June 13, 2025 • 8 mins
Oral hygiene is incredibly important for maintaining your health, but when you’re brushing twice a day, you can burn through brushes pretty quickly.
With dentists recommending toothbrushes be replaced every three months, New Zealanders send an estimated 20 million toothbrushes to landfill every year.
Is there a better option? Kate Hall offers a few tips that could help bring down the waste.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tam podcast
from News Talks at be time.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
To catch up with our sustainability correspondent Kate Hall, who
was focusing on the toothbrush dilemma this week. Good morning, Kate,
the toothbrush dilemma. I'm so glad you were talking about
this because I'm someone who takes dental hygiene extremely seriously.
Like I would say, it's not it's not an obsession,
but it's definitely a passion, you know what I mean.
(00:33):
Like it's I'm I'm a flosser, I'm an interdental brusher,
and I'm certainly a toothbrusher multiple times a day as well.
This is nothing like that freshmouth feeling, you know. But
here's the thing. But obviously toothbrushes are not necessarily the
most sustainable thing in the world. And yeah, I don't
know that using plastic dental tape or into dental brushes
(00:56):
are necessarily that sustainable as well. But you've got those
eco toothbrushes and it turns out that they're not necessarily
that sustainable either.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yeah, it's toothbrushes are really hard on because we need them,
Like it's sustainable to brush your teeth. You know, it's
great when you have positive, you know, not an intense
dental hygiene. It's awesome when you're aware of that. But
you know, we're creating all these eco toothbrushes that some
of them are made from, you know, they'll say they're
made from plant based plastic materials. They will only break
(01:25):
down in certain composting commercial composting facilities, so they're still
ending up actually a lot of them, like on our
beaches when you see the beach clean up data, a
lot of the way, so there is toothbrushes.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
They're so gross. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, and then if that plant based plastic ends up
in landfill, it's not going to break down, you know.
So all of the toothbrushes you have used are still
existing out there today. Globally, we throw away twenty three
billion toothbrushures each year, like just approximately. Yeah, so yeah,
it's something it's something we can't just cut out of
(02:03):
our lives. You know, we can't just say no, which
I think with sustainability often you can be like I
actually I don't need that. Yeah, we do. We do
need to be brushing our teeth, so even the compostable ones,
you know, the wooden ones. Yeah, you know, they're they're
great because you know, it's often they're just literally just
made of wood and you can use that on your
(02:25):
fire in the winter time, or I use them as
like I write on what vegetables are planted and use
them as little you know, little planter labelers things like that.
They're great. Yeah, easy to repurpose, but even then it's
still a single use kind of item that we're replacing.
You know, you should be replacing several times a year.
(02:47):
I'm not sure if everyone does repace their truth brushes
as much as didn't just recommend us, but we have.
We have some new ideas around toothbrushes that are coming
in which I recently switched to, which is a it's
basically like choosing your Harry Potter wand because technically the
reasonable toothbrush that I have should last me my lifetime,
(03:10):
so that the stick the handle of your toothbrush that
doesn't all went out. Right, when we're throwing out a toothbrush,
you're throwing it out because all the bristles are worn out.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So this one Funky is the brand and they're super new.
They're here in Auckland New Zealand. You just pop out
the head. So that does need to go to Lancel,
a little plastic thing, but we haven't. Again, unless you're
using different sustainable toothbrushes that are made from like boar
bristles or you know, different things, that head does do
(03:44):
need to go. It's a very small little head, but
again for sustainability for our house, that's currently the technology
we have. But yeah, you just pop out the little
head and place it with a new one. Yeah, it's
literally when I saw that, I think they have some
in Europe. But when I saw it, I was like,
why haven't we been doing?
Speaker 1 (04:05):
So?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
What's the body called funkyky in gk y.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Fonky Oh yeah, right, okay, called funky? Yeah that sounds great.
What about just extending the life of your brush? Like,
are there other things that you can do after you've
used it, you know as a toothbrush, you use it
for you know, disciplining the kids and getting them to
clean the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Absolutely, I think yeah, I have toothbrushes kind of all
over and often, especially if they're the wooden ones, I'll
write on. You know, what the purpose is for your
kind of ship press? Right, So you've got one for
like bathroom stuff. One maybe that's for grubby outdoor things.
One to you know, don't polish your shoes. You know,
there are all sorts of things we can reap your
(04:48):
this yeah, yeah, tooth pressures. But just knowing that even
even the schemes, I'm quite skeptical, all the schemes that
you can like recycle your toothbrushes and stuff like that,
they take energy, they take time, they take money. Yeah,
sometimes they don't even end up Actually a lot of
the time they don't end up being recycled in the
right place. So working and focusing on that reuse elements.
