How To Find Sustainable Toothbrush Alternatives

By Kimberly Wallace


An increase in eco-friendly products has been noticed throughout the world, as more and more people are taking an interest in this way of life. For this reason, a lot of companies decided to offer alternatives for some common items, among which bio-degradable paper bags, sustainable toothbrush alternatives, Styrofoam cups and more.

If you consider changing your way of life to a more sustainable one, maybe you are already thinking of changing the toothbrush you have. There are a few companies that produce them and the choice may be a bit difficult without research. The most common are the bamboo ones, but check the reviews and quality of the product, as some of the cheapest ones may get soggy or have a weird taste.

One of the questions you may ask yourself is if the bamboo toothbrush is indeed 100% compostable. Unfortunately, this is not the case with all of them, as the bristles are usually not biodegradable. The only ones that are fully compostable are the ones that use pig hair, which is not desired if you are vegan or vegetarian. In this case you may just have to settle with only the handle being compostable, which is still a big improvement from the plastic and rubber ones.

Besides bamboo, other types of eco-friendly toothbrushes would be the ones made from recycled plastic, corn or wheat straw. There are a few companies that create and sell these types, including one made from recycled yoghurt pots. When they are ready to be replaced you can send them back and they will recycle and reuse them.

Moreover, some of these toothbrushes have also entirely compostable packaging, using recycled paper without any glue and tape. The wrapper can be processed from corn starch, so it can decompose within a month in a commercial composter. You can also decompose them at home but it will take more than a month because the heat isn't as in the commercial ones.

The packaging and wrappers need to be in agreement with the rules and regulation of the countries they will be exported to, and thus the companies are constantly trying to come up with new and better ways to create them. A new wrapper is in test, made of wood cellulose.

Besides the bamboo toothbrushes, there are some types of charcoal toothbrushes. However, it is not advisable to use them or the ones with activated charcoal in them. This is because even though they claim to remove stains and plaque and prevent bad breath, as well as cavities, there are no scientific studies to substantiate this claim. Dentist are warning against it as it may strip your teeth of their enamel.

As the environmental issues are starting to be bigger and more people are taking a stand on them and pledging for a change, we all need to focus on improving our way of life and how it affects the planet. Plastic is one of the worst as it is non-biodegradable and it is used widely. Tons of plastic are floating in our oceans and we can start changing that, as the alternatives are becoming more and more affordable.




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