How to brush your teeth and take care of your mouth health plastic free and in a low waste way

12.01.2020

Everyday everyone around the world has to brush their teeth and every year this source https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/the-bamboo-boys/article5079295.ece says that 4.7 billion plastic toothbrushes are produce. Every toothbrush also lasts about a 1000 years in landfills. And over 80 million pounds of toothbrushes are thrown into North American landfills each year according to https://greenkick.ca/2013/09/green-dental-solutions-special-sustainable-toothbrush-offer/

But did you know that in a couple of easy steps you could brush your teeth low waist style.

Instead of using a plastic toothbrush that in the end, ends up in landfills where it should not be, try like me to switch to a toothbrush made from either sugar canes, recycled plastic or why not one in Bamboo. (I haven't been able to find a solution to the nylon bristles which all the toothbrushes i have tested, comes with). I am still wishing for totally compostable boar hair toothbrush bristles.

Here are some brands I have tested out. I have tried them all and seen their packaging and below you are going to see how they package their toothbrushes as well as what I like the alternatives to plastic toothbrushes that I have found so far.

All the toothbrushes comes in some type of recyclable packaging. The TePe toothbrush packaging is the only one that has some plastic included. A big minus if i have to say so my self. On the packing it says that the plastic should be recycled with plastic trash and not all plastic trash can be completely recycled. All of the cardboard boxes can be recycled with cardboard trash which is more likely to become new cardboard again.

Only the humble brush comes in a what looks like plastic wrapping. On the packaging it says that it is plastic made from sugarcane. here is a little description of that type of plastic

Biopolyethylene (also known as renewable polyethylene) is polyethylene made out of ethanol, which becomes ethylene after a dehydration process.It can be made from various feedstocks including sugar cane, sugar beet, and wheat grain.

Is compostable plastic really compostable? The answer is no. PLA and other compostable (and biodegradable) plastic-like materials are still in fact plastic. If these materials are not correctly disposed of at their end of life, they will cause just as much damage to our land and marine environments as traditional petrochemical-based plastic litter.

So even tho it says on the box that the plastic wrapping should be sorted with compostables it's not true. It is still plastic and should be sorted that way so humble brush gets a small minus there from me.

All the other toothbrushes only comes in their plastic packaging.

Above is a picture of the five different toothbrushes that i have tried.

The first toothbrush I tested is The Humble Toothbrush.

The humble bamboo toothbrush is made from 100% biodegradable, sustainably-grown bamboo. The bristles are made from a material called nylon-6 because it has a lower hardness (which is good for your teeth) and lower water absorption (which is good for keeping your brush hygienic) compared to other types of nylon. It's a strong, durable and hygienic synthetic material. The toothbrush comes packaged in a cardboard and paper box which can be recycled.

I really like this toothbrush, it brushes really well but the bristles get frizzy really fast which is the only downside to this toothbrush i would say. It is the toothbrush that have been out the longest on the market and the one i have used the longest time. When this toothbrush started selling there really wasn't any competition on the toothbrush market. With this in thought i really hadn't much choice then to buy this one. So far it has been the one i still like to reach for when i buy bamboo toothbrushes.

The bristles are made from nylon plastic so they need to be sorted like plastic when threw away tho which is not good for this company, they are not 100% zero waste.

I love the company the humble brush and their toothbrushes. They are the most sustainable alternative that I have been using since around 2 years ago.

The toothbrush comes in multiple colors like pink, yellow, blue, white and black

A 7 out of 10 points on my list

The second toothbrush I tested is The company Colgate that has brought out their competitor on the bamboo toothbrush market.

It is also made from bamboo. The bristles are just like humble brush made from plastic and should be removed before the toothbrush is thrown in to the compostable trash.

I have just started using this over christmas and i am in love. The handle is made from bamboo just like humble brush and Pepsodent. The bristles is still plastic but they are charcoal infused which is not explained on the website or the packaging what this should be good for.

The bristles i have experienced has hold together a bit better than the humble brush bristles, which actually makes this a huge competitor on the bamboo toothbrush market in my eyes.

I really like this toothbrush, it feels really good to brush with and the handle don't soak up the water as much as the bamboo handle on the humble brush. This is thanks to the bees wax coating on the bamboo handle. The beeswax coating really helps keeps the beautiful bamboo print nice and the handle nice for longer.

The bristles comes in different stiffnesses. I have used the soft version and so far i really do like it and i will probably start using this over the humble brush.

The toothpaste bristles comes in black, black and green and only green. The bristles on this toothbrush is also infused with binchotan charcoal.

A really 10+ toothbrush over all.

The third company's toothbrush i have tried is a bamboo toothbrush as well and this time the toothbrush comes from yet another world wide popular company called pepsodent.

