It pays to recycle. Ask the students at the Hawthorne Elementary School in Willingboro. Their hard work paid off in a big way recently when they were able to jump and climb on the new playground they won in the 2016 TerraCycle Recycled Playground Challenge for the first time. And did she ever...

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.  

BelovED Community Charter School in Jersey City has been educating children for two years, but it's missing one thing: a playground. The school, which opened in September 2012, has not been able to get funding for a playground, but that might change soon. With the help of ShopRite and Colgate, TerraCycle is currently running its Recycled Playground Challenge, an online contest for schools in the Mid-Atlantic region throughJune 30. The eight runner-up schools will receive various prizes from Colgate and ShopRite. TerraCycle collects and recycles typically hard-to-recycle waste and turns it into new, innovative products. BelovED has been leading the contest, but parents, teachers and students are doing all they can to make sure it stays that way. "We're doing all we can through this last week to make a final push to make sure we win," said Parent Teacher Organization President, Elijiah Wells. Wells said BelovED, which is located on Grand Street just west of the New Jersey Turnpike, has held a two-month campaign surrounding the contest for the playground, including a YouTube video. His 8-year-old twin daughters, Amira and Kayla, were out with their dad Thursday morning handing out fliers to commuters at the Journal Square PATH station. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop stopped by to lend his support. "In times of tough budget situations, we need to find ways to supplement money and resources," said Fulop. "This costs tax payers nothing -- just a vote." "It's not seen as a necessity," added Bret Schundler, the former Mayor of Jersey City and supporter of BelovED. Schundler, who also passed out fliers last week, said that after funding school necessities, there's not much left in the budget for a playground. The students have been using a park near the school to play and a blacktop area at the school, but having a playground is the ultimate goal. "We've been trying to get a playground since we opened," said physical education teacher John Taylor. Another way schools can gain "playground credits" or contest points is by sending in empty toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, and floss containers to TerraCycle. One credit will be added for each shipment. The winning school will be announced on July 18 and the playground will be installed during the back-to-school season of the 2014-2015 school year. Click on the following link to vote for BelovED: http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/colgateshopriteplayground.html