How to dispose of our Organically Epic toothbrushes

Whilst our toothbrushes are as ‘zero waste’ as they come, they still aren’t fully zero waste I’m afraid.

The handle is bamboo and whilst the bristles are infused with charcoal, they are up to 95% Nylon.

This is the most sustainable option on the market, there are other brands that claim their bristles are made of vegetable materials or are 100% biodegradable and made of nylon 6 (no such thing FYI) after extensive research, we have found these claims to be misleading at best and an out and out porkie at worst.  So we decided to not tell people our bristles were biodegradable.  Because we cannot find any actual evidence, that they are.  This isn’t just us typing it into google either I’d like to point out, I’ve spoken to many manufacturers globally over the years and not one could give me the actual evidence that these claims are true.

So we’ve gone with honesty.  I just wanted to clear that up 🙂

So, back to the disposal….

The Packaging

All of the current packaging in our dental range is made of sustainably sourced cardboard that can either be recycled, or ripped into smaller pieces and put into your compost – much like egg cartons.

The Toothbrushes

After your toothbrush is worn out from working it’s magic on your teeth, usually 2 to 3 months, it’ll be ready to be retired.

To reuse the toothbrush you can use it around the house as a cleaning tool, it’s fab at cleaning taps and between tiles.  You could also use it in the garden as a diber, or in a childs art project and also they can be used as paint brushes for children as well!

If you’d prefer just to get rid of the toothbrushes you will need to remove the bristles from the toothbrush either by pulling them out with pliers, cutting them off or some people shave them with a shaver (I don’t know how the do it but it’s a thing apparently).

You would then with put both items in the correct recycling or you could put the bamboo handle in the compost or put it back into the earth.  It is wooden afterall.

Do you have any tips on how you reuse your old toothbrushes?  We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Jayne and the Organically Epic team