How to Dispose of a Bamboo Toothbrush

15 January, 2021

The best part of a bamboo toothbrush is its ability to be recycled at the end of its lifetime, unlike its plastic counterpart. The following is our step by step guide on how you should dispose of your used biodegradable bamboo toothbrush.

Disposing of your bamboo toothbrush is easy!

1. Repurpose the Toothbrush

The zero-waste mantra is reduce, reuse, recycle, so before you decide to recycle your bamboo toothbrush, why not try and reuse it? You can use it for an array of things around the house!

• Use the toothbrush bristles to reach the hard to clean spots in your bathrooms and kitchen - For example between tiles, around taps, in plug holes and even around the toilet! (Just don’t mix this brush up with your in-use toothbrush!)
• Cleaning your cooking accessories with your used brush is a great way to wash something you would have struggled to otherwise - Keep an old brush next to your sink for those tricker items like a cheese grater, garlic crusher, or colander.
• Clean the mud off your shoes or trainers with your old toothbrush - Scrub the small spaces in the treads of your shoes to ensure a mud-free carpet.
• Maintain electrical items - Use the bristles of your toothbrush to gently brush off old crumbs from your keyboard, remove dust from your hairdryer, or clean up hard to reach areas.
• Create plant markers - Once you’ve removed the bristles from your toothbrush (read on below to find out how) you can use the handle label your plants, now gently push it into the soil so you know exactly what’s what!

You're sure to get a few more months of use out of the old toothbrush this way.

2. Remove the Bristles

After you’ve repurposed your old bamboo toothbrush, it's time to remove the bristles. Whilst Wild & Stone’s bristles are recyclable, they are not biodegradable, this means that they must be removed before composting the handle.

To do this, simply pull the bristles out with a pair of pliers. To make it as easy as possible, don't try to pull too many bristles in one go, take it slow.

These bristles can now go into your plastic recycling. Avoid throwing them in on their own as they can get lost due to the size, instead place them inside another plastic item you are recycling.

3. Compost the Handle

Once the bristles are removed, the handle of your toothbrush is 100% biodegradable. It can be added to your home composter where it should take around 4 - 6 months to biodegrade. You can also simply bury the handle in your garden soil, though this will take a little longer to decompose, around 3 years or so.

If you don’t have a composter or a garden, you can throw the handle into your normal rubbish bin, even if it ends up in landfill, it will still biodegrade in a few years.

Don’t forget, it is recommended you change your toothbrush every 3 months to ensure great dental hygiene, that’s why our bamboo toothbrushes come in a 4 pack to cover you for the whole year.

Send us your pictures of your creative ways to repurpose or dispose of your toothbrushes to hello@wildandstone.com or tag us on Instagram #wildandstone

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