Our dentist is very pleased with the state of our teeth - some of us use Ecoliving Toothpaste Tablets (with fluoride) and some use Ben & Anna's glass jars of toothpaste (again, with fluoride - or their lower fluoride version for younger kids). But I was told at my latest appointment that some awkward-to-reach areas of my teeth would benefit from using an electric toothbrush.
I've written a whole blog pot on choosing eco-aware manual toothbrushes, but how to ensure using an electric toothbrush is as planet friendly as possible? Well the most eco thing you can do is to use what you've already got, so I shall use the electric toothbrush other family members already use (each person having their own brush head of course).
For those needing to buy new toothbrush heads...
Live Coco make Oral B compatible ones - they can replace any Oral B which has a circular brush head (excluding the iO version) as well as any Superdrug/Asda/Aldi electric toothbrush that is supplied with a circular brush head. Then you can send the used Live Coco brush heads back (you do need to pay for postage) for closed-loop recycling.
Brushd replacement heads are compatible with circular brush Oral B and Philips Sonicare . Each purchase includes a pre-paid compostable envelope to return your used brush heads in.
What to do with the brush heads after they've been used until misshapen? The old brush heads make great mini scrubbing brushes for bike chains, behind taps etc. So reuse them at home for other non-dental purposes.
Finally once they are ready to be disposed of, give them a good clean, allow to dry and then either post them to the eco manufacturer you got them from (see above) or if they are regular mainstream brush heads, take them to your local TerraCycle drop off point - such as a local dentist or dental hospital.
Although the TerraCycle scheme is sponsored by Philips, ANY BRAND of electric toothbrush head, electric flosser tip, dental floss container, inter-dental brush or flossing stick is accepted! The TerraCycle drop off locations can be found here.