WILLINGBORO — Halie Henry joined about seven of her classmates in taking their first trip down the slide of their brand new playground last Wednesday morning. "It's actually really fun," she said with a smile. "It's better than the older one." It was the first time the students of Hawthorne Park Elementary School had the opportunity to try out the new playground they won in the 2016 TerraCycle Recyced Playground Challenge. The idea to participate in a recycling challenge came in late 2011, thanks to grandparent volunteer Lu-Ann Doyle.  

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Students at a Burlington County, New Jersey elementary school are the winners of a brand new playground thanks to their recycling efforts. The playground itself is made from recycled materials. The ribbon was cut Wednesday for the new playground at Hawthorne Park Elementary School in Willingboro. Old tooth brushes, plastic floss containers and toothpaste tubes are among the items re-purposed to make the playground.  

Want to help Hillcrest Elementary School win a new playground and help keep the town green at the same time? From today until June 30, you have a chance to do both by participating in a contest run by TerraCycle, and sponsored by Colgate and ShopRite. TerraCycle is an international upcycling (to reuse discarded objects or materials) and recycling company that takes difficult to recycle packaging and turns it into affordable, innovative products. To help click the link below and vote for Hillcrest Elementary PTO Somerset, NJ. http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/colgateshopriteplayground2017 Students and school staff will recycle waste that would usually be thrown away, such as potato chip bags, candy wrappers, cereal bags, beauty product containers, and other clean trash. At the end of the year, the collected waste is sent to TerraCycle and they send back a check. Empty toothpaste tubes, boxes, old toothbrushes, and empty dental floss containers can be sent to the school. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. So the community is encouraged to share the link above or the flyer below to help spread the word. Last year Hillcrest Students won toothbrushes and toothpaste of each student.  

TerraCycle launched the fourth annual Recycled Playground Challenge with Colgate and ShopRite to teach school students, teachers and communities about preserving healthy smiles and a healthy environment as they compete to win a recycled playground for their school.   Starting March 12, schools located throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland were eligible to compete for a new playground made completely of recycled material by joining TerraCycle’s Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program, a free, national program hosted by Colgate and TerraCycle.   Through June 30, each unit ("unit" defined as 0.02 lbs of used, post-consumer oral care products and packaging) of oral care waste, such as empty toothpaste tubes and floss containers, sent to TerraCycle for recycling earns participating schools one (1) ‘Playground Credit’ towards winning the grand prize playground. Schools can earn additional Playground Credits by  encouraging their community to vote online.   “We are pleased to announce the continuation of our Recycled Playground Challenge in partnership with ShopRite and TerraCycle,” Juan Pablo Zamorano, president, North America, Colgate-Palmolive, said in a statement. “By offering the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program and Recycled Playground Challenge, we are able to remain committed to the well-being of our customers and the preservation of our environment.”   The school with the most Playground Credits will be named the winner by July 30, 2017, and the playground will be installed this fall. The first and second runner-up schools, as well as six honorable mention participants, will be awarded various prizes and ShopRite gift cards.

TerraCycle announces the 2017 Recycled Playground Challenge, its fourth annual partnership with Colgate and ShopRite to teach school students, teachers and communities about preserving healthy smiles and a healthy environment as they compete to win a recycled playground for their school. Starting March 12, schools located throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland are eligible to compete for a new playground made completely of recycled material by joining TerraCycle’s Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Program, a free, national program hosted by Colgate and TerraCycle. Through June 30, each unit (“unit” defined as 0.02 lbs of used, post-consumer oral care products and packaging) of oral care waste, such as empty toothpaste tubes and floss containers, sent to TerraCycle for recycling earns participating schools one (1) ‘Playground Credit’ towards winning the grand prize playground.  Schools can earn additional Playground Credits by encouraging their community to vote online by logging ontowww.terracycle.com/colgateshopriteplayground2017. Full set of rules for the 2017 “Recycled Playground Challenge” can be viewed: www.terracycle.com/colgateshopriteplayground2017. “We are pleased to announce the continuation of our Recycled Playground Challenge in partnership with ShopRite and TerraCycle,” said Juan Pablo Zamorano, President, North America, Colgate-Palmolive. “By offering the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program and Recycled Playground Challenge, we are able to remain committed to the well-being of our customers and the preservation of our environment.” The school with the most Playground Credits will be named the winner by July 30, 2017 and the playground will be installed this fall.  The first and second runner-up schools, as well as six honorable mention participants, will be awarded various prizes and ShopRite gift cards. ShopRite is also encouraging community participation in the contest with contest displays throughout its stores and information about the contest on ShopRite’s Facebook page. “ShopRite is excited to once again bring this great program to schools in the communities where our ShopRite stores operate. The Recycled Playground Challenge motivates students to recycle and teaches them innovative ways to preserve the environment,” said Christine Magyarits, ShopRite Community Relations Manager. “For the fourth year in a row, we are excited to have this opportunity to show ShopRite’s dedication to the surrounding communities.” All participants in the Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Program are making a difference for the environment and their community.  The program is an ongoing activity open to any individual, family, school or community group.  For each piece of waste sent in using a pre-paid shipping label, participants can earn money toward donations to the school or charity of their choice. “With the recycling program, Colgate enables their consumers to divert waste from landfills, engage their communities and be rewarded for their effort,” explained Tom Szaky, TerraCycle Founder and CEO.  “The Recycled Playground Challenge promotes the program and creates awareness, allowing us to reach more people and make a greater difference in the environment.”

WILLINGBORO – A recycled playground is on the way this spring for Hawthorne Park Elementary School.   The school earned the playground, which has an approximate retail value of $50,000 and will be recycled from oral care waste, through the 2016 “Recycled Playground Challenge,” courtesy of Colgate-Palmolive, Shop Rite and recycling company TerraCycle.   The Recycled Playground Challenge included hundreds of schools throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland, which participated in the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program, a free recycling program operated by Colgate and TerraCycle.   Hawthorne Park earned a total of 44,188 playground credits by recycling oral care waste and through online voting. While Catherine Doyle Elementary in Wood Ridge finished first in the contest with 48,355 credits, since that school was unable to accept the playground, it goes to the next finisher, which was Hawthorne Park.   The schools earn one “playground credit” for each unit of empty toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, and floss containers sent to TerraCycle for recycling by students and teachers and one credit for every online vote cast for the school. A school or day care must be registered in the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program in order to participate in the contest.   The Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program is an “ongoing activity, open to any individual, family, school or community group.”     Trenton-based TerraCycle, Inc. was founded in 2001. Its website calls it the “world’s leader” in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, ranging from used chip bags to coffee capsules and even cigarette butts.

Wood-Ridge's Catherine E. Doyle Elementary School has won a new plastic playground made of recyclable materials. The school and community earned their prize by collecting Colgate brand plastic recyclables such as floss containers, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes and sending them on to Terracycle, Inc. and also by voting online for their school.

Longfellow Elementary School is competing to win a playground made from recycled oral care waste through the second annual Recycled Playground Challenge, courtesy of Colgate-Palmolive (“Colgate”), the global oral care leader; ShopRite, which has more than 250 stores in the Northeast; and recycling pioneer TerraCycle.