HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
FEBRUARY 2013
87
JEFFREY MAYER/WIREIMAGE (LOHAN); PAUL ZIMMERMAN/WIREIMAGE (CARR); KIM WESTERSKOV/GETTY IMAGES (SEAHORSE)
MOTTO
BIGBELLY SOLAR
TMZ.COM
T H E M U C K S T O P S H E R E
Two booming outfits demonstrate very different, but equally successful,
recession-proof methods of processing trash
“
The smart grid for waste and recycling”
Waste receptacles that hold five times as
much as a conventional can, thanks to a
built-in solar-powered compactor; data on
remaining capacity is transmitted wire-
lessly to eliminate unnecessary pickups.
Stinky overflow
Headquarters in
Massachusetts; factories in
Vermont and Kentucky
In 2009, BigBelly inked a deal to provide 500 trash
compactors to downtown Philadelphia (where
there are now more than 1,000). Thanks to the
compactors’ effect on C0 2 reduction and increased
residential recycling rates, Philly was bestowed a
best practices award for waste management.
Following the Philadelphia deployment,
Chicago and Boston followed suit, ordering
400
units each.
Though not the greenest guy on the planet,
Mitt Romney was Massachusetts governor
when BigBelly Solar received venture
capital from that state’s Green Energy Fund.
Garbage men, rats and
dumpster divers
Founder Jim Poss named the enterprise after the
big-belly seahorse, which is found in the waters
around New Zealand and Australia.
Thanks to reductions in trash pickups, cities
have saved so much money that they can
afford to step up recycling, which has led to
BigBelly’s offering recycling modules
.
More than 1,000 customers, including cities,
colleges and corporations
“
We love Hollywood, we just have
a funny way of showing it!”
The snarkiest celebrity gossip! The most
salacious headlines! More up-to-the-minute
reports on Lindsay Lohan’s blood-alcohol level!
A glut of scandalous photos! And lashings
of dirt, dirt, dirt!
Scruples
In 2007, TMZ.com launched the series “TMZ
on TV.” The
New York Daily News
described the
show as “next to worthless”—yet it remains
one of the most addictive programs on TV
and has been renewed until 2014, thanks to its
high syndication ratings.
TMZ.com was the first to report Mel Gibson’s
drunk-driving arrest, Michael Jackson’s death and
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s breakup.
New York Times
media columnist (and
Hemispheres
contributor) David Carr
tweeted that “‘TMZ’ is one of the best-cast,
best-written shows on TV. There, I said it.”
Sticklers for ethical journalism, celebrities
(
including Alec Baldwin, who has publicly stated
his desire to “kill” co-founder Harvey Levin)
The TMZ Hollywood Tour: Let the
peeping pros take you on a 24-passenger
bus tour. It’s been such a hit that a New
York version is in the works.
THE
BOTTOM
LINE
NO-BRAINER
BUSINESS
DECISION
NAME
ORIGIN
CRITICS
UNLIKELY
ADVOCATE
BIGWINS
WATERSHED
MOMENT
PRODUCTION
SITE(S)
WHAT
THEY
LACK
WHAT
THEY
OFFER
More than 20 million unique visitors
per month at TMZ.com
It’s a wink to L.A.’s “Thirty-Mile Zone,” an area
used to determine work rules and pay rates for
entertainment union members.
Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard,
a block from Chateau Marmont
T H E
H E M I
I N N O V A T I O N S P E C I A L
