Sustainable September 2015 - Day Four

Hello my lovelies,

Oh man, I am tired, and I am also pretty excited. I am currently on a course in Sydney and we are having long days. Doing blog posts at 10pm when I have to be up at 6am is probably not my brightest idea yet. I am getting there though. I have been getting up early for exercise. It is both exhausting and invigorating. Having not done much for a long time now in the exercise field, I have taken this week to start my health & healing. Since Sunday I have greatly improved my fitness. I can now do 60 crunches, 60 press ups, and 3 whole minutes of plank position! Much better than my 20 x 20 by 30 seconds. Healthy me, here I come! :)

Back to Sustainable September... How did you find yesterdays idea for a more sustainable future? Did you remember to take your reusable bags with you to the supermarket? Did you buy any nice new reusable bags? I used mine today to tote dirty washing to the laundry of the lady i'm staying with. We can do this!

So today is yet another simple switch.

September 4: Replace your plastic toothbrush with a bamboo one. Bamboo can be composted. 

This is as simple as it sounds. You can buy Bamboo toothbrushes from your local health store (or you can from a lot of health stores near me). I have just bought a bulk pack (I am yet to try them). I am excited about it though because the waste accrued from toothbrushes is ridiculous. 

I bought these in Bulk with the intention of passing them on, or using them as gifts. Plus when you bought these in bulk it was cheaper! :)

I kind of wish I had found these cute bamboo toothbrushes  first... after all they have my last name etched into each one!! ;)

 And when is say rediculous, let me share the sums, that someone else kindly did for me...

"Here’s why you should be thinking about the environmental impact of toothbrushes. Let’s take Australia as an example. There are about 22 million people in the country. Let’s say, as a very rough estimate, that 1.25 million are little babies and don’t have teeth. So that’s 20.75 million Australians with teeth (including dentures, which still need to be brushed, so they count.) We all know the dentist tells us to change our toothbrush when it starts to get shaggy; about every three months. We also know that we are lazy, so we probably only change them every four months. So let’s say everyone changes their toothbrush three times a year (every four months).
Here’s the equation:

• Australian population with teeth  x number of toothbrushes used per person per year  = number of toothbrushes used in Australia per year

…which equates to:

• 20,750,000  x 3  = 62,250,000

Yes, you read that right. By my very rough estimate, Australians are using 62 and a quarter million toothbrushes per year. (Some estimates say 30 million, but I’m going to presume Australians care about their dental hygiene more than that.) To boggle your brain a little more, keep in mind that Australia has a small population. Think of how many toothbrushes the US, Chinese, Indians, Brazilians and Indonesians are using. Yikes!" (Eco Lesbo Vego - 2015).

 Scary huh? The website Trash Is For Tossers by Lauren Singer is a great resource too (Yep! That's the trash-free girl again). In Lauren's article it talks about the US rates of toothbrushes (and tooth paste) produced from plastic that are non-recyclable. It is pretty scary stuff. All these plastic things that we never even think of. Sneaky plastic! hehehe.

Toothbrushes made of bamboo can be recycled or even reused or up-cycled when they need to be disposed of.

Why bamboo not some other non-plastic substitute? I hear you ask. Well....

 "Bamboo, a natural cellulose fibre, is biodegradable, environmentally sustainable and does not pollute the environment.Technically considered a member of the grass family, bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth, and is incredibly abundant. It regenerates itself prolifically with minimal water and without the need for harmful pesticides - in fact harvesting and using the bamboo helps to control unwanted spread into agricultural and natural forest areas.Bamboo is a 100% natural renewable resource that grows back within a few months of harvesting and reaches full size in 3 years." (New Internationalist 2015. This following link is too the Bamboo Toothbrushes by New Internationalist Shop, of which I bought a collection. I bought the bulk pack.

I have a few awesome bamboo products at home that I love. When the toothbrushes arrive at my house (and I'm home to pick them up) I cant wait to try them out. I will wait until my plastic one dies before replacing it completely. Otherwise it is waste in another sense.

KINDNESS IDEA: Donate Toothbrushes and Toothpaste to a homeless shelter. Often the shelters need toiletries. This is an awesome idea of how to support your own community and help those who need it most.

Okay my lovelies,
I'm off to bed.

Much love to you all.
Daena Guest x