One Less Toothbrush

Plastic.

It’s a dirty word these days; a far cry for the mid-1800s when it was first patented, even more so from the mid-1900s when its malleability, versatility, low cost and ease of manufacture made its use explode.

I was talking to some friends last week when the topic came round to plastic. One of them pointed out that every single toothbrush we’ve used in our lifetime still exists. If I changed my toothbrush the recommended every three months (though I’ll be honest and say that probably hasn’t happened - sorry dentists), I’ve probably used around 136 toothbrushes. Each of those 136 is still in some landfill and will be for a very long time.

Today, I read that, by 2050, there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish.

That is not ok.

It's a huge problem, but I’ll admit it’s taken me longer than it should have to realise that I need to do something about it. It’s easy to sit around and talk about how bad it is, how sad that the turtles are suffering, how disgusting the pictures of masses of waste are, but what’s the point?

I know it’s a bit overwhelming. Sometimes I wonder what difference I can really make. If I cut out every single bit of plastic out of my life, will I solve a global problem? Well, no, I won’t, but I definitely won’t make it any better by sitting around lamenting the oceans.

So, I’ve started looking into what I can do. The problem isn’t that there is nothing that can be done; the problem is that there’s almost too much. Many, many people, much smarter than me have come up with many ideas, products, alternatives to reduce every day plastic use. What I’ve found difficult is knowing where to start and what to use. I want to use oven cleaner that I know will clean my oven. I want a shampoo that isn’t going to make my hair look like I haven’t showered in a week. I want a deodorant that isn’t going to force the person who sits down beside me on the bus to move away.

When a change is too much effort, it’s easy to either give up on it, or say, I’ll do it it tomorrow. And I’ve taken too many tomorrows already. So, I’m trying to make things a little bit easier for anyone who wants to give sustainable products a go. I’m going to start trying these products out: solid shampoo, multi-use food wraps, cleaning cloths that don’t need extra product. I’ll take 4 or 5 of each product and I’ll tell you what I find: the great, the helpful, the annoying and the terrible.

My house and my life aren’t going to become instantly plastic-free. Partly because it would involve throwing out a lot of perfectly good products, which seems to defeat the point a little. Partly because I don’t have a money tree growing in my garden. And partly because it is overwhelming and the more overwhelming, the easier it is to give up. So, one step at a time I’ll throw out one less toothbrush, one less washing up liquid bottle, one less wipe.

I really like this Chinese proverb (why do the Chinese seem to have a proverb for everything?):

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

We should have all been on this bandwagon a long time ago, but just because we weren’t doesn’t mean we can’t start now.