Did you Brush your Teeth?

 "Did you brush your teeth?" How many times were we asked that question as kids? How often have we asked our own kids that question? Brushing our teeth, morning and night is a good life-long habit to form. Healthy gums, healthy teeth... all good, right? Except... not so much for the planet. Plastic toothbrushes, plasticized toothpaste tubes... and let's not even talk about dental floss or those floss pickers... all plastic. And plastic, as we all know, never, ever decomposes. It just keeps breaking down into tinier plastic pieces, leaching toxins into the environment.

And yet... every morning and evening, I pick up my plastic toothbrush, squeeze some toothpaste on it from the tube and... brush. Every time I go to the dentist, I accept their offer of a free plastic toothbrush and small toothpaste and dental floss... And every few months, I think, gotta make a change.

Well... today was the day for a change. For a few years now, I have been aware of the TerraCycle oral care zero-waste box. It's kind of like the recycle bins that Staples has for pens and batteries and cell phones and toner cartridges... except for dental care products. I've been wanting to ask my dental clinic... "Why don't you guys host one of these boxes?" Today... I sent that email...

Hi,

Just wondering... you know how Staples has recycling bins for pens and toner cartridges and batteries... has your office given any thought to hosting a recycling bin for oral care products (toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, dental floss containers). Terracycle offers a Zero Waste box for oral care products. Yes, it would cost money to buy the box but... think of the positive publicity if your office went eco-friendly... Or maybe you could get OralB or Colgate or Crest to cover part of the cost given that you had out their free products. The future is coming... would be great if your office were ahead of the curve.

Thanks!

We'll see what sort of response I get from them. I tried to find any dental clinic in my city that has gone this route but... came up empty. Although, I did find a dental clinic in Toronto, Ontario that has gone with the TerraCycle box.

Because... ideally we use four toothbrushes every year (assuming we change them out after 3 months like we are supposed to)... which means I've used over 100 toothbrushes in my lifetime. And they are all out there, somewhere, sitting in a landfill, leaching toxins. And let's not even mention that packaging around each toothbrush. Not a nice legacy to leave for the future.

Now, we do give our toothbrushes an extra stage in their life. Toss them in a jar under the bathroom sink and when we need a brush for scrubbing hard to reach areas (like bathroom grout)... we reach for a used toothbrush. But... after that... buy-buy toothbrush, into the garbage. Toothbrushes, made as they are from several different types of materials (plastic handle, nylon bristles)

Brush with Bamboo

So... TerraCycle has a smart idea... recycle the hard-to-recycle products. Makes sense and yet... ideally... we would avoid the use of plastic at all. Right?

Enter bamboo... I had heard about bamboo toothbrushes, where the handle is bamboo but the bristles still often contained some plastic or... were made from Chinese swine bristles (not a cruelty-free source).

This morning though, I did some more research and... there's a company called Brush with Bamboo and they produce toothbrushes with handles made from 100% wild bamboo (not farmed and irrigated) and bristles made from 100% castor bean oil. They are "USDA Certified Biobased. Green American Certified. Vegan. BPA-Free. Natural and Non-toxic." Huh... go figure. They've made some progress in the last few years. A few years ago, they still had some plastic in the bristles, but it looks like they've ironed that out. Trust the German engineers to figure it out. And... the packaging is a paper box with no glue or tape. Bonus! There are other brands out there... but they still use nylon bristles (which are a petroleum product and non-decomposable). Now... just because the bristles are 100% bio-based doesn't mean they are biodegradable... which isn't great but... is better than anything else out there.

Brush with Bamboo

Now... the hiccup... A group of 4 adult brushes costs $26 CAD... that's $6.50/toothbrush. Yikes!! I'm used to paying less than $2 for a toothbrush... or getting one for free from the dentist.

If you order 12 toothbrushes, the per-unit price drops to $5.50 and for 36 toothbrushes, the per-unit price drops to $4.50...

Still, even at $6.50... and a lifetime of 3 months (90 days) that's 7¢/day or... if you brush your teeth twice a day... only 3.5¢ per use. Which isn't ridiculous. Of course, there is shipping which pushes the price up... but perhaps there is a local health food store that sells these... I have put out feelers...

And... I did a field trip to the local health food store after checking that they carry bamboo toothbrushes. They are selling Brush with Bamboo toothbrushes for $9.99 each! Yikes... Passed on that... and ordered a twelve-pack online - with shipping, per unit cost is under $6.50.

And... after they've exceeded their three month lifetime... and been used as little scrubby brushes... they can find a third life in the garden as plant labels!

I'm not quite ready yet to try tooth powder but... that might be next on the agenda... some xylitol, bentonite clay and baking soda... and voila... goodbye toothpaste tubes. More research required...