The Best Zero Waste Dental Care Tips
Updated: May 26
Dental hygiene is important. As the mouth is the gateway to the body, it is important to take good care of it. Teeth that ache, gums that bleed, and breath that smells bad are all indicators of poor oral health which could result in you getting sick. So, it is important to take good care of your teeth but we would like to do this as sustainably as possible.
Toothbrush
Most toothbrushes nowadays are made entirely out of plastic. We live in a world with over 7 billion people who all brush their teeth about twice a day and use several toothbrushes yearly. This is a massive contribution to landfills and sometimes even oceans so it is time to make your daily oral hygiene more sustainable. The easiest first step to start is to switch to a bamboo toothbrush. You can use it the same way as its plastic counterpart. The only difference is the carbon footprint you leave behind. The only thing you might want to consider is the bristles. Unfortunately, the bristles are either made from plastic of made from pig hair. Even though the latter is compostable, it is not vegan. Whether or not you are comfortable with this is up to you. If you are not vegan, perhaps a toothbrush like this would be the right decision for you.
Several toothbrush manufacturers claim that their bristles are made from Nylon-4. This is a petroleum-based plastic that has been shown in