The Plastic VS Bamboo Toothbrush Debate - Zero Waste Cartel

The Plastic VS Bamboo Toothbrush Debate

99% of all the toothbrushes in the world are made from plastic. And about 1 billion plastic toothbrushes are used and trashed each year in the USA. Which got me thinking…

What’s the impact of this on our environment?

The most obvious problem is that most of these plastic brushes will either pollute our environment or sit in landfill.

Once in landfill, they will take about 1000 years to degrade. 

They will never fully biodegrade… 

They’ll just degrade into smaller micro plastics which are dangerous to us and our wildlife.

And when entering the ocean, they can even be mistaken for animals.. like this poor seahorse below (photo by Ocean Care)...

Microplastics are blowing into rivers and oceans.

If you’re struggling to understand the consequences of this, let’s put it into perspective with some really shocking statistics...

National Geographic did a study which revealed that 90% of table salts in Europe contained microplastics. And WWF recently did a study that showed: people around the world are consuming a credit card's-worth of microplastic every week.

Now we all know that  the majority of this microplastic does not come from our toothbrushes. 

But with over 1 billion brushes being thrown out each year - it’s concerning enough for us to politely nudge our friends and family to make a switch. 

We designed our bamboo toothbrush to have a fully compostable handle. 

Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.

Howard Zinn

But what about the bristles? 

To tell you the truth, the bristles are tricky.

Finding compostable bristles wasn’t hard. But finding compostable bristles that we could have approved by dentists - is still looming in our future.

Teeth are something you should never take a risk on because dental bills when something goes wrong can be very expensive.

Therefore... 

We designed our bamboo toothbrush with a compostable handle and nylon 6 bristles. The handle makes up 99% of the total brush.

Our brushes have been approved, recommended by dental professionals and stocked by dental offices.

Just make sure you snap off the head or pluck the bristles out with tweezers (which you can then recycle), and then you can compost the handle.

If you want to make an eco-friendly switch and try a bamboo toothbrush, you can use ours without any risk whatsoever. 

We offer a 30 day refund on our bamboo toothbrushes. Our refund rate is below 0.3% so we’re extremely proud of our design and confident that once you go BAMBOO you won’t go back.

At the moment, you can get a 10-pack of brushes for $14.95 (less than $1.50 per brush) by clicking on this link.



Our Toothbrushes

Beige and Brown

Super soft bristles, as recommended by dentists. 

Rainbow

Our bristles are colored by food-grade dye which gives it a medium/hard bristle. 

Kids - Ocean Explorer Pack

Small handles with soft, multi-colored bristles to make teeth brushing fun. 

Harriet S. 
Co-Founder of Zero Waste Cartel & surfer of very small waves


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9 comments

I love these toothbrushes. I bought them because I am trying to eliminate as much plastic from my lifestyle as possible, and I’m so glad that I did. They work just as well as the plastic ones, are beautiful to look at, and they actually fit into the mounted toothbrush holder in my bathroom (the plastic types used to fit until their handles all became bigger and more elaborate). These bamboo brushes are also cheaper!

Rachel Chelius

I just bought this toothbrush. I was worried the bristles would not be soft enough because I use extra soft bristles. But the natural colored ones are very soft. Got the toothbrush case too. I love the fact bamboo is antibacterial! I am giving this toothbrush to everyone in the family.

Meg

The whole family loves these toothbrushes, we are hooked for life 💚

Dolly M Hafner

May we put our dental practice’s name on the toothbrushes?

Heend Sheth

I love these toothbrushes. The natural color bristles are finer than the soft bristles on traditional brushes. They can go below the gum line, giving a more thorough clean without pain.

Mary Robert

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