This toothbrush also has a handle made of bamboo and bristles made of plastic.

I have only tried this toothbrush a few days over christmas but i must say that it's not my favorite and the bristles are already looking frizzle. Over all it worked to brush my teeth with. It might not be the one toothbrush i reach for to brush my teeth with or will buy again. The toothbrush head was okey size and not to hard bristles, but like a say, not my favorite one.

It will fall somewhere in the middle of the range of toothbrushes. Nice handle otherwise that feels good in the hand.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Not really a 10 + more like a 3,5 points of ten.

The fourth toothbrush i have tested is from a company called Jordan. The toothbrush is included in a line called Green Clean and have 100% reused plastic in it.s handel.

Their toothbrush handle is made of 100 % post-consumer recycled PP (polypropylene). It conforms to FDA regulations, meaning that it is food safe. The source is yogurt containers, margarine tubs, food container lids, etc (items containing food and are generally found in the refrigerated section of food markets) that consumers have handed in for recycling. The bristles are made from nylon in made from castor oil. The bristles are 100% bio-based. The castor oil is extracted from the castor oil plant, which is a natural and renewable resource. It can grow well on marginal lands and under a wide range of hostile ecological conditions and will not compete with the agricultural sector that produces food and fibers. The bristles do not contain colorants.

The toothbrush comes packaged in a recycled cardboard box, the paper container material is made from scrap papers from paper industries and unwanted commercial boxes collected by the waste handling industries. By using this paper scrap creatively, it is recycled into something protective and useful. The label is made of FSC and PEFC certified paper. FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) are internationally third-party, non-governmental organizations serve to promote and uphold best practices for sustainable forest management. These certifications ensure that the wood raw material used in products is legally sourced and originates from sustainably managed forests. The adhesive on the label is rubber based and have been engineered and produced as environmentally friendly as possible, without compromising performance. The adhesive conforms to FDA regulations for indirect food contact and is today used in many food-related packaging.

Why recycled materials you might ask? By using recycled material you are able to maintain the value of materials for as long as possible and is part of a circular economy. Using recycled material minimize waste and resource used to make the toothbrushes and, gives products and materials new lives.

The recycled plastic used in the toothbrush is FDA-approved, meaning that it is food-safe and completely free from chemicals that can be harmful to put in your mouth. The source is yogurt containers, margarine tubs and other food containers from the refrigerated section of food markets. As such, the recycled plastic in the toothbrush is completely safe, conforming to strict regulations.

The toothbrush feels just like a normal toothbrush but it has has a very small brush head. It is a huge step forward for a company like Jordan to be making a step toward changing its production materials towards more sustainable /environment-friendly materials so for that I am impressed.

My experience with this toothbrush handel is that it feels plastic and very hard in the hand, it's a totally different experience then using the bamboo ones.

The bristles are also made from a 100% 100% biobased material, but i guess they are still plastic but Biopolyethylene (also known as renewable polyethylene) plastic.

It's nice that the packaging is just cardboard.

my experience of this toothbrush is that the bristles feels stiff and the toothbrush head is really big for my very small mouth so it's not my favorite brush.

This + that the handle feels hard in the hand makes this an alternative to normal plastic toothbrushes but it won't be one i will buy again.

It might be a 5 out 10 on my list because it's still plastic even tho it's reused plastic so good try jordan.

The fith company's toothbrush that i have tried is a company called TePe.

It's a toothbrush made from biobased plastic made from sugar canes.

Here is some info about what bio based plastic really is

The toothbrush handel is made from 96% bio-based toothbrush made of sugar cane and castor oil The castor oil is extracted from the castor oil plant, which is a natural and renewable resource. It can grow well on marginal lands and under a wide range of hostile ecological conditions and will not compete with the agricultural sector that produces food and fibers. The toothbrush has 100% bio-based bristles that are also made from castor oil. Produced from 100% green energy, partly from TePes own solar cell plant in Malmö.

95% of carbon dioxide emissions are resumed during the life of the toothbrush. The toothbrush production reduces greenhouse gases up to 95% and is almost climate neutral.

The problem is that farming sugarcane can still put huge stress on the environment, your relying on large plantations that use pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers as well as significant amounts of water to grow sugar cane. The term "bioplastic" or "plant-based" can also be kind of misleading. Materials classified as "bioplastic", like TePe sugarcane toothbrush made from polyethylene made from sugarcane, are plastics sourced from natural materials but aren't necessarily biodegradable. And some bioplastics are actually fossil fuel-based.

Even if a plastic is classified as "biodegradable", that just means it can be broken down by bacteria or fungi, but this can still take decades and leave toxic residue behind. And if it's classified as "compostable", meaning it can be broken down relatively rapidly into compost, it might still need high-temperature industrial processing to do so.

