They recycled more than 400 pounds of dental waste.
PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Time for One Good Thing -- someone or something that makes West Michigan a good place to live. Big shout out today to a local school that won an award - and some serious prizes - for recycling.
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic School in Belmont recently won the grand prize in the 2021 Colgate and Meijer School Challenge. They were able to recycle more than 20,000 pieces of dental waste, which totaled more than 400 pounds! That included used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and empty floss containers.
The competition was open to schools in six different states. Assumption was number one. They received $53,000 worth of upcycled and recycled desks, backpacks, pens and more.
"I am so proud of this community for making a commitment to recycling and respecting Earth, our common home," said Principal Domenic Fraconi. "These used dental products are not typically recycled or thought of as being recyclable. We used this challenge as an opportunity to educate others, as well as be a good neighbor."
Congrats and One Good Thing to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic School in Belmont for their recycling efforts and competition win.
By
Maci Cosmore
Published: Apr. 6, 2021 at 5:25 PM EDT|Updated: 15 hours ago
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - Don’t throw out your old toothbrush just yet.
TerraCycle, a company working to eliminate waste, announced its new Colgate and Meijer School Challenge to turn your oral care waste into new supplies for local schools.
“We are offering recycled desks and chairs to kind of revamp classrooms along with upcycled school supplies,” TerraCycle Brand Partnership Director, Maame Mensah, said.
Any brand of used toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, floss containers, and other dental supplies collected will count towards the program.
And participating has been made easy for the schools once they set up an account on the TerraCycle website.
“They’re able to download free shipping labels which they can use to send their waste back to TerraCycle for recycling,” Mensah said.
And if you don’t have any oral care waste to recycle but you still want to show support, you can vote online for a school once a day.
John Spaulding, store director at Marquette Meijer, says this program will not only provide schools with necessary supplies, but also help to educate kids on sustainability.
“It’s just important to teach everybody that we need to recycle. We need to take care of our earth and really we need to do this at a young age,” Spaulding said.
The competition began March 28 and runs through June 19, 2021. The top three schools with the most waste and votes collected will receive the supplies.
For more information on signing a school up and voting, visit the TerraCycle contest website
here.
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