Most sources recommend changing your toothbrush every three months. (Frankly, this is just not the kind of thing that's even on my radar as I move through life. But you know what? I just set a series of calendar reminders to nudge me to replace my brush!)
For a family of four, that's sixteen toothbrushes thrown away every year!
Replacing your toothbrush is actually a pretty important deal. When you brush your teeth, you're removing bacteria, right? Well guess where those bacteria end up: on your toothbrush. Even if you rinse it well, it's not like you're autoclaving your toothbrush every night. After a while the bacterial population builds up such that you're practically making your teeth dirtier just by brushing them.
Gross, right? I'm sorry. It had to be said.
If you're not nerdy enough to set a recurring calendar reminder, the good people at Preserve have a toothbrush subscription! For a mere $13, they will send you a new toothbrush every three months. And they even include "mail back packs," so that you can send your old toothbrush back for recycling. How great is that?
You may know Preserve as the company behind the "Gimme 5" campaign. They collect #5 plastic (yogurt cups and margarine tubs are the most common form of #5 plastic) and recycle it into a variety of products. Including, obviously, their toothbrush handles! (The bristles themselves are made from new materials.)
Another eco-friendly option is the Source Eco-Friendly Toothbrush made by RADIUS. The handle is made from either recycled dollar bills (really!), recycled flax, or recycled wood. The idea behind the Source toothbrush is that it's never the HANDLE that wears out, so why replace the whole thing? Instead, you buy one Source handle, and a collection of replacement heads.
The Source toothbrush is beautiful, and definitely reduces waste over conventional choices. But it's a little on the pricey side ($6.95 for the handle, and $5.50 for a two pack of replacement heads). And the replacement head isn't recyclable (not that I can tell) so you're still throwing away a chunk of plastic every three months.
Toothpaste has come a long way, too. Conventional toothpaste is chock full of additives and mystery ingredients, as well as known irritant and petroleum byproduct SLS. I have to say up front that I'm sorry, but I just can't handle plain baking soda, even though so many people swear by it. I can't stand the salty taste, and I worry that it's too abrasive.
After surveying the field, I have finally settled on Tom's of Maine's special "SLS-free" toothpaste. Oddly enough it's one of the few alternative toothpastes which is mint flavored. (I demand mint-flavored toothpaste! A lot of other toothpastes seem to have decided that "as long as we've come this far, let's make it a weird taste, too!") The minty taste isn't aggressively long-lasting the way conventional toothpastes are, and as a bonus it doesn't foam as much. I hate foamy toothpaste, it always used to make me gag!
Photo credit: Flickr/hddod