(05:12):
That toothbrush is something we will need for our whole lives,
and so thinking about how we can do that so
much better and still keep up our dental hygiene like
I have. Whenever I try new sustainable dent products, I
take it to my dentist at my regular checkup and
I say, is this okay? You know, like with my
tooth thanks from solid Oral Care who makes it in Wellington?
(05:36):
Is this you know, like, is this actually dentist approved?
And then I say, yep, cool, and yeah, my teeth,
my teeth has been great for many years and I've
used all sorts of these sustainable products, so yeah, sustainable
for our house and the planet.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So I mentioned those other things that I use. I
use the little brushes, you know, the little interdental brushes
are kind of like pipeline's almost so you can get
the bamboo versions of those now, so they're not just
plastic based. But the big one for me, the problematic
one is dental floss and my teeth are really close together.
So if I use the kind of ropie one that's
(06:12):
made out of a natural product, it doesn't get in
between my teeth. Yes, So at the moment you're gonna
hate me for saying this, I'm using I'm using like
a plastic tape to get in there, and I'll tell
you what I know. But it's just it's so clean,
you know.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And you know what, actually, if that's like, I think
we still need we have a little bit to go
in terms of advancing our sustainable dental floss because it
is a really important product for our teeth. And like
even to my husband, he's exactly the same. He tries
these these more sustainable and then they just break in
(06:52):
his teeth and and for me, they kind of work
maybe I have a little bit more space to turn
my teeth. It runs different, but I just say, you know,
invest in one that you know is going to be
really good for your teeth. Timbre often maybe Broston Goodness,
(07:12):
and you know that's just maybe reduces how much do
you using. So it's not about throwing away and like
giving up all these things in the name of sustainability.
It's actually just being being clever and yeah, yeah thinking
about if you're the option is just not flushing your teeth,
and you know that may end up in a whole
(07:32):
lot of different mental kind of surgeries or things that
need to be done that will involve a whole lot
more waste. So yeah, just being clear.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
About it, all right, Kate, you're better tim than me.
I reckon on that one. But thank you if you
come across a really good sustainable option that gets in
between the teeth time all the years, I promise Kate
on social media of course, by searching ethically, Kate, and
we will catch again.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
So for more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen
live to news talks that'd be from nine am Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tam podcast
from News Talks at be time.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
To catch up with our sustainability correspondent Kate Hall, who
was focusing on the toothbrush dilemma this week. Good morning, Kate,
the toothbrush dilemma. I'm so glad you were talking about
this because I'm someone who takes dental hygiene extremely seriously.
Like I would say, it's not it's not an obsession,
but it's definitely a passion, you know what I mean.
(00:33):
Like it's I'm I'm a flosser, I'm an interdental brusher,
and I'm certainly a toothbrusher multiple times a day as well.
This is nothing like that freshmouth feeling, you know. But
here's the thing. But obviously toothbrushes are not necessarily the
most sustainable thing in the world. And yeah, I don't
know that using plastic dental tape or into dental brushes
(00:56):
are necessarily that sustainable as well. But you've got those
eco toothbrushes and it turns out that they're not necessarily
that sustainable either.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yeah, it's toothbrushes are really hard on because we need them,
Like it's sustainable to brush your teeth. You know, it's
great when you have positive, you know, not an intense
dental hygiene. It's awesome when you're aware of that. But
you know, we're creating all these eco toothbrushes that some
of them are made from, you know, they'll say they're
made from plant based plastic materials. They will only break
(01:25):
down in certain composting commercial composting facilities, so they're still
ending up actually a lot of them, like on our
beaches when you see the beach clean up data, a
lot of the way, so there is toothbrushes.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
They're so gross. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, and then if that plant based plastic ends up
in landfill, it's not going to break down, you know.
So all of the toothbrushes you have used are still
existing out there today. Globally, we throw away twenty three
billion toothbrushures each year, like just approximately. Yeah, so yeah,
it's something it's something we can't just cut out of
(02:03):
our lives. You know, we can't just say no, which
I think with sustainability often you can be like I
actually I don't need that. Yeah, we do. We do
need to be brushing our teeth, so even the compostable ones,
you know, the wooden ones. Yeah, you know, they're they're
great because you know, it's often they're just literally just
made of wood and you can use that on your
(02:25):
fire in the winter time, or I use them as
like I write on what vegetables are planted and use
them as little you know, little planter labelers things like that.
