The Hidden Waste Behind a Simple Smile

Brush, rinse, repeat. This daily ritual keeps smiles healthy but adds up to major plastic waste being dumped into landfills and waterways. With over a billion toothbrushes sold annually in America alone, is there an eco-friendlier way to care for our teeth? Enter toothpaste tablets – a novel way to cut back on oral care waste without sacrificing dental hygiene.

The Problem of Plastic Waste

plastic packaging

Source: vecteezy.com

Walk down a drugstore aisle and plastic dominates the oral care section. Toothbrushes, floss containers, paste tubes – all packaged in plastic destined for the landfill. Even our mouths become conduits leaching microplastics into water sources with each spit and rinse. Nevertheless, change is afoot as consumers seek greener alternatives.

Toothbrushes represent one of the most preventable sources of plastic pollution. Americans dispose of over one billion toothbrushes per year. While some offer recycled handles, no viable system exists currently to recycle used plastic bristles, which account for over half a brush’s bulk. The tiny non-compostable bristles also release thousands of tons of microplastics when washed down drains after use.

Meanwhile, traditional toothpaste generates billions of plastic tubes per year globally. Laying end to end, these tubes could circle the earth five times over. Despite some companies allowing users to mail back empty tubes for recycling, this complex process still only intercepts a minute fraction, leaving billions more in oceans and landfills.

Beyond their disposed physical components, the fossil fuels used to produce billions of plastic toothbrushes presents further environmental harm. Most handles are molded from petroleum-based plastics like polypropylene. The entire lifecycle of plastic brushes, from crude oil extraction and processing to global manufacture, packaging, and shipment, consumes a substantial amount of energy. The resulting greenhouse emissions may contribute to climate change, especially as much of this plastic ends up in waste burners.

Rethinking Oral Care Routines

Clearly, change is due on how we deliver oral care products and maintain dental hygiene routines. According to the people at Ecofam, using toothpaste tablets presents one way to sustain clean and healthy smiles and reduce plastic waste.

Toothpaste tablets take a “less is more” approach by condensing toothpaste into small, compressed tablets. Bite down to crush the minty disc into a paste right on your brush. Add water and brush as normal for the same fresh feeling, removing plaque and polishing teeth. However, unlike tube toothpaste, these leave no packaging behind.

Benefits of Toothpaste Tablets

Toothpaste tablets provide the following upside compared to traditional paste:

Zero Plastic Packaging

With no tube or pump required, toothpaste tablets eliminate one of oral care’s worst plastic offenders. A year’s supply produces only a small recyclable paper box as waste.

Lower Carbon Footprint

In addition to plastic reduction, the smaller form factor allows tablets to ship in flat boxes. This enables more efficient transport and fuel savings versus bulky tubes. Production also uses less water, energy, and refrigeration.

Simplified Supply Chain

Their condensed design allows packing over 200 tablets per box, a 2 month supply. Not needing to restock tubes monthly from the store reduces consumers’ plastic footprint even further.

Mold Resistant Design

Without ever sitting open, tablets avoid bacterial contamination from dirty sinks. Their single dose delivery helps maintain consistent freshness and formula integrity.

Conclusion

whiter smiles

Source: yenzerdental.com

Although advertisers aggressively promote the allure of whiter smiles and minty-fresh breath through clever marketing campaigns, there is a noticeable lack of attention given to the significant environmental consequences often concealed behind the seemingly innocuous products found in our bathrooms. But even small changes can catalyze larger savings. Rethinking how essentials like toothpaste get packaged and delivered could remove billions of plastic tubes from circulation. And that possibility alone is something we can all smile about.

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