Thursday, May 27, 2010

A Bristling Dilemma

Toothbrushes! Ever thought about them ?
As I brushed my teeth I began to think (for me that can be a dangerous thing) about toothbrushes. Mine was in need of replacement and I began to wonder how long ago it had been since it was brand new and squeaky clean. They recommend we change our toothbrushes every 2 to 3 months which would be 4 to 6 times a year.

Wow ! If everybody is tossing their used toothbrushes...how many toothbrushes are laying about in landfills all across the world ?
Well they're small right ? But what if you took every toothbrush that's in everyone's bathroom right now and piled them all up ? Bet it would make for one really impressive pile ! Think about it. All the people in your neighborhood, your city, your state and country...everyone on this planet who has access to the convenience of this marvelous dental hygiene product...day after day these worn brushes are being tossed, week after week, month after month, year after year.

Is there a place to recycle toothbrushes ? Sure I always save a couple of old ones to help me clean and scour those hard to get at places around the house but even then I only need a couple of old brushes and they seem to last for years and years. So what about all those extra toothbrushes that reach their expiration after 2 or 3 months ? I can't find any recycling symbol on my toothbrush, does yours have one ? Hmm, this sounds like a job for my friend at GreenLeafReviewer ! Anyone have any suggestions ?

4 comments:

  1. Ok--I'm not the only one who ponders these serious issues! LOL Seriously--I thought about this and disposable razors and shampoo bottles. What if you live in a place that doesn't do recycling? What is a body to do then? What if you live wayyyyyy out in the country? What do you do? I know a couple of our cats like to play with toothbrushes...but we don't have enough that do. :D

    Great post!

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  2. Cathryn I wondered about those disposable razors also. There has to be millions of those things tossed out every day. I've been wrangling over this "dilemma" trying to figure out ways to repurpose things like that. Don't think they'd make very pretty jewelry. Not too many people would like to wear a necklace made from somebody else's old toothbrushes and disposable razors. LOL
    Well if you come up with an inspiration, please blog about it and let me know. I'll be sure to pop over and read it. :)

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  3. Hey Anna, what a great question :)

    I have always been very careful about recycling and reusing and I too use old T. brushes to clean the house (not literally all of it (He! He!)

    I guess for me it is all about the big stuff, if I can recycle, resell, reuse all the big stuff like furniture, cars, clothes, etc., then I am ok with throwing out the odd toothbrush, well, that is how I justify my trash :)

    Have a great weekend, T. :)

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  4. LOL! First of all, thanks for the link love Anna! Second, you are definitely onto a very well thought out & interesting train of thought here. It is true that most people probably don't throw their brush away but once a year (us included, really) but that is still a whole lot of toothbrushes (6-7 billion approximately). I can't fathom what a pile of 6 billion toothbrushes would look like! But of course now you have me thinking (and wishing I'd read this before posting today so I could have linked to you!) and I'm going to put a poll on the blog tomorrow about how often toothbrushes get tossed. Let's see just how many there could be a year then dive into the follow up you already asked -- what to do with them all!!!

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