On Saturday, October 25, the ReFresh Project will host a Preview Party and Community Farm Ribbon Cutting, an event in celebration of the project’s first place win in the first-ever national Garnier Green Garden Contest. The contest was put on by a partnership between Garnier, a L’Oréal beauty products brand, and TerraCycle, a Progressive Waste Solutions Company and world leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste.

After transforming more than 1,500 pounds of recycled personal care waste into a one-of-a-kind Garnier Green Garden in Harlem and overhauling a garden at a special needs school in the Bronx, Garnier and TerraCycle took their eco efforts on the road with the “Where Should Our Garden Grow?” campaign to reward one recipient with a new community garden. After a public voting period, The ReFresh Project of New Orleans has been named the winner.   - See more at: http://www.happi.com/issues/2014-09-01/view_breaking-news/where-should-our-garden-grow-campaign#sthash.DAmBc8zW.dpuf

After transforming more than 1,500 pounds of recycled personal care waste into a one-of-a-kind Garnier Green Garden in Harlem and overhauling a garden at a special needs school in the Bronx, Garnier and TerraCycle took their eco efforts on the road with the “Where Should Our Garden Grow?” campaign to reward one recipient with a new community garden.

After transforming over 1,500 lb of recycled personal care packaging waste into a one-of-a-kind Garnier Green Garden in Harlem and overhauling a garden at a special needs school in the Bronx, Garnier and TerraCycle took their eco efforts on the road with the “Where Should Our Garden Grow?” campaign to award one recipient with a new community garden. After a public voting period, The ReFresh Project of New Orleans has been named the winner.

After transforming over 1,500 lb of recycled personal care packaging waste into a one-of-a-kind Garnier Green Garden in Harlem and overhauling a garden at a special needs school in the Bronx, Garnier and TerraCycle took their eco efforts on the road with the “Where Should Our Garden Grow?” campaign to award one recipient with a new community garden. After a public voting period, The ReFresh Project of New Orleans has been named the winner. The campaign, which kicked off in Earth Month and ran through June 15th, asked fans to vote for which deserving community should win its very own Green Garden. The ReFresh Project’s ReFresh Community Farm is a new teaching farm located in Treme/Mid-City New Orleans. The new garden will be capable of yielding more than 2,000 lb of vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers. It will not only provide New Orleans residents with a safe space to connect and enjoy nature, but will also allow community members to grow their own fresh food locally. The ground breaking is expected to take place this fall. The plastic components of the garden, such as raised beds, picnic tables, and trash receptacles are made from recycled beauty-care packaging waste collected through Garnier’s Personal Care and Beauty Brigade®. The Brigade is a free fundraising program that donates money to a charity of the collector’s choice for every piece of beauty and personal care packaging waste returned to TerraCycle for recycling. The collected waste, which would otherwise be destined for landfills, consists of non-recyclable hair care, skin care, and cosmetic packaging. “We are thrilled to announce The Refresh Project in New Orleans as the community where the next Garnier Green Garden will plant seeds and flourish,” says David Greenberg, President of Maybelline New York-Garnier-essie. “Keeping beauty packaging waste out of landfills is only part of the mission. It is equally important to make sure that we help communities across the country create sustainable gardens and playgrounds, and this is a perfect way to use the beauty waste we’ve been able to collect through our Brigade. We are excited to see this project come to life.”

