Aussie Kids to Recycle Thousands of Toothbrushes to Win a Recycled Community Garden

Thanks to a recycling competition run by Colgate, Chemist Warehouse, and TerraCycle, Australian students have the chance to win a recycled community garden set by preventing tens of thousands of oral care products from ending up in the landfill.

Between 23 March and 31 October 2018, the Colgate Community Garden Challenge invites pre-, primary and secondary schools nationwide to collect all brands of oral care waste and send it to TerraCycle, who will give the waste a second life by creating new products.

Five recycled community garden sets will be awarded to five schools, with each set including three garden beds, two custom-made benches, one rubbish bin and one sign, plus a $500 gardening voucher to buy seeds and plants.

Besides showing how recycled materials can be used as a sustainable alternative to virgin plastic, Colgate, Chemist Warehouse and TerraCycle hope the sets will promote gardening and healthy eating among schools.

“At TerraCycle, we want to ‘Eliminate the Idea of Waste’ and a perfect place to start is with schools,” said Jean Bailliard, General Manager of TerraCycle Australia. “Australian kids and young adults are the next environmental leaders, so we’re excited to see how much oral care waste they keep out of landfill.”

The Colgate Community Garden Challenge will have five winners that will each win a recycled community garden set: three winners will be the schools that recycle the most oral care waste and earn the most online votes from the community; two winners will be drawn at random. By sending at least one shipment (minimum 2kg) of accepted oral care waste to TerraCycle, schools earn one entry into the draw to win a recycled community garden set.

Accepted oral care waste includes: toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothbrush and toothpaste tube outer packaging and floss containers.

Additionally, in monthly prize draws, schools will have the chance to win a pack of 60 upcycled pencil cases made from recycled toothpaste tubes – another example of how oral care waste can become a valuable new product.

Competition entry, rules and an interactive leaderboard can be found at www.terracycle.com.au/colgategarden. Individuals can also vote for their nominated school at www.terracycle.com.au/colgategardenvoting.