Sunday, August 17, 2014

Eco-Friendly Ways to Recycle Used Toothbrushes

recycle-toothbrush-gentle-dental-group-floridaThrowing away a toothbrush every few months may not seem like a big deal. However, if we replace our toothbrushes 4 times a year, as recommended by dentist, over time a few toothbrushes can turn into a lot of avoidable waste for the environment. It’s estimated that 50 million pounds of toothbrushes are thrown into America’s landfills each year. That’s a lot of toothbrushes!

Most toothbrushes are made up of three components; a plastic handle, nylon bristles, and a metal staple that holds the bristles in place. In order to properly recycle a toothbrush, all three components must be processed separately making it difficult to recycle. Fortunately, there are a few companies offering eco-friendly options to recycle toothbrushes.

Terracycle is a national company that collects hard to recycle waste and transforms them into other products including picnic tables, playground equipment, benches, and garden tools. Not only do they collect any brand of toothbrushes, but they also accept other oral care products like empty floss containers, mouthwash bottles, and toothpaste tubes. For every item mailed to Terracycle, you receive two points that can be added up and used for cash donations to the charity or school of your choice.  To learn more about their recycling programs, visit http://www.Terracycle.com.

Preserve is a company that makes toothbrushes designed by dentist and are made from used Stoney Yogurt containers. The packaging of the toothbrushes doubles as a return envelope, making it easy to mail in the toothbrush once you are done using it. Preserve will then recycle the used toothbrushes and turn them into other long lasting, durable products. They also offer an affordable subscription to have the toothbrushes mailed to your home every three months. You can purchase their toothbrushes online. For more information visit https://www.preserveproducts.com.

Eco-Dent is a natural products company that offers consumers toothbrushes with replaceable toothbrush heads. Instead of replacing an entire toothbrush every three months, you can minimize waste by only replacing the top of the toothbrush. TerraDent replaceable heads typically cost around the same price as a traditional toothbrush and can be purchased online at http://www.eco-dent.com

If we all do our part and recycle our used toothbrushes regularly, we could help eliminate 50 million pounds of waste a year!

 

The post Eco-Friendly Ways to Recycle Used Toothbrushes appeared first on Gentle Dental.

Source: http://www.gentledentalgroup.com/2014/04/eco-friendly-ways-recycle-toothbrushes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eco-friendly-ways-recycle-toothbrushes

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