Eco friendly toothbrushes

January 4, 2010

Since I was a kid, I’ve probably been using 4 toothbrushes a year on average (dentists recommend replacing toothbrushes every 3 months and the bristles start to splay after that time anyway). I’m now 25 years old, which means I have used and throw away around 100 toothbrushes already. If I was to live to 85, that would be 340 toothbrushes in landfill. That might not sound too bad for a whole lifetime – but the population of the UK currently stands at 61,399,118. And if you think that the majority of people are probably doing the same, that’s alot of plastic going to landfill – approx 245,596,472 toothbrushes every year!

Electric toothbrushes are a good alternative because you are only throwing away the head each time – however, you need to keep your brush charged, via the mains or batteries. This type of brush also comes with heaps of packaging, lots of plastic accessories (mine came with a head sanitiser unit and a charging unit, replacement head and head cover!) and when your brush motor dies, it’s not replaceable in most cases goes in the bin. The ideal option is therefore a manual brush that is either made from recycled materials, can be recycled or you only replace small parts of it like the head.

We’ve picked out a selection of toothbrushes that will help reduce the amount of plastic you throw away:

Preserve by Recycline

• Made from yogurt cups
• Handle 100% recycled #5 plastic; bristles new nylon
• Completely recyclable after use
• Toothbrush replacement subscription service available
• BPA free
• Made in the USA
• Packaging doubles up as a carry case
• Children and adult toothbrushes available

“We make it and we take it back. When you send your Toothbrush back to us, a partner company will grind it up and turn it into plastic lumber for use in new picnic tables, park benches, and boardwalks”.

I think the fact that you can send your old toothbrush back to Preserve for recycling makes this product a very low waste option. Not enough companies take responsibility to for what happens to their product at the end of it’s life, so Preserve get big bonus points for this.

Find out more »

Monte Bianco Clip

• Sensitive, medium and hard bristles
• Option for natural, biodegradable boar hair bristles
• Keep the handle, only need to replace the head
• Heads clip firmly in place
• Children and adult versions

A simple, functional low waste toothbrush option where you only replace the head each time. A biodegradable, natural bristle option helps to reduce the amount of plastic used.

Source toothbrushes by Radius

• 93% Recycled Material – 47% Renewable Resource
• Handles are molded from recycled US Dollar bills/Recycled Flax and Recycled Wood all blended with recycled polypropylene resulting in a bio-plastic that is 100% renewable or recycled
• Reversible for both right or left handed brushing
• Handle lasts forever – the head can be discarded as you would a razor blade
• Nylon heads are replaceable and weigh only 7% of total toothbrush

The handles of Source’s toothbrushes look ergonomic and comfortable to hold – very different from the usual thin plastic handles on toothbrushes. A toothbrush handle made from recycled dollar bills is a novel idea.

Find out more »

Do you have any favourite low waste toothbrushes? Have you tried any of the toothbrushes mentioned above?