There’s a growing concern with protecting our environment and making sustainable choices in every aspect of our lives. Everything from food packaging to clothing choices is being reevaluated in light of the impact they have on our world. One portion of our lives that often gets overlooked is the details of our dental hygiene practices. Everything from floss to our toothbrushes can have a significant impact on our world, so how do we know if what we’re using is ecologically safe and sustainable? Come with us as we explore sustainable toothbrushes and other dental hygiene tools.
Studies show one billion toothbrushes, about 50 million pounds of waste, get to landfills each year in the US alone.
How Your Toothbrush Affects The Environment
It shouldn’t be surprising that plastic toothbrushes have a significant impact on the environment. Plastic isn’t known for its biodegradable properties and has been shown to be a serious problem for our world’s oceans. One could fairly assume that these are among the worst toothbrushes you can invest in.
Plastic Toothbrushes – The material these common toothbrushes are made from do represent a serious concern to the environment. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they also come packaged in plastic and cardboard that’s tossed away.
Electric Toothbrushes – While these benefit from having less overall waste thanks to disposable heads, the batteries are a concern. The manufacturing process is dangerous to the workers, and the chemicals contained in the batteries can leak into the environment.
Bamboo Toothbrushes – While these brushes may seem like the best choice, they do have their own list of problems. This includes the use of land that could be used for other things, such as food crops.
The obvious choice out of the above would be the bamboo toothbrush, but the plastic toothbrush actually has the potential to have the least environmental impact. Plastic toothbrushes can be held to standards that make them recyclable through standard means and capable of breaking down harmlessly in the environment. If these two factors were to be implemented, they would have even less environmental impact than bamboo.
Standard plastic toothbrushes can take nearly 1000 years to completely decompose.
How To Make Your Dental Hygiene Practice Sustainable
For now, your best bet for an environmentally safe toothbrush remains the bamboo toothbrush, but what about the rest of your dental hygiene practices? Thankfully sustainable choices don’t end with your toothbrush; there’s also a growing body of ecologically sound products for the discerning shopper. Among them include floss made of silk that comes in a refillable container, killing two proverbial birds with one stone. Another example is a mouthwash that comes in tablet form in a recyclable glass container. With a little research, you’re sure to discover options that suit your lifestyle and personal goals for living sustainably.