than 1.2 million bottles.

Zakes describes TerraCycle's customers as avid, mature gardeners who are environmentally conscious and/or organic-minded. "We find that it's a growing market sector across the board," he says. "People are starting to pay more attention to being organic. Those are our largest customers. Gardeners have known the power of vermicomposting for a while, but we have taken the concept national. We sell to big-box retailers and offer competitive pricing to synthetic alternatives."

The company plans to introduce several new products in 2007, including a peat-free potting mix - "the world's first potting mix to be packaged in used milk or water jugs," he explains.

It will introduce its first two concentrates - a lawn fertilizer and garden fertilizer, both made from worm waste and packaged in used soda bottles. Other new products include seed starters made from worm waste and packaged in recycled cardboard, and a tomato variety of plant food.

The company also offers all-purpose orchid and African violet plant food. It currently has nine products on the shelves, and hopes to expand to nearly 30 by the end of the year.

"These are great new products for us," Zakes says. "This is a moment when TerraCycle is expanding from personal use to landscapers and commercial business."

Zakes says TerraCycle has grown 300 percent per year for the last three years. It expects to report sales of about $1.5 million in 2006 and expects $5 million in sales this year.

The company currently has more than 30 employees. It moved into its current factory space in 2004, and was first picked up by Wal-Mart and Home Depot in 2005. Target began selling TerraCycle products in 2007. It is widely available in many other retailers, as well.

"We are very committed to being eco-friendly," he adds. "Our factory is in Trenton, N.J., in an urban redevelopment zone. It's tax-free for businesses, and is another way to make a more beautiful world out of things that are already here."