The AVEENO(R) Brand Inspires Year-Round Sustainability and Acknowledges Earth Day With New Programs That Elevate the Brand's Commitment to the Environment

SKILLMAN, N.J., April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- As a pioneer in ACTIVE NATURALS® technology, a process which combines the best of nature and science, the AVEENO® Brand believes that nature is key to making life beautiful.  As a result of their longstanding commitment to ACTIVE NATURALS® technology, the Brand is dedicated to making sustainable strides for a better planet. This Earth Day, as the AVEENO® Brand continues on its journey to providing beauty products that bring out the best of nature, the Brand hopes to inspire consumers to start making their own personal strides in sustainable practices.

In order to help motivate consumers to make a difference, the AVEENO® Brand is launching the AVEENO® Sustainability Guide Widget. The widget is a fun and unique way to empower consumers to live a more sustainable lifestyle by gauging their daily impact on the environment.  Downloadable from the AVEENO® Facebook Fan Page, the AVEENO® Sustainability Guide Widget lives on the consumer’s computer desktop and educates them on how to better reduce, reuse and recycle.  Celebrate Earth Day and protecting Mother Earth by visiting www.facebook.com/aveeno to download the free AVEENO® Sustainability Guide Widget today!

This state-of-the-art widget engages consumers and educates how they can make easy changes to live a more sustainable life and includes:

• An “Eco-quiz” which calculates consumer’s everyday consumption to determine how eco-friendly each user is
• Customized tips and solutions for living a more sustainable lifestyle
• An interactive recycling game designed to excite and educate consumers about recycling
• Never-before-seen footage from TerraCycle™, the AVEENO® Brand’s partner organization who gives new life to old products.  The footage highlights the ‘upcycling’ process and showcases how empty AVEENO® Brand Product Tubes are recreated into eco-friendly household items and accessories that will be available for purchase at major retailers nationwide within the coming year

AVEENO® Beauty Brigades are being formed across the country and provide consumers with an easy opportunity to drop off their empty AVEENO® Brand Product Tubes to be ‘upcycled.’  In turn, the AVEENO® Brand will pay two cents to the non-profit organization or school of one’s choice for each tube received. The Skin Cancer Foundation’s “Road to Healthy Skin Tour,” which offers free skin cancer screenings across the country, will also serve as a mobile Beauty Brigade in select cities – consumers will have an opportunity to drop off empty AVEENO® Product Tubes to provide a two cent donation to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Information about how to sign up for an AVEENO® Beauty Brigade in your community is featured conveniently within the widget.  

Building off a foundation set with AVEENO® Inspires – the Brand’s signature national beautification initiative that inspires the discovery of natural beauty in communities and parks across the United States where hundreds of gardens, parks and trails have been refurbished and rejuvenated with the help of members of communities -- the Brand continues to reduce its impact on the environment.  Staying true to this commitment and as the second program for 2010 to empower communities to engage in a more sustainable lifestyle, the Brand has partnered with Organic Gardening Magazine for the AVEENO® Natural Inspiration Program, which will provide a beautification grant to a to be determined University to establish an on-campus organic farmer’s market, providing students the opportunity to enjoy the best of what Mother Nature has to offer.  Additionally to encourage sustainability and allow students to give new life to their empty AVEENO® Brand Product Tubes, TerraCycle™ will provide AVEENO® Beauty Brigade collection bins to be featured throughout the campus and at the on-campus farmer’s market, while promising to make a contribution to the non-profit of the college’s choice at the end of the collection period.  The AVEENO® Natural Inspiration Program will culminate in early September to coincide with Back to School 2010.

“Beyond Earth Day, sustainability is very important to the AVEENO® Brand and we take great pride in continuing to empower consumers with the opportunities to make sustainable strides 365 days of the year,” said Michael Marquis, AVEENO® Brand Group Product Director. “Through collaborations with partners like TerraCycle™ and Organic Gardening Magazine, the AVEENO® Brand is able to expand a commitment to sustainability, give back to the community and improve the environment.”

About the AVEENO® Brand:

The AVEENO® Brand is one of the Brands of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company, a division of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. The AVEENO® Brand is the leader in ACTIVE NATURALS® technologies, including oatmeal and soy. Recommended by dermatologists and pediatricians for over 60 years, the Brand is committed to developing breakthrough product formulations with new and existing natural ingredients, many which deliver clinically proven results. The AVEENO® Line includes beauty care products for face, body, baby, hair, and sun protection. For more information about the AVEENO® Brand and its product offerings, visit: www.Aveeno.com.  

The AVEENO® Brand’s sustainability vision has translated into all areas of its business; the Brand continues to make sustainable strides by:

• Partnering with TerraCycle™ to ‘upcycle’ used AVEENO® Product Tubes into household items and empower consumers to donate two cents per tube to the school or charity of their choice
• Continuing to use recycled materials in our paperboard and HDPE product packaging; Increase usage of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paperboard for folding cartons.
• Incorporating advertisements on environmentally friendly Eco-hangers; distributed at dry cleaners nationwide, these hangers, made of 100 percent recycled paperboard and polypropylene, with copy printed in biodegradable ink, provide consumers with the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprints.
• Partnering with ENVIROSAX® to create reusable bags, which were given away to 1,000 consumers on Earth Day 2009.  Made of organic cotton sourced from a farmers cooperate in Peru, the bags benefitted local communities in addition to helping reduce the number of plastic bags used. For each bag given away, the AVEENO® Brand made a $10 donation to Global Green USA which supports the fight against global climate change, and the creation of green buildings and cities within the United States.
• Teaming up with Organic Gardening magazine and the American Community Gardening Association to beautify gardens, as well as with the American Park Network to restore and clean-up national parks; to-date AVEENO® has contributed over $400,000 to beautifying 28 gardens and 3 US National Parks.

About TerraCycle™:

TerraCycle™ (www.TerraCycle.net) represents a new generation of company, putting as much emphasis on its social and environmental impact as its profits. In 2001, college freshman Tom Szaky founded TerraCycle™ in hopes of building a new, more responsible way of doing business. Since then, TerraCycle™ has revolutionized the industry by making eco-friendly and affordable products from waste materials.  

TerraCycle™ provides jobs in the inner-city, provides free fundraisers for schools and non-profits and inspires kids nationwide to make a difference locally and globally. Join the TerraCycle™ eco-revolution by signing up for our free fundraising collection programs where we pay you for packaging like drink pouches, yogurt cups, and more. To learn more about the AVEENO® Beauty Brigades or to sign up, go to www.TerraCycle.net/brigades or visit www.aveeno.com.  

About Organic Gardening Magazine:

For nearly 70 years, Organic Gardening, the leading resource for living a healthier, more environmentally conscious lifestyle, has been empowering its readers with the most trusted, eco-friendly news and information.  With the mission to “work in harmony with nature,” the brand’s editorial landscape leads the charge toward a sustainable future, delivering the safest and most natural approach to health, home, food and garden. In 2009, the brand experienced double-digit gains in ad sales, newsstand sales and total circulation, further reinforcing the power and growing vitality of the green movement.  In 2010, Organic Gardening earned the # 8 spot on AdWeek's prestigious "Hot List: 10 Under 60."

SOURCE AVEENO(R)