Our Planet
The ordinary toothbrush is the ultimate throwaway item, often used for a few short months and then discarded. We questioned why all this plastic was being piled up in landfills and dumped into our oceans, when the only part that wears out is the brush. Our solution was to create our first product, the Snap Toothbrush System with replaceable brushes and reusable handles.
As good citizens of the planet we are all trying to make "greener" choices. We cut back on the use of plastic shopping bags by opting for reusable bags. We eliminate the need for bottled water by using reusable bottles and filling them with tap or filtered water. But many of us simply don't realize that toothbrush-related waste is enormous and once a toothbrush is discarded it is never recycled into other products. Using conservative estimates, over our lifetime the world will use and discard over 2 trillion toothbrushes generating the same amount of plastic waste as 6 trillion plastic grocery bags or 1.5 trillion plastic water bottles. By simply reusing our toothbrush handles we can reduce plastic waste by over 90%.
The more informed we are the better choices we'll make -- so please share this page with your friends and family and help us spread the message.
Using some conservative assumptions we've summarized the following conclusions:
- Our average life expectancy is about 75 years
- Each of us will replace 300 toothbrushes during our lifetime (4 toothbrushes per year)
- A single conventional toothbrush weighs approximately 18 grams (.63 oz.)
- Each of us will throw away about 12 pounds of plastic toothbrushes in our lifetime
- There are 6.8 billion people on the planet
- Plastic toothbrush waste generated during our lifetime = 80 billion pounds
- 80 billion pounds is equivalent to 7.3 million African Elephants
What would happen if we switched to the Snap Toothbrush System?
- A snap-in brush head weighs 1.4 grams (.05 oz.)
- This is less than 8% of the weight of a conventional toothbrush
- By cutting out 92% of the plastic waste generated by conventional toothbrushes, we
could eliminate over 74 billion pounds of plastic waste from the environment
Our Challenge
Getting the world's entire population to switch to snap-in manual toothbrushes is unrealistic. However, if we could persuade just 5% of eco-conscious Americans to make the switch, we could eliminate over 168 million pound of plastic waste (a pile the size of 15,320 African elephants). Wouldn't you rather join that eco-conscious 5% and be part of the solution?
A few facts about plastic:
- Scientists estimate that it takes plastic 500 to 1,000 years to decompose
- The mass production of plastic began in the late 50's. This means that every plastic product ever produced is still on this planet in some shape or form.
- 86% of ocean debris is plastic
- Plastic breaks down into smaller pieces that are ingested by marine animals
- Algalita Marine Research Foundation found some areas of the Pacific Ocean to have 6 times more plastic debris than zooplankton
- Over 1,000,000 seabirds and marine mammals die each year from plastic ingestion or entanglement
- Charles Moore, one of the leading experts on the effects of plastic pollution in our oceans, believes that the only solution is "source reduction." In other words, we need to minimize the amount of plastic we consume and throw away.
Our Commitment to the Planet
In addition to donating a portion of sales and profits to environmental causes, we are evaluating how to substitute the small amount of plastic in our products with natural fibers. We are currently evaluating the possibility of developing new products made with natural fibers. In the future, we hope to give our customers more options for further reducing our dependence on non-biodegradable plastics.
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