Noble Elementary Goes Green With Playground made from Flip Flops!

 

 CONTACTS: Lauren Taylor

TerraCycle

609.393.4252 x3705

Lauren@terracycle.net

NOBLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RECEIVES DONATED PLAYGROUND FROM

OLD NAVY AND TERRACYCLE

Installation of New Playground Made From Recycled Flip Flops Scheduled for September 10

TRENTON, N.J., (August XX, 2011) – Noble Elementary School in San Jose is one of four schools to receive a donated playground from Old Navy and TerraCycle, Inc., the pioneering upcycling and recycling company.  The playgrounds are made, in part, from recycled used flip flops that were collected during the month-long ‘Flip Flop Replay’ that began this past April.  The other recipients schools, selected through a survey done by TerraCycle, are located in Austin, Texas and Poughkeepsie, New York, with a fourth to be named. 

Noble Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade students. The playground installation is scheduled for September 10.

“Playgrounds provide the ideal place for children to master physical skills, such as learning to swing, balance and climb as well as master social skills such as communicating, sharing and cooperating with other children and adults,” said Manju Ramachandran, Noble Elementary PTA President.  “The kids will be so excited to have a playground after two years of playing in a dirt box! Coming back to school and seeing the new playground will be like Christmas to them because this is something in their lives they will never forget."

The Flip Flop Replay started Earth Day, April 22 and ran through May 21 at all U.S. Old Navy stores.  The nationwide collection campaign resulted in almost twenty thousand used flip flops being diverted from landfills.  It was the first time a nationwide retailer has initiated a large-scale effort to collect flip flops to have them recycled into playgrounds.

“This program is a great example of turning old, worn items like flip flops into a resource to benefit so many people,” said Tom Szaky, TerraCycle CEO. “Along with Old Navy, we are really excited to provide this playground to Noble Elementary School.”

The playgrounds are made by PDPlay, which manufactures environmentally-friendly playground equipment from the highest amount of post-consumer recycled content available in the commercial market.  PDPlay’s use of post-consumer recycled plastic lumber keeps millions of recyclables out of landfills each year. 

In addition to its partnership with Old Navy, TerraCycle has free collection programs called Brigades that divert packaging waste from landfills and help raise consumer awareness about reducing, reusing and recycling. To date, almost three million dollars has been paid to charities and more than two billion pieces of products and packaging have been collected which will be upcycled or recycled into a range of new products.  TerraCycle’s innovative processes have been independently rated as among the world’s most carbon saving waste solutions.  

About TerraCycle

TerraCycle, Inc. is an international upcycling company that takes difficult to recycle packaging and turns it into affordable, innovative products.  Founded in 2001, TerraCycle (www.terracycle.net) is the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste. TerraCycle works with over thirty major brands in the U.S. (and in a growing number of other countries) to collect used packaging and products (chip bags, candy wrappers, juice pouches, pens, toothbrushes, etc.) that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It repurposes that waste into new innovative materials and products that are available online and through major retailers. The waste is collected through TerraCycle’s Brigade programs, which are free fundraisers that pay schools and non-profits for every piece of waste they collect and return. For information on how to join a TerraCycle Brigade and on purchasing TerraCycle products please visit www.terracycle.net. 

For information on Noble Elementary School's Green Initiative please visit www.noblepta.com.

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