Do you know how many plastic toothbrushes are discarded every year? You’ll find out later in this article, but for now, know that the number is so big it inspired me to write this. Asking around and scouring the internet in search of the perfect eco friendly toothbrush I came across bamboo toothbrushes.
Why a Bamboo Toothbrush?
There are many reasons why bamboo is better than plastic and even wooden toothbrushes. First and foremost they are biodegradable! Another big factor is the growth rate of bamboo, sometimes growing up to three feet in one day! Not only that, Bamboo releases 30% more oxygen into the atmosphere and absorbs more carbon dioxide compared to other plants. Talk about a win win. For more interesting facts on bamboo check out SoftSchools
The Best Bamboo Toothbrushes
Below I’ve put together a list of the toothbrush I’ve tried, one that I’ve been told is great, plus one that has so many sales and positive reviews I thought it would be a shame to leave it out.
Let’s get to it.
The Green Root Bamboo Toothbrush Review
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The Good: Packaging is made using recycled and compostable materials. They are numbered to help avoid confusion if you share a bathroom. The handle is also compostable.
The Neutral: A lot of users reported that the bristles of this brand are quite soft. I put this in the middle because that can be a good or a bad thing, it just depends on the user. I found them to be perfect for me, not too soft, not too hard.
The Bad: About 7% of users report that the bristles fall off too soon. (2 months in and no problems on my end)
WOWE Bamboo Toothbrush Review
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The Good: It’s made from bamboo so you can compost the handle. They are numbered so that you don’t get them mixed up if in a shared bathroom. The bristles are BPA free which means no chemical leaching into your mouth! They donate to an organization that helps replant trees in deforested areas so you are helping the environment in more ways than one by getting a WOWE toothbrush. (This company will be my next choice once I need to change my current bamboo toothbrush).
The Bad: Again about 7% of users report that the bristles start to fall off after about a month of use. Some users reported the handle feeling a bit rough but solved the minor problem by applying some coconut oil.
Mothers Vault Bamboo Toothbrush Review
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The Good: A portion of the sales goes to helping a company that creates laws to protect the environment. The bristles are BPA free and the handle is compostable. Seems the company listens to their customers feedback as they previously shipped in plastic until a few people complained and now they don’t. #Winning
The Bad: Seems to be an ongoing theme with bamboo toothbrushes and that is that around 7% of users report that the bristles fall off way too early.
How Many Plastic Toothbrushes?
So, now that you’ve had time to think about it, can you guess just how many plastic toothbrushes are discarded every year? I’ll give you a couple more seconds to think about that before revealing the answer
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“In the United States alone it is estimated that between 850 million, and over a billion toothbrushes, representing more than 50 million pounds of waste, are discarded and end up in land fills every single year.” (Source: EcoPlanetBamboo) I still can’t believe how much waste that is even after reading it a couple of times and checking out other sources for a confirmation on those numbers. Keep in mind that number is PER YEAR, in the USA alone!!!!!
Pretty insane right? You could help reduce that number by getting one, or two or three of those compostable bamboo toothbrushes listed above. Spreading the word also helps!
Picking an Eco Friendly Toothbrush:
This really depends on how far down the rabbit hole of eco friendliness you want to go. You can opt to purchase a tooth brush that is 100% compostable. That means that your bristles also need to come from a biodegradable source which can be tricky to acheive. I hear some companies are using pig hair for the bristles. For starters though, any of the above bamboo toohbrushes will help the environment significantly.
What about the packaging? Yup, think about that as well. It’s pretty easy in our time to create a compostable package, especially for something as simple as a toothbrush.
Anything else? There’s one more thing that I can think about and that’s shipping! That’s right, if you buy your product online, that product needs to be packaged and shipped to you. Most of the time the boxes are riddled with unnecessary plastic. If you do order it online, you can offset this buy getting more than one at a time. You could even give/sell them to your friends and family and get them to make the switch!
Small Steps Create Big Change!
Send this article to friends and family to inform them.
Get a bamboo toothbrush (more eco friendly than plastic and wood)
Buy more than one (saves on packaging, fossil fuels used for delivery and time)
Purchase your new bamboo toothbrush using one of the links above or below. This helps me keep writing more reviews of eco friendly products. If you don’t want to help and just want to buy the tooth brush, a quick search on your favorite search engine will bring up results.
Hope you’ve enjoyed the information here. If there’s anything you would like to add/or correct please leave a comment or email me and I will be more than happy see what I can do.
*Please note that companies can change at any moment, please check companies official websites/descriptions before purchasing for up to date information.
-Happy Bamboo Toothbrush – ing =D
