Bathroom Waste Reduction

I feel like the bathroom is one place where a large number of waste is produced. I could dive into so many alternatives available to reduce your waste in the bathroom, but I honestly wanted to do a fun one this time. My goal is to bring in something cool and new that most of y’all hopefully haven’t heard or thought of before.

Let’s talk about toothbrushes and toothpaste. So apparently toothbrushes are another plastic that gets lost in the recycling process, so chances are its gunna end up in the landfill amongst everything else. And once in a landfill, the toothbrush, made of polypropylene plastic and nylon will not break down, and worse can reach rivers or even the sea. (We gotta save those turtles!)  The packaging used for oral care products are manufactured to last essentially forever. Yet a typical household can throw away one or more empty tubes a month. There are also various components comprised in the typical toothpaste tube which can include any number of plastics, aluminum, steel and even nylon. For the tube to be recycled, each component in the tube must be processed seperately. And on top of the CO2 pollution involved in the production of each and every tube you buy, it then becomes a VERY complex process for recyclers.

As a result, it has inspired innovative eco alternatives including bamboo-made brushes, some with a handles made from recycled yoghurt pots and bristles made from pig hair. As for the toothpaste tubes, there are multiple altervatives to reduce waste in this area too. While you can always make your own toothpaste, one of my favorite alternatives I have come across so far are the toothpaste tablets.

A company called Bite has made a healthier, all-natural plastic free replacement for the paste we have been using our entire lives. So what you do is pop the tablet into your mouth, bite down and brush with a wet toothbrush as you would commercial toothpaste. Pretty neat concept, and it is supposed to foam up just like your common toothpaste would.

Let’s leave this planet better than how we found it, so take some of this information into consideration when you are out thinking of shopping for your next plastic purchase, and consider some alternatives to help our environment instead.