Sustainable September 2017 - Day Nine

SEPTEMBER 9 (SATURDAY)

TINY CHANGES - TOOTHBRUSHES

Hello my lovely Sustainable September-ers!

Yesterday I made a trek to my favourite local zero waste bulk foods store The Wasteless Pantry. I bought a few things we needed for the house including Gluten Free Flour, Arrowroot Flour, Almonds, Gluten Free Tamari sauce and then some yummies for me for the next few days. Including Banana Chips, Dried Apples, Dried figs and of course i also bought a new toothbrush.



Which brings me to my next sustainable idea.

Sustainable September Day Nine - Buy or use a Bamboo Toothbrush.

Bamboo toothbrushes are great. I have used these toothbrushes on and off. The best part of this is that they can be thrown into the compost bin as soon as they are dead.

You could also use the dying toothbrushes for those hard to reach places when you need to clean up (that way you get more life out of your toothbrushes).

My dentist has told me, personally, that I need to use an electric toothbrush, so my best waste reducing plan is to buy replaceable heads for my electric toothbrush (Which is rechargeable) and then get rid of the old heads through the dental recycling program, run through the schools or which is now at The Wasteless Pantry.




They have a whole range of recycling programs for all kinds of things... including old Toothbrushes, dental floss containers and Toothpaste containers. However i now have a new bamboo toothbrush that i will use intermittantly.

I am also searching for a great replacement to “Pixters”. They are like little scrubbing brushes that fit between your gums and your teeth. They are made out of plastic and are theoretically a single use item… however I use them several times before they look like they couldn’t clean anything. They seem to be the only thing that works for me (dental floss isn’t so great).  So if anyone has a wonderful eco friendly variety that I could use, I would be so grateful for the recommendation.



You can also get plastic free dental floss!!! Which is awesome. It's made of silk instead and can be composted 

ACTIVITY: You could also make your own toothpaste. Bea Johnson and many other Zero Waste lifestylers happily make their own toothpaste from products you might already have in your home.

I love the 'How to' videos from Trash is For Tossers. So here is one on how to make Zero Waste toothpaste. 

I will be giving this a go tomorrow, so i will let you know how it goes. I will also be using my new Charcoal infused Toothbrush (with black bristles) that i bought from the Wasteless Pantry yesterday. 

I hope this finds you all well.
with love & kindness,
Daena