The Business End

I'm amazed at what people throw away as garbage," says TrashBusters.com manager Tyler Kornelius.

"All my furniture was rescued from the trash and I have a bunch of colorful treasures on my wall and decorating the mantle. Nothing matches, but I love it," he says.

Kornelius, a 21-year-old Business Administration student, started hauling trash in his red and white truck about two years ago. He quickly moved up in the ranks to become Seattle Operations Manager for this new thriving company built on other people's discards.

Speaking of discards, a TrashBusters.com crew in Vancouver uncovered a sports card collection worth more than $5,000 that someone had thrown out. Another crew salvaged a houseful of nearly new appliances being discarded by a Sonics player who was traded to New Jersey.

TrashBusters got its start in Vancouver, Canada when two university students bought a truck and began collecting trash. The company has expanded to Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Toronto and Denver.

The Seattle operation includes 10 full-time and 10 part-time employees.

Kornelius said he expects to have seven trucks on the road this summer. Contact TrashBusters.com on the web or at (206) 545-1100.

ThinkBlot

Rob Angel, one of the proprietors of Pete's Pizza and Calzone, a restaurant that singlehandedly introduced the calzone to Seattle, and the inventor of the internationally acclaimed Pictionary, has thought up a new adult game called ThinkBlot.

ThinkBlot challenges players to use their imagination to see as many different images within the wacky and eye catching shapes formed by ink blots, Angel says. Then the players have to use their powers of persuasion to convince other players to see the same thing. A portion of the price of every game will be donated to Rise and Shine, a support organization for children and teens with AIDS.

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