The Life Cycle of a Toothbrush

We all have similar everyday routines: shower, brush teeth, brush hair, get dressed, etc etc, but how often do we stop to think about the products we use everyday? What is the lifecycle of an everyday essential in today's world?

For example, let's talk about the toothbrush.

It is recommended that a person uses their toothbrush for no more than a few months (usually 3-4). The average person in the U.S. goes through about 156 toothbrushes in their lifetime. With over 316 million people living in the United States, that means over 49,296,000,000 toothbrushes end up in landfills in America alone.

A typical toothbrush has a handle and head made from Cellulosic or Petroleum-based plastic; the bristles are made from Nylon filaments. Because these two elements are man-made, meaning they are not naturally found in the environment, they do not decompose well when it comes to the "end of their life". Depending on the make of the toothbrush, it can take anywhere from 20 to 1000+ years for a toothbrush to decompose. With over 50 million pounds of them lying in landfills worldwide, that just isn't fast enough. So what's the alternative to this unknown travesty? Let's take a look….

Thanks to the Sustainability movement that began in 1960's, there are many people working on alternatives to our not so green lifestyle….

In my research, I curiously found an article about toothbrush buy-back and return businesses. After the release of the Cradle-to-Cradle books and product ratings, many companies, especially textile companies, began buying back their products from customers at the end of their life cycles so they could be broken down and the fibers or filaments could be broken down and recycled to be used in the production of new products. A pretty smart and fantastic action, if you ask me. If more companies worldwide invested in this method, the outcome would definitely be a good one.

The invention of electric toothbrushes with detachable heads have somewhat reduced the size and waste of our toothbrush issue, however it isn't a complete solution; actually, a complete solution has not been found yet however there is an awesome alternative to the typical toothbrush that has greatly reduced the composition time and landfill issues.

WooBamboo! is a company that is producing, you guessed it, Bamboo toothbrushes! Bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource because they are one of the fastest growing plants in the world. And being a plant, they are a natural resource that decomposes in a faster and safer way. The Moso Bamboo used in the toothbrushes is also anti-microbial which is another plus for this product. The company is pretty awesome too, being devoted to sustainability down to the last detail including only using hybrid vehicles to transport their products; even the packaging is sustainable!

Backtracking a bit: the only reason I say there is no complete fix for the toothbrush issue as of yet is because of the bristles. The bristles are still being made of nylon, a man-made substance. A natural element that is both feasible and practical to use in place of nylon has not come to light yet. The very first toothbrushes had bristles made of horse or swine hair, however it is doubtful that after reading the substances listed on the back of the box would be willing to but horse or swine hair in their mouth.

But in my mind, all the alternatives listed are a great start and have surely positively impacted the world today, even if it does seem like a small leap. After all, a bunch of little things can add up into one big thing.