1. Switch to a Sustainable Toothbrush
- If you want to go the extra mile, choose a toothbrush with biodegradeable bristles made of cleansed horse hair.
- You can also go vegan and still reduce your envrionmental impact significantly by opting for a bamboo toothbrush with nylon bristles or bristles made of castor bean oil.
2. Choose Natural Toothpaste
It won't come as a surprise that the next opportunity in achieving your eco-friendly dental routine comes with a sustainable option for your toothpaste.
20 billion plastic toothpaste tubes are bought every single year and they are hardly recyclable.
Again, a convenient solution is right around the corner. Natural toothpaste tablets clean just as well as regular toothpaste, but without the environmental hazard.
Make sure you choose tablets that come in a biodegradeable pouch or an aluminum container that can be reused or endlessly recycled.
For the extra white smile, you can even top up your eco-friendly dental routine with activated charcoal powder.
3. Embrace Plastic-Free Flossing
If you want to maintain that glowing smile, you probably care about regular flossing. Traditional dental floss is made of nylon or teflon, both of which are not biodegradeable. Often the traditional eco floss is also lined with a plastic-based wax.
As an additional downside of traditional floss, you're introducing the risk of ingesting tiny fibres of microplastics that shed from the dental floss.
Opting for eco-friendly dental floss made of corn fibre and lined with natural wax adds the good conscience to your bright smile.
Just use it as you would use any other floss. You will realize that there is no downside to it, except that you may get addicted to the natural mint flavor.
4. Plastic-Free Interdental Picks
If you're not a fan of dental floss, you may already be using floss picks. The tiny sticks also help cleaning your interdental spaces but are a little easier to use.
Unfortunately most interdental picks are made of plastic and the tiny plastic sticks are too small to be recycled and would clog recycling machines.
As a result, they end up on the landfill or find their way into nature.
If you want to transform your eco-friendly dental routine, choose interdental picks made of bamboo. They are durable and the handle is fully biodegradeable in your compost.
5. DIY Mouthwash
If you're like us, you love the extra minty touch that you get when finishing your dental routine with mouthwash.
Mouthwash, as most products in your regular bathroom comes in plastic bottles. Hence, it adds to the 1.1 million plastic bottles that are consumed every minute (yes, minute - unfortunately that's not a typo).
Why don't you give it a try and go for DIY mouthwash. There are many fun recipes for every taste and you can even experiment with new flavors.
The basic recipe is super simple: Add 1 cup of filtered water, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and three drops of peppermint essential oil. Shake well before every use and enjoy the minty sensation.
6. Proper Disposal
We understand that your dental routine will not be transformed from one day to the other. And it is totally fine, if you are only comfortable with a few of the above eco-swaps (or SWOPs 😉).
Just do our nature a favor and disposeof your bathroom waste properly.
While recycling should always be the last resort in reducing our environmental impact, it is important to know how to sort your bathroom waste.
Many of the items in your bathroom are recyclable if they are clean and sorted. By keeping your contaminated bathroom waste separate from recyclables, you make it easier for communities to do their part and give a new life to your waste.
7. Save Water
Last but not least, we waste a lot of water in the bathroom. Estimates show that a whopping 42% of people leave the water running while brushing teeth.
If you're one of those people, please realize that in this short time, you are wasting 64 glasses of perfectly fine drinking water.
By turning off the tap, you can help preserve water for generations to come.
Changing Our Routines Creates Real Impact
Thank you so much for exploring our tips for an eco-friendly dental routine.
Maybe you sometimes feel overwhelmed, if you try to make a positive impact on the world.
Rest assured that you are not alone. It is overwhelming and it is totally normal, if you feel like you don't know where to start.
It is not important where you start. It's just important that you start.
While some of the steps above may feel like a drop in the bucket, they are small steps that add up, if 7 billion people start adopting them.
By changing the small things that add to pollution in our daily routines, we can change society as a whole and create true change for the better.
We hope you enjoyed this article. If you want to read more like this, make sure to check out our Blog and follow us on Instagram. If you are interested in truly sustainable products, check out our Shop.
Did we miss a great Tip for eco-friendly dental routine? Feel free to leave a comment below and engage in the discussion.
