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Toothbrushes are small but ubiquitous, so a few innovative companies have looked at ways to minimize the resources required to produce them and the waste created when disposing of them. Toothbrushes made of recycled or renewable materials, those with replaceable heads, and even electric toothbrushes that rely on rechargeable batteries will all bring a little green to your tooth cleaning routine. They help keep waste out of the landfill, litter out of the oceans, and pollution out of our air and water during plastics production.

What to look for when choosing a green toothbrush

1. Find a replaceable head toothbrush: Toothbrushes with replaceable heads allow you to pop off the head and replace it, leaving the handle to be reused again and again. The company Eco-Dent has figured out that you’d have to get rid of between 14 and 42 replacement heads to equal the amount of plastic thrown away with a single conventional toothbrush.[1]
2. Look for toothbrushes made from recycled materials: Everything but the bristles of a toothbrush can be made from recycled plastic, and, in the case of Radius, even from recycled wood fiber. Products made from recycled materials do not virgin materials, saving natural resources, and use less energy during manufacture. And, of course, they give new life to used materials, keeping excess waste out of the landfill. Some green toothbrush companies, like Recycline, help close the loop on recycled materials by letting customers who don't have local recycling programs for #5 polypropylene mail back their old toothbrushes to be crushed up and made into plastic lumber.
3. Choose a toothbrush made from renewable, biodegradable materials: The Acca Kappa personal care company carries a toothbrush made from a natural substance extracted from cotton, called cellulose acetate. The company claims their toothbrush will degrade in the same time it takes an oak leaf to do so: about six months compared to the 1,000 years they say it will take for a standard plastic toothbrush to completely break down.[2]
4. When it comes to electric toothbrushes, reach for rechargeable batteries and replaceable heads: While electric toothbrushes probably can’t be said to be green over hand-powered models, the few that can use rechargeable batteries as well as those that have replaceable heads are more environmentally friendly than the rest. Radius goes an extra step with their electric toothbrush and offers a send-in take-back recycling program for the handles.

Find it! Green toothbrushes

Using green toothbrushes helps you go green because…

• The replaceable head toothbrushes create much less waste than standard toothbrushes.
• Toothbrushes with biodegradable handles ultimately use less landfill space than conventional brushes.
• Those with handles made from recycled materials are reusing resources, thereby limiting the need to use virgin raw materials.

Though not big ticket environmental impact items, toothbrushes pile up in landfills (more than 50 million pounds annually) [3]. And, handfuls of toothbrushes have been recovered from water samples taken from the floating garbage dump the size of Africa in the Pacific Ocean.[4] On an individual level, someone who lives to be 80 years old and who replaces their toothbrushes four times a year as recommended by the American Dental Association (ADA) will go through more than 300 toothbrushes in their lifetime.

The future of green toothbrushes

A high-tech, prototype solar-powered toothbrush manufactured by the Shiken Company in Japan uses the sun’s power to charge a solar panel at the base of the brush. The brush needs about as much sunshine as a solar-powered calculator would to work. A moisture-activated titanium dioxide rod in the neck of the Soladey-J3X toothbrush combines with the solar energy to create a chemical reaction that releases electrons into your mouth that break down plaque. No toothpaste needed! The toothbrush is being tested by dentistry professor Dr. Kunio Komiyama and his colleague Dr. Gerry Uswak at the University of Saskatchewan, so watch for news of this ground-breaking green toothbrush.

External links

• Parade - Intelligence Report: Is Plastic Destroying Our Oceans?
• The Green Guide - Take Care of Your Teeth Without Chemicals
• Stonyfield Farm - From Yogurt Cups to Razors and Toothbrushes