So it might be 95% recyclable but it's not compostable as many might think.

A big + that it's clearly says which parts off the toothbrush and packaging that goes where in recycling.

It's a good explanation of the creation process on the back of the box which also is good for transparency.

It comes in small, medium and large brush head and the small brush head was way to small and didn´t help me brush my teeth at all. The medium size was better but this toothbrush feels just like any other plastic toothbrush which i really don't like but still like. I like the feel of bamboo better for myself but for someone who wants just an easy alternative to plastic this feels just like any other TePe toothbrush.

The thing that I like about the toothbrush is that It feels just like a normal toothbrush but what I didn't like was the small brush head but I do have the child version which is small. On the handle you can see which one of the three sizes available it is that you are using. The three sizes are mini extra soft, compact soft and regular soft. The sugar cane toothbrush comes packaged in part cardboard, part plastic packaging which I didn't like.

Not one of my favorites and because it´ still made from plastic this gets a 2 of 10 points on my list.

The different types of toothbrushes mentioned above are usually sold in your local grocery store. In my local grocery store. You can also find the bamboo toothbrushes in your local eco or bulk store.

If you need to travel, bulk stores or eco stores also sell bamboo toothbrush cases that can protect your toothbrush from getting dirty in your suitcase.

This toothbrush helps you to eliminate one of the most prevalent forms of ocean plastic pollution, plus it looks insanely chic in your bathroom and you don't have to put plastic in your mouth two times per day.

In the eco shops or low waste/ zero waste shops, they also sell toothpaste made from natural ingredients, stored in a small glass or metal jar that you often can refill when they're empty.

The problem with normal toothpaste is that it contains ingredients like triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, fluoride, propylene glycol, and sodium hydroxide that are all questionable because of their link to cancer and other decreases.

down below here you can read a little bit about two of the ingredients in normal toothpaste.

Triclosan is a chemical added to many products to reduce bacterial contamination. The ingredient is also used in toothpaste to prevent gingivitis. According to the FDA and toothpaste manufacturers. In addition, it has been said to be potentially carcinogenic and have negative effects on the endocrine system in animals.

The ingredient is banned in certain applications in Europe and in 2011, some of Colgate's soap products were reformulated to not contain the chemical anymore. Their toothpaste though was not reformulated and does still contain the ingredient. The ecotoxicology of the ingredient is still under heavy scrutiny and its rated to have a moderate to high health risk.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS): Is a surfactant or in other words a foaming agent that lowers the tension between two liquids or a liquid and a solid. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is used in toothpaste to evenly disperse the ingredients and help with effective rinsing and removal of mouth debris. It also promotes foaming. Many studies on Sodium Lauryl Sulfate shows that it is contaminated with 1,4 dioxane, a byproduct of the manufacturing process, which is also a possible carcinogen. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is also said to aggravate gums.

Normal toothpaste also has a big waste impact. Normal toothpaste comes packaged in plastic tubes that are totally wasteful. The tubes in its self are very difficult or almost impossible to recycle and will most likely just end up in the landfill. The second problem is the waste of cardboard. Not only does the normal toothpaste comes packaged in plastic tubes but the plastic tubes comes packaged in cardboard boxes. That is a double waste problem that is easily solved with buying a toothpaste that comes in a glass jar.

Instead of using normal toothpaste loaded with bad stuff packaged in a plastic tube i use an organic toothpaste in a glass jar.

The toothpaste i use is the one below.

It is bought in a bulk store named "Ripple Living" in Cardiff in Wales. Though I have seen similar products in some other bulk stores I visited in Sweden as well, so you should be able to buy toothpaste in your local bulk store or you could make your own with the recipe that i will put in later in this post.

If i don´ t use that toothpaste i also use this organic alovera toothpaste but it's downside to that is that it comes packaged in plastic.

Or i use tooth tabs from Lush but they also comes packaged in plastic but i know you can leave packages back to them to reuse or something so that is the good part in that.

Another way to go about natural toothpaste is to make your own toothpaste. down below you have one easy recipe of the things you need to make your own toothpaste. The best thing about making your own toothpaste is that you can decide for yourself if you want to store it in a glass jar or a metal jar.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons coconut oil.
2-4 tablespoons baking soda or a combination of baking soda and sea salt.
Up to 1 tablespoon xylitol powder (optional)
20 drops cinnamon or clove essential oil (optional)
20 drops peppermint essential oil (optional)
small glass jar.

Adding just a little bit of something gritty (a very mild abrasive) makes brushing away that plaque a bit easier. But keep in mind that too much or too strong an abrasive is not a good thing, as you may start removing more than just plaque and food particles!

