Kiwi kids competing for gardens

Kiwi kids and students have the chance to win a recycled community garden set by diverting tens of thousands of oral care products from landfill, thanks to a recycling competition run by Colgate and TerraCycle.

From now until November 16 this year, the Colgate Community Garden Challenge invites pre-schools, primary and secondary schools nationwide to collect all brands of oral care waste and send it to TerraCycle, who give the waste a second life by creating new products.

Two recycled community garden sets will be awarded to two schools, with each set including one garden bed, one park bench and one bin, plus a $300 gardening voucher to buy seeds and plants.

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

Colgate vice president and general manager of South Pacific, Julie Dillon, announced Colgate’s involvement in the national recycling challenge.

“Colgate is thrilled to partner with TerraCycle to give kids the opportunity to win a recycled community garden set while reducing landfill.

“We’re confident they’ll do an excellent job of showing New Zealand how oral care products can be recycled and given a second life,” Julie says.

TerraCycle New Zealand general manager Jean Bailliard says they want to eliminate the idea of waste and a perfect place to start is with schools.

“Kiwi 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.”

Schools can visit www.terracycle.co.nz/ colgategarden to join the competition, access posters and resources to get started, and watch their competition ranking on a digital leaderboard.

People can also vote for their nominated school at www.terracycle.co.nz/ colgategardenvoting

The competition

The competition will have two winners — one the school that earns the most Garden Points, the other drawn at random. Each wins a recycled community garden set. Oral care waste includes any brand of toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothbrush and toothpaste tube outer packaging and floss containers.

In monthly prize draws, schools will have the chance to win a pack of 90 upcycled pencil cases made from recycled toothpaste tubes — an 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.co.nz/ colgategarden

Recycling programme

The Colgate Community Garden Challenge is part of the broader Oral Care Recycling Programme sponsored by Colgate, which has enabled Kiwis to divert more than 320,000 pieces of oral care waste from landfill since 2014.

Additionally, collectors can earn donations toward their nominated school or non-profit organisation for each piece of oral care waste recycled.