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Reduce Toothbrush Waste: The Three R's

This document discusses the environmental impact of toothbrush waste and recommends ways to reduce it. It notes that the average person needs to replace their toothbrush every 3 months, and with over 300 million people in the US, this results in over 1 billion toothbrushes being discarded as waste annually, totaling 44 million pounds of non-biodegradable plastic. To reduce this problem, the document recommends following the three R's: reduce waste by purchasing longer-lasting toothbrushes, repurpose old toothbrushes for other uses, and recycle toothbrushes when possible.

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4 views8 pages

Reduce Toothbrush Waste: The Three R's

This document discusses the environmental impact of toothbrush waste and recommends ways to reduce it. It notes that the average person needs to replace their toothbrush every 3 months, and with over 300 million people in the US, this results in over 1 billion toothbrushes being discarded as waste annually, totaling 44 million pounds of non-biodegradable plastic. To reduce this problem, the document recommends following the three R's: reduce waste by purchasing longer-lasting toothbrushes, repurpose old toothbrushes for other uses, and recycle toothbrushes when possible.

Uploaded by

api-25886761
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

X2

We all need to brush our teeth at least two times, every day. Some people
brush even more.

12
3
6

In the Morning In the Evening Onion’s for Lunch ?


Gotta Brush!
February March April
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31 29 30 31

Because we brush so much, we need to replace our toothbrush every


3 months. At least this is what Dentists recommend.

4 X 309, 000, 000 people =

Once you start doing the math, with all the people in the U.S. and all
the toothbrushes that are used and thrown away in one year,
they multiply like rabbits.
Seriously though, that equals 1.3 BILLION rabbits, I mean toothbrushes.
This equates to 44 million pounds of non-biodegradable, non-recyclable
waste, every year in the United States alone.

!
The toothbrushes will stick around for hundreds, if not thousands of years,
longer than we will. In that time, they will pollute landfills and oceans.

RIP 100 Years Later

This becomes a problems for the animals that feed in the water or on the
shore line. They eat the brushes and will either die because of it or carry
the toothbrush inside of them until they die of natural causes.
A standard toothbrush is made mainly of plastic, nylon and a small amount
of metal. There are many resources that go into the process of making and
distributing this common, everyday item.

Energy Water Petroleum Energy

Nylon Plastic Lumber


Materials Production Production Harvesting

Bristle Injection Package Label


Production Production Molding Production Production

Assembly of
Toothbrush

Packaging

Most toothbruses produced


today are not made of recycled
Transport
or recyclable materials.

Use

Disposal
We can all help to minimize the waste caused by toothbrushes every year.
If we don’t, we will be leaving behind billions of pounds of waste for many
generations after us to contend with.

A B C
!

Minimizing the waste from toothbrushes is easy a learning your ABC’s.


If we can learn and practice The Three R’s, we can lessen the
impacts from toothbrush production and waste.

The Three R’s Yogurt =


REDUCE waste by purchasing a toothbrush made out of recyclable
material,with replacable heads to extend life, or made of natural materials.

REPURPOSE your toothbrush for common chores like house


cleaning, cleaning baby bottles, polishing shoes and jewelry, art and
craft projects or working in the garage.

RECYCLE Common toothbrushes cannot be recycled and will go to


a landfill. Start buying recyclable toothbrushes and you have more options.
Some manufacturers provide envelopes so you can send your toothbrush
back for recycling or you can simply put it in your blue recycling bin with
your other household, recyclable plastics.
The more people that practice The Three R’s,
the better world we leave for ourselves, our children and other living things.

Thank
s!

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