Did you know toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and floss containers can be transformed into playgrounds, garden beds, and park benches? What about pens and pencil cases? What if by keeping these items out of the trash and turning them into something new, you can protect the planet and earn rewards for charity?
For 10 amazing years, the answers to these are a reality with the Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Program, the national recycling program created by the visionaries at Colgate for all brands of oral care products and packaging.
Colgate believes a healthy planet is something we can all smile about. That’s why Colgate is continually looking for more sustainable ways to make its products and packaging, working to reduce waste, decrease plastic usage, save water, and conserve natural resources while helping people build more sustainable habits in their lives
Colgate’s oral care recycling program is a free and easy way to recycle empty and used oral care items from any brand. With your help and dedication of collectors across the country, the program has achieved tremendous success over the past decade:
- Recycled over 5 million oral care items. That’s 5 million everyday items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and floss containers saved from landfills and the environment and turned into something new. Put together, that’s equal in height to over 3,000 Empire State Buildings!
- Donated over $105,000 in charitable contributions. For qualifying shipments, the Colgate program offers individuals, schools, businesses, and community organizations the opportunity to earn TerraCycle points they can redeem for donations to the nonprofit or charity of their choice; collectors can donated over $105,000 so far!
- Donated over $836,000 in recycled donations via retail programs. That’s 15 new playgrounds, 9 gardens and furniture bundles made from recycled toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and floss containers, and thousands of upcycled school supplies made from oral care items.
- Engaged 1,300 schools and children’s hospitals through retail programs. Children and young people are the future, and they deserve to be left a world that is clean, just, and full of possibilities. The contests and promotions through the program teach kids about recycling, reward good habits, and capture plastics before the can become litter.
- Launched a public drop-off network where dentist offices and other locations can collect for their community. Simple, easy, and free — that’s what recycling has to be to make it more accessible to more people. With the new drop-off program, businesses and other public locations can become recycling hubs, building up the recycling network in order to get citizens involved at all levels of the community.
The Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Program shows what’s possible when passionate organizations and committed participants work together to help our planet.
Share the news with friends and family and encourage them to join and get involved.
Congratulations and thank you!