Students from Armidale Secondary College are asking for used toothbrushes and votes in a nationwide competition set to divert hundreds of thousands of plastic products from landfill.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The school is working with TerraCycle in the Colgate Community Garden Challenge with hopes of winning a recycled community garden set.
To help them win, they're asking city residents to hand over their old toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers, and vote online for their school.
The Colgate Community Garden Challenge invites preschools, primary and secondary schools nationwide to collect all brands of oral care waste and send it to TerraCycle, which will turn it into new products.
Read also:
Five recycled community garden sets will be awarded to five schools, plus a $500 gardening voucher to buy seeds and plants.
Armidale Secondary College science and agriculture teacher Bridget Labrosse wants to raise awareness about recycling and help her students win the community garden set as an excellent learning tool.
"Recycling is a lifelong skill that is so important to be teaching the next generation," Miss Labrosse said.
"The Colgate Community Garden Challenge gives our students the opportunity to recycle everyday objects such as empty toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes in order to win a prize that will teach students about ecosystems, plants and habitats."
Armidale people area encouraged to drop their used oral care products at Armidale Secondary School to be recycled, and vote every day online.
Schools could also win a monthly prize draw for a pack of 60 pencil cases made from recycled toothpaste tubes.
The Colgate Community Garden Challenge is part of the broader Oral Care Recycling Program sponsored by Colgate.
Since its launch in 2014, the program has enabled Australians to divert over 700,000 pieces of oral care waste from landfill and raise over $12,000 for schools and charities.