After transforming more than 1,500 pounds of recycled personal care waste into a Garnier Green Garden in Harlem and overhauling a garden at a special needs school in the Bronx,TerraCycle and Garnier took their eco efforts on the road with the "Where Should Our Garden Grow?" campaign to award one recipient with a new community garden. After a public voting period, The ReFresh Project of New Orleans was named the winner. The campaign, which kicked off in April 2014 and ran through June 15, 2014, asked fans to vote for which deserving community should win its very own Green Garden. The ReFresh Project's ReFresh Community Farm is a new teaching farm located in Treme/Mid-City New Orleans. The new garden will be capable of yielding more than 2,000 pounds of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers. It will not only provide New Orleans residents with a safe space to connect and enjoy nature, but will also allow community members to grow their own fresh food locally. The groundbreaking is expected to take place in fall 2014. The plastic components of the garden, such as raised beds, picnic tables and trash receptacles, are made from recycled beauty waste collected through Garnier and Terracycle's Personal Care and Beauty Brigade. The Brigade is a free fundraising program that donates money to a charity of the collector's choice for every piece of beauty and personal care waste returned to TerraCycle for recycling. The collected beauty waste, which would otherwise be destined for landfills, consists of non-recyclable hair care, skin care and cosmetic packaging. "We are thrilled to announce The Refresh Project in New Orleans as the community where the next Garnier Green Garden will plant seeds and flourish," said David Greenberg, president of Maybelline New York, Garnier and Essie. "Keeping beauty packaging waste out of landfills is only part of the mission. It is equally important to make sure that we help communities across the country create sustainable gardens and playgrounds, and this is a perfect way to use the beauty waste we've been able to collect through our Brigade. We are excited to see this project come to life." Out of the hundreds of nominations received during the campaign entry phase, Garnier and TerraCycle narrowed the candidates down to five deserving organizations. The four runners-up are The Green Scheme in Washington, D.C., The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in Detroit, Garfield Park in Chicago, and the Social Justice Learning Institute in Los Angeles. Each runner up will also receive a prize. "Each of the five finalists should be commended for its efforts to provide resources that better the community and residents' daily lives," said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. "As an expanding teaching farm, the ReFresh Community Farm is a deserving winner of the Garnier Green Garden grand prize."

NEW YORK — After transforming more than 1,500 lbs. of recycled personal care waste into a Garnier Green Garden in Harlem and overhauling a garden at a special needs school in the Bronx, Garnier and TerraCycle took their eco efforts on the road with the "Where Should Our Garden Grow?" campaign to award one recipient with a new community garden. After a public voting period, The ReFresh Project of New Orleans has been named the winner The campaign, which kicked off in Earth Month and ran through June 15th, asked fans to vote for which community should win its own Green Garden. The ReFresh Project's ReFresh Community Farm is a new teaching farm located in Treme/Mid-City New Orleans. The new garden will be capable of yielding more than 2,000 pounds of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. Not only will it provide New Orleans residents with a space to connect and enjoy nature, but it also will allow community members to grow their own fresh food locally. Ground breaking is expected to take place this fall. The plastic components of the garden — such as raised beds, picnic tables and trash receptacles — are made from recycled beauty waste collected through Garnier's Personal Care and Beauty Brigade. The Brigade is a free fundraising program that donates money to a charity of the collector's choice for every piece of beauty and personal care waste returned to TerraCycle for recycling. The collected beauty waste, which would otherwise be destined for landfills, consists of non-recyclable hair care, skin care and cosmetic packaging. Out of the hundreds of nominations received during the campaign entry phase, Garnier and TerraCycle narrowed the candidates down to five organizations. The four runners-up are The Green Scheme in Washington, D.C., The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in Detroit, Garfield Park in Chicago and the Social Justice Learning Institute in Los Angeles. Each runner up also will receive a prize.

Garnier and Terracycle have announced the recipient of this year’s community garden, which will be made from recycled beauty packaging – and the winner is The ReFresh Project of New Orleans. The campaign, "Where Should Our Garden Grow?” kicked off in Earth Month and ran through June 15th, and fans voted to choose the winning community. The ReFresh Project's ReFresh Community Farm is a new teaching farm located in Treme/Mid-City New Orleans. The new garden will be capable of yielding more than 2,000 pounds of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers. It will not only provide New Orleans residents with a safe space to connect and enjoy nature, but will also allow community members to grow their own fresh food locally. Ground-breaking is expected to take place this fall. The plastic components of the garden, such as raised beds, picnic tables and trash receptacles are made from recycled beauty waste collected through Garnier's Personal Care and Beauty Brigade. The collected beauty waste, which would otherwise be destined for landfills, consists of non-recyclable hair care, skin care and cosmetic packaging. David Greenberg, President of Maybelline New York-Garnier-essie, commented: "We are thrilled to announce The Refresh Project in New Orleans as the community where the next Garnier Green Garden will plant seeds and flourish. Keeping beauty packaging waste out of landfills is only part of the mission. It is equally important to make sure that we help communities across the country create sustainable gardens and playgrounds, and this is a perfect way to use the beauty waste we've been able to collect through our Brigade. We are excited to see this project come to life." The four runners-up - The Green Scheme in Washington, D.C.; The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in Detroit; Garfield Park in Chicago; and the Social Justice Learning Institute in Los Angeles - will also receive a prize.

