Recycling Toothbrushes In Poway Could Help Sick Kids Play

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA –Giving children who are battling serious illnesses a chance to just be kids on the playground again is as easy as recycling old toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and floss containers through a nationwide, mail-in campaign, including in San Diego County.

TerraCycle, an East Coast firm that specializes in recycling items typically seen as "non-recyclable," (such as used oral-hygiene products), has partnered with CVS pharmacies, Starlight Children’s Foundation and Colgate-Palmolive in the nationwide recycling effort.

The state that collects the most waste will win a new playground, made from recycled oral waste, at a Starlight Children’s Foundation member hospital.

In San Diego County, Starlight-affiliated organizations that could win include: UCSD Health System Burn and Trauma Center in San Diego; Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego; Tri-City Medical Center Foundation in Oceanside; Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Diego, Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego; and Carlsbad-based Fresh Start Surgical Gifts which is linked to the Fresh Start Clinic at Rady's.

The collection effort ends June 22. For every 0.02 pounds of recycled oral waste shipped to TerraCycle, states will receive one “playground credit.” The playground equipment will be built from oral-waste materials that have been recycled, cleaned, processed and remolded.

To participate, click here on a CVS website, download a free shipping label, and mail in your used toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, packaging and floss containers.

There are no drop-off sites for the items; all collections will be handled via mail.

Switching out toothbrushes every three months, by the way, is recommended by dentists.

TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky said the initiative helps consumers divert oral-care waste from landfills, and also educates communities about a free, easy recycling solution for common items.

“We are proud to partner with these forward thinking companies to offer consumers a way to give back to the communities they live in and bring joy to its youngest citizens,” he said in a news release.

More information on TerraCycle can be found here.

-----------

ALSO SEE:

• Teacher Appreciation Week 2019: Coupons, Deals & Special Offers

• Mother's Day Dining Steals & Deals In California 2019

----------

--Beth Dalbey, Patch, contributed to this post