Plastic Toothbrush Pollution in Malta

‘Dentists recommend replacing your toothbrush every 3 months’ – is the most common advice heard on television adverts and read in articles online. Most people, rightly so, follow this advice, but few have stopped to questions things like; how long they actually use their toothbrush? what happens to it after it is thrown in the waste bin? and how much their 4 toothbrushes a year contribute to the total weight of disposed plastic? These are some questions which we should all be asking ourselves.

We at Rebels With A Cause have made it a point to answer all these questions, and more, using our infographics to visually communicate the results and the urgency to change our quotidian plastic saturate habits.

All the statistics which concern the Maltese Islands were meticulously calculated by our team using some statistical data provided by the National Statistics Office of Malta (NSO) and a big chunk of data collected by us through surveys and observations. Statistics regarding European and global consumption were collected from International Environment Organisations.

These are some of the findings!

● The average lifespan of a toothbrush is 3 months, in that period, it is used 180 times. After that, it takes 400 years to break down into tiny microplastic pieces

● In Malta, at least 800 thousand toothbrushes are used every year

● That adds up to 20 tonnes – equal to the combined weight of 6 elephants

● If placed end-to-end they stretch from Malta to Sicily and back!

A toothbrush, no matter how fancy, cheap or expensive, remains just a toothbrush. The handle, especially, does not contribute much to the cleaning of your teeth and gums. So ultimately it is just a choice of whether we will contribute to plastic pollution or not.

Visit our SHOP to find out more about our Bamboo Toothbrushes for Adults and Kids!