They're great. Yeah, easy to repurpose, but even then it's
still a single use kind of item that we're replacing.
You know, you should be replacing several times a year.
(02:47):
I'm not sure if everyone does repace their truth brushes
as much as didn't just recommend us, but we have.
We have some new ideas around toothbrushes that are coming
in which I recently switched to, which is a it's
basically like choosing your Harry Potter wand because technically the
reasonable toothbrush that I have should last me my lifetime,
(03:10):
so that the stick the handle of your toothbrush that
doesn't all went out. Right, when we're throwing out a toothbrush,
you're throwing it out because all the bristles are worn out.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So this one Funky is the brand and they're super new.
They're here in Auckland New Zealand. You just pop out
the head. So that does need to go to Lancel,
a little plastic thing, but we haven't. Again, unless you're
using different sustainable toothbrushes that are made from like boar
bristles or you know, different things, that head does do
(03:44):
need to go. It's a very small little head, but
again for sustainability for our house, that's currently the technology
we have. But yeah, you just pop out the little
head and place it with a new one. Yeah, it's
literally when I saw that, I think they have some
in Europe. But when I saw it, I was like,
why haven't we been doing?
Speaker 1 (04:05):
So?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
What's the body called funkyky in gk y.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Fonky Oh yeah, right, okay, called funky? Yeah that sounds great.
What about just extending the life of your brush? Like,
are there other things that you can do after you've
used it, you know as a toothbrush, you use it
for you know, disciplining the kids and getting them to
clean the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Absolutely, I think yeah, I have toothbrushes kind of all
over and often, especially if they're the wooden ones, I'll
write on. You know, what the purpose is for your
kind of ship press? Right, So you've got one for
like bathroom stuff. One maybe that's for grubby outdoor things.
One to you know, don't polish your shoes. You know,
there are all sorts of things we can reap your
(04:48):
this yeah, yeah, tooth pressures. But just knowing that even
even the schemes, I'm quite skeptical, all the schemes that
you can like recycle your toothbrushes and stuff like that,
they take energy, they take time, they take money. Yeah,
sometimes they don't even end up Actually a lot of
the time they don't end up being recycled in the
right place. So working and focusing on that reuse elements.
(05:12):
That toothbrush is something we will need for our whole lives,
and so thinking about how we can do that so
much better and still keep up our dental hygiene like
I have. Whenever I try new sustainable dent products, I
take it to my dentist at my regular checkup and
I say, is this okay? You know, like with my
tooth thanks from solid Oral Care who makes it in Wellington?
(05:36):
Is this you know, like, is this actually dentist approved?
And then I say, yep, cool, and yeah, my teeth,
my teeth has been great for many years and I've
used all sorts of these sustainable products, so yeah, sustainable
for our house and the planet.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So I mentioned those other things that I use. I
use the little brushes, you know, the little interdental brushes
are kind of like pipeline's almost so you can get
the bamboo versions of those now, so they're not just
plastic based. But the big one for me, the problematic
one is dental floss and my teeth are really close together.
So if I use the kind of ropie one that's
(06:12):
made out of a natural product, it doesn't get in
between my teeth. Yes, So at the moment you're gonna
hate me for saying this, I'm using I'm using like
a plastic tape to get in there, and I'll tell
you what I know. But it's just it's so clean,
you know.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And you know what, actually, if that's like, I think
we still need we have a little bit to go
in terms of advancing our sustainable dental floss because it
is a really important product for our teeth. And like
even to my husband, he's exactly the same. He tries
these these more sustainable and then they just break in
(06:52):
his teeth and and for me, they kind of work
maybe I have a little bit more space to turn
my teeth. It runs different, but I just say, you know,
invest in one that you know is going to be
really good for your teeth. Timbre often maybe Broston Goodness,
(07:12):
and you know that's just maybe reduces how much do
you using. So it's not about throwing away and like
giving up all these things in the name of sustainability.
It's actually just being being clever and yeah, yeah thinking
about if you're the option is just not flushing your teeth,
and you know that may end up in a whole
(07:32):
lot of different mental kind of surgeries or things that
need to be done that will involve a whole lot
more waste. So yeah, just being clear.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
About it, all right, Kate, you're better tim than me.
I reckon on that one. But thank you if you
come across a really good sustainable option that gets in
between the teeth time all the years, I promise Kate
on social media of course, by searching ethically, Kate, and
we will catch again.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
So for more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen
live to news talks that'd be from nine am Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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