Texas Disposal Systems could have run a dirty landfill but that’s not who they are. Instead at their Creedmoor site just south of Austin they’ve managed and cultivated their acreage using sustainable best practices – and they’ve also created an exotic wildlife preserve. We went to visit them, and we lingered with the giraffes.

We went down to Creedmoor, just south of Austin, to visit the Texas Disposal Systems headquarters and recycling site. We met Bobby and Jimmy Gregory, founders of TDS. The TDS operation blew our minds – we thought we were green, but these guys have been thinking outside the trash can for decades.

Everything to the Gregory brothers is a resource. We are throwing money away and burying it in the ground, but TDS is developing better ways every day to take those resources out of our trash before the little left over goes into the landfill.

We will have MUCH more to say about TDS – and they’ll be an exhibitor at the sustainability expo on October 10th – but if you’ve ever wondered why the company that picks up our trash every week has zebras and other exotic wildlife painted on its trucks, here’s the clue: they’re from real photographs of animals at their wildlife preserve.