As president of the slightly confusingly-named PayMore stores, Erik Helgesen has become a positive example for what can be done about electronic waste. Next time you’re upgrading to the latest smartphone, take your old one to a PayMore location. You’ll get paid what the item is worth whereupon PayMore will repurpose it so it doesn’t wind up clogging up yet another environmentally damaging landfill. PayMore’s work on sustainability in the electronics industry have so far diverted more than 15,000 pounds of electronics away from landfills while simultaneously building a profitable business. That kind of two-pronged approach to entrepreneurialism is a deserved path into the Worthy 100.
