Let's Talk About Toothbrushes

From the GreenPeace Article:
  Every Single Piece of Plastic Ever Made Still Exists!
It's been bugging my logical brain lately that we buy plastic toothbrushes that are made out of a material that is, while very cheap, meant to last a very long time. As in 400 years or more. And doesn't decompose.

Just think, every plastic toothbrush you've used in your lifetime is going to out live you and the next four or more generations. Your great-great-great-great grandchildren will have to deal with your toothbrush. How insane is that?

Meanwhile, we're only going to use that toothbrush for a few months.

It sort of boggles the mind.

So, I've been buying bamboo toothbrushes, which will decompose in about a year. Most can be tossed into your backyard composter. This makes way more logical sense to me. I'm only going to use it for a very limited time, why do I need something like that to outlive me?

Image Source: HumbleBrush
And here's the best part: when I first started questioning all the plastic in our house, the bamboo toothbrushes I found were 11€ -- a piece! Not financially logical. But lately, I've been finding packs of four on Amazon for 11€ or less. Yes!  (Just search "bamboo toothbrushes" on Amazon or wherever you shop online.)

So, I'm now pledging never to buy a plastic toothbrush.

And here's a bamboo toothbrush tip: We store our toothbrushes in glass jars near the sink (they're up-cycled yogurt jars that I switch out to clean) and the bottom tips of the bamboo brushes do get a little gunky. Before using them, I paint on a bit of nail polish on the tips to "seal" them and prevent the gunkiness. It works pretty well!



Related posts: 
Three New Plastic-Free Swaps
More of my Less Plastic story

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