BE OPEN BLOG

Dentists advise to replace a toothbrush every three months to ensure effective cleaning. This means each of us will use four pieces annually, generating an impressive amount of plastic waste during our lives – not to mention disposable toothbrushes we use while backpacking or staying a night at a hotel. To address this issue and encourage an eco-conscious lifestyle, product designers come up with creative toothbrush designs with sustainability at their core that can keep both our teeth and our plant clean.

A team of designers based in China, ─ Liu Ming, Qin Yimeng, Chen Yuxuan, Lin Weiting, and Yan Tian, ─ has developed a disposable toothbrush made from food-grade recycled paper.Named Cycle, the product is safe and biodegradable. After use, it can be discarded leaving no footprint on the environment.

The toothbrushes are packaged in sets of four or five and come with a protective covering for the bristles and a detachable sachet of biodegradable toothpaste.

The team hopes that the lightweight and easy to get rid of product would make a great solution for short camping trips and a couple of days indoor getaways, acting as a responsible and sustainable alternative to plastic single-use toothbrushes.

Dylan Fealtman, a fourth year industrial design student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has created a manual toothbrush that can fill the gap between regular manual and electric toothbrushes. Conceived to decrease waste caused by disposability of regular toothbrushes, it is designed for longevity and most importantly is bale to be sanitized.

The ergonomic body of the brush is manufactured in a way that minimizes the use of material, while silicone bristles are used to maximize hygiene. For the user not to compromise on cleanliness, the product comes with a UV light enabled case that doubles up as a carry case for travelling.

Switch is an award-winning toothbrush design by Ben Cullis Watson and Crux Product Design, which allows the user to change only the brush head and keep the long-lasting metal handle.

The product comes with three different head options, which can be replaced by simply twisting the top of the brush. The options vary between sensitive, complete care, and whitening to address the different needs. All parts of the toothbrush are produced from recycled materials.

Most of us use a brush till it is frayed, ignoring the recommendations to replace it every three months, so Switch’s bristles change color to indicate that the head needs to be changed and ensure effective cleaning.