WEEK 16: TOOTHBRUSH
AVOID plastic ones. BUY bamboo.
1. PROBLEM
Every toothbrush you ever used still exists on Earth..somewhere. Or it was probably burnt. You can instead switch to sustainable options such as:
2. SOLUTION
Stolen from Beth Terry’s blog
1. BAMBOO TOOTHBUSHES
USA: Brush with Bamboo (sustainable + fair trade), Option 2 (cheap)
India: Bamboo Toothbrush (5 times as expensive as a normal toothbrush. Someday — hopefully — it’ll be super cheap)
Materials:
1. The Handle — compostable
2. Bristles — Unfortunately, plastic . They are made of nylon. No one has been able to come up with bristles that are both plastic- and animal-free.
Ensure you discard the bristles into a trash can. Note: Nylon 4 bristles is compostable, Nylon 6 isn’t.
3. Packaging — Look for recycled paper, packed by tabs instead of adhesive.
4. Extra wrapper around the brush — The cheap ones I buy have no wrapping, but the brush with bamboo would have a compostable film/paper wrapper.
5. Made in China (Brush with Bamboo is made sustainably. Others, not sure)
Why It’s Good: Most of the brush and packaging is plastic-free and compostable.
Why Compostable too sometimes sucks: With regards to compostable wrapping, as Beth Terry states — I’m not a big fan of these corn-based plastics because growing corn has a huge environmental impact and most of it is GMO. Also, these plastics require an industrial composting facility to break down. So look for products with less packaging.
2. Preserve Recycled/Recyclable Toothbrush
Materials: 100% post-consumer recycled polypropylene #5 plastic and Nylon bristles. Recycled plastic wrapper which doubles as a prepaid mailer.
Why it’s good: Preserve toothbrushes are made from recycled yogurt containers and other post-consumer #5 polypropylene plastic that is returned to them through their Gimme5 program. Tough to do it and is a consumer responsibility, but sure! But this doesn’t close the recycling loop.Toothbrushes are recycled into plastic lumber, which does nothing to decrease the demand for virgin plastic to create those yogurt containers, Brita filters, and other packaging, but it does decrease the demand for virgin plastic toothbrushes and slows down the plastic’s journey to the landfill.
3. 100 percent compostable (animal-based)
Materials: Sustainably-harvested beechwood handle preserved with vegetable oil, natural bristles made from pig hair, small cellophane wrapper around the head of the toothbrush (cellophane is made from trees.)
Origin: Made in Germany. Pig hair imported from China.
Why it’s Good: The Life Without Plastic toothbrush — 100% compostable.
Less than Perfect: The bristles come from long-haired pigs that are raised for food. If you are vegetarian or vegan, this is not a toothbrush for you.
4. Innovative battery powered toothbrush
5. No Toothbrush
While yes, I’d advice you to use a toothbrush, this is an option I’d resort to when I travel and forgot a toothbrush
Other Toothbrush Options
- Radius Source toothbrush: The durable toothbrush handle is made from recycled materials (flax, wood, or dollar bills.) But the disposable toothbrush head is made from plastic and is not taken back for recycling. What’s more, the toothbrush comes in a plastic blister pack.
- Swissco wooden toothbrush with natural bristles: The toothbrush itself is plastic-free (although not vegetarian) but it comes in a hard plastic case.
- Acca Kappa toothbrush with natural bristles: The Acca Kappa handle is made from cellulose acetate, which is produced from wood and cotton byproducts. The bristles are not vegetarian. And sadly, the toothbrush comes in a plastic container.
- Neem Chew Sticks
3. FIN
We start/end our day with a piece of plastic in our mouths. Avoid this disposable unsustainable option and switch to bamboo :)