After transforming over 1,500 pounds of recycled personal care waste into a one-of-a-kind Garnier Green Garden in Harlem and overhauling a garden at a special needs school in the Bronx, Garnier and TerraCycle took their eco efforts on the road with the "Where Should Our Garden Grow?" campaign to award one recipient with a new community garden. After a public voting period, The ReFresh Project of New Orleans has been named the winner. The campaign, which kicked off in Earth Month and ran through June 15^th, asked fans to vote for which deserving community should win its very own Green Garden. The ReFresh Project's ReFresh Community Farm is a new teaching farm located in Treme/Mid-City New Orleans.  The new garden will be capable of yielding more than 2,000 pounds of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers. It will not only provide New Orleans residents with a safe space to connect and enjoy nature, but will also allow community members to grow their own fresh food locally. Ground-breaking is expected to take place this fall. The plastic components of the garden, such as raised beds, picnic tables and trash receptacles are made from recycled beauty waste collected through Garnier's Personal Care and Beauty Brigade. The Brigade is a free fundraising program that donates money to a charity of the collector's choice for every piece of beauty and personal care waste returned to TerraCycle for recycling. The collected beauty waste, which would otherwise be destined for landfills, consists of non-recyclable hair care, skin care and cosmetic packaging. "We are thrilled to announce The Refresh Project in New Orleans as the community where the next Garnier Green Garden will plant seeds and flourish," said David Greenberg, President of Maybelline New York-Garnier-essie. "Keeping beauty packaging waste out of landfills is only part of the mission. It is equally important to make sure that we help communities across the country create sustainable gardens and playgrounds, and this is a perfect way to use the beauty waste we've been able to collect through our Brigade. We are excited to see this project come to life." Out of the hundreds of nominations received during the campaign entry phase, Garnier and TerraCycle narrowed the candidates down to five deserving organizations. The four runners-up are The Green Scheme in Washington, DC, The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in Detroit, Garfield Park in Chicago, and the Social Justice Learning Institute in Los Angeles. Each runner up will also receive a prize. "Each of the five finalists should be commended for its efforts to provide resources that better the community and residents' daily lives," said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. "As an expanding teaching farm, the ReFresh Community Farm is a deserving winner of the Garnier Green Garden grand prize." The Personal Care and Beauty Brigade is open to any interested individual, school, office or community organization that wants to protect the planet and make a difference. More information is available at terracycle.com.

(NAPSI)—People around the U.S. are increasingly bringing the “green” back to their neighborhoods. In addition to initiatives like Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) and environmental education through the schools, residents are starting to focus much of their attention on building long-lasting landmarks such as community gardens. The American Community Gardening Association estimates that there are already 18,000 community gardens throughout the country, and for good reason. According to Minnesota nonprofit Green Matters, community gardens decrease crime in urban areas with little vegetation, increase the value of properties in the surrounding area and can help locals save money on food through garden-generated produce. Instead of driving to a distant supermarket for produce or a faraway park for some green space, it’s just a matter of walking over to the nearby garden. The health benefits associated with these gardens show how important open garden spaces can be to otherwise “greenless” urban environments. In 2013, University of Utah researchers found that residents who get involved with community garden projects have recognizably lower body mass indexes than nongardeners, with less chance of being overweight. Not only that, fresh produce from community gardens is less likely to be contaminated with pesticides than other kinds and can be used to teach kids about better nutrition. Organizations such as GrowNYC try to make neighborhood gardens more prevalent. It has already helped establish more than 70 community gardens in New York City, one made with recycled beauty waste with the help of Garnier and recycling company TerraCycle. Initiatives like these not only help establish community gardens in areas with otherwise sparse vegetation, but get the public involved, increase environmental awareness, and educate the community at the same time. Assistant Director Lenny Librizzi shared these tips for getting involved in a community garden. • Look Online—Well-organized community gardens usually have websites or Facebook groups. • Visit—Take a walk through nearby gardens to see which one you’re most drawn to. • Get Your Hands Dirty—Being a member of a community garden is about more than just growing vegetables. All members should expect to help with common areas, composting, watering, or volunteering time.Ê • If At First You Don’t Succeed—Each garden has different rules and management systems. If you don’t feel like you’re gelling with the group, try out another one or consider starting your own. Organizations such as the National Recreation and Park Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture offer grant programs to communities to help fund garden projects. Some companies are also helping. For example, TerraCycle and Garnier will bring another Garnier Green Garden made out of recycled beauty waste to one of five urban areas in the U.S. in a contest decided by a public vote. To vote and learn more, visit www.green.garnierusa.com.