Turn yogurt containers into toothbrushes

[Lena @ Over Coffee - the green edition]

Preserve is a line of products; Personal Care (toothbrushes, razors, toothpicks), Tableware (plates, cutlery, tumblers) & Kitchen (mixing bowls, cutting boards, storage containers), made from 100% recycled materials by a company called Recycline. Specifically recycled #5 plastics, (such as yogurt containers, hummus containers, and sour cream containers) which are typically “difficult” to recycle.

In 2001 Preserve and Stonyfield Farm partnered to keep tons of plastic out of landfills by collecting yogurt cups and scrap plastic from Stonyfield’s manufacturing facility and using the plastic to make high quality products.

Preserve also established a means for those of us who enjoy Stonyfield Farm yogurt to help turn our used yogurt cups into Toothbrushes, Tongue Cleaners and Razors.

That means is called Gimme 5:

*Preserve accepts any CLEAN whole plastic items with a #5 stamp on the bottom. They also accept Preserve products, & Brita pitcher water filters.

*All #5 plastics sent to Preserve must measure no more than 2’ x 2’ x 2’

*All #5 plastics must be clean (the cleaner the plastic, the cleaner the recycling process)

*Plastics should be sent via ground shipping (as opposed to air). Reuse a box if you can!

*Shipments should weigh at least 5 pounds and no more than 50 pounds

*Include your return address on the box and add your name and email address inside the box

Send #5 plastics to:
Preserve Gimme 5
823 NYS Rte 13
Cortland, NY 13045

You can also drop off your clean #5s at a Preserve Gimme 5 bin(available in select Whole Foods Market stores) . Click here for a list of locations.

Watch a video of the Recycline process and see for yourself how yogurt containers are turned into toothbrushes.