Baking soda is a cheap, readily available and very effective mild abrasive. Dipping your moistened brush in plain, dry baking soda is quick, easy and effective for basic tooth cleaning. But no one is going to rave about the flavour (salty) or mouthfeel (mildly gritty) of brushing with plain baking soda. Also, it's hard to get it to stay on your brush.

Here is a list of good ingredients for making homemade baking soda toothpaste, ingredients that are easy to find in any grocery store + mild abrasives, and liquids to blend them with. included is also tooth-friendly flavourings and sweeteners to make the paste more appealing it´s all up to your personal needs and preferences.

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Baking soda has many uses. In toothpaste, it acts as an ideal mild abrasive, which dissolves, leaving no grit behind. It is alkaline, so it has the added benefit of helping to neutralize excess acid in the mouth.

Bentonite clay. This finely powdered product is a mild abrasive, alkaline so it helps neutralize excess acid in the mouth, full of trace minerals and helps draw toxins out of the body. If you have silver fillings, you may want to avoid clay as the drawing property could draw out mercury.

Cacao nibs (or powder). Not to be confused with cocoa (a chemically-treated product), cacao is raw chocolate and it is loaded with nutrients and trace minerals. In toothpaste, it also acts as a very mild abrasive. And it tastes yummy.

Coconut oil. This amazing substance may be the most versatile food and health aid on the planet. In toothpaste, it gives a smooth mouthfeel, holds other stuff together, and helps kill nasty microorganisms - including candida and tooth decay bacteria - while supporting beneficial ones. Organic, cold-pressed and unrefined is the best kind to use, if possible. Coconut oil has one odd characteristic: it melts at about 24 degrees Celsius, which means your toothpaste will be very stiff in cool conditions and runny and prone to separating if it gets warmer than 23 degrees Celsius. This changeability doesn't affect how well your toothpaste works. But it does mean that it's better to keep homemade toothpaste containing coconut oil in a jar than a tube. This way you can scoop it out when very firm or dip your brush in it if it liquefies (and re-mix it if it separates). Take advantage of coconut oil's low melting temperature when mixing up a batch by warming the jar in a container of hot water for 10 or 15 minutes before measuring out the now-liquified oil and mixing it with other ingredients.

Diatomaceous earth (DE). These sharp bits of silicon are the remains of the shells of tiny aquatic animals called diatoms. It is a mild abrasive and contains trace minerals.

Essential oils. Essential oils are a good way to mask flavours while adding nicer ones. Plus some offer additional benefits. Clove oil is antibacterial; peppermint boosts energy and is a familiar flavour for toothpaste, and cinnamon oil fights inflammation and viruses.

Guar gum. When mixed with liquid, this natural product creates a gluey substance that helps thicken toothpaste and keep it from separating. Blend the dry powder with the other dry ingredients before adding any water. Otherwise, by itself, guar gum powder is hard to mix with water without making lumps.

Sea salt. Sea salt is a mild abrasive and rich in trace minerals.

Spices. Powdered spices, such as cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and mint, are a good way to add flavour and some gentle abrasive to homemade toothpaste. Be sure they are finely ground to avoid a gritty paste.

Stevia. If you want tooth-friendly sweetness, stevia is a good choice. Choose powdered extract, powdered stevia leaf, or a plain or flavoured liquid stevia extract (but not a glycerin-based one; see Glycerin, above).

Water. If coconut oil doesn't appeal to you (or you are out of it), water is a good basic moistening agent for dry powders. It also has the advantage of remaining liquid down to 32 F. So once you mix up a paste, it is going to stay the same firmness regardless of changes in room temperature.

Xylitol. We aren't fond of using this as a sweetener in food because of the possible health issues and side effects associated with consuming larger quantities. But, being sugar alcohol, it has a unique quality that may make it a good sweetener for toothpaste. Sugar alcohols are attractive to bacteria. But they can't metabolize them, so they die after consuming them. Sugar alcohols may also support re-mineralization.

Tips:

Adding more baking soda helps keep your paste firmer in warm weather. Adding less baking soda makes it less firm, which makes dispensing it easier in the winter if your house is cool.
Baking soda toothpaste tastes really salty.
Adding the full measure of xylitol makes it a salty-sweet, which kids may find more acceptable.
Adding strong-flavoured essential oil(s) doesn't change the flavour much while you are brushing, but it does make for a pleasant aftertaste (instead of just saltiness).

The same problems are true with a lot of other products that Eco/ bulk stores also sells in natural versions with a better alternative to the packaging, like mouthwash, tooth soap and silk dental floss.

This is the dental floss that I use that I bought at the bulk store in Helsingborg called food cooperative, it´s organic and comes in a glass jar.

At my local eco store/bulk store i also bought this toung scraper in stainless steel.

Down below is a picture from my local bulk store when i lived in Cardiff, and all their different mouth waters you could buy in glass jars.