Everyone wants to be eco-friendly, but it can be hard to know the best decisions to make. You can also easily overlook opportunities. Take toothbrushes, for instance. The longer you can use them, the less trash there will be filling up landfills and polluting oceans. Save your toothbrush, save a fish.
The scoop
While experts say keeping a toothbrush too long puts you at risk of getting sick from lingering germs, TikToker Gabrielle (@eco_og) shared a sustainable hack that solves this problem: boil your toothbrush instead. It works great with the right know-how.
@eco_og Don't get rid of your non-ecofriendly items just to buy new eco things!! #sustainableliving #zerowaste #cleaningtiktok #ecofriendly #cleaninghacks ♬ original sound - Eco OG | GABRIELLE
"A plastic toothbrush takes 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill," reads an on-screen caption as Gabrielle shows an old toothbrush and demonstrates the hack. "But no fear!" they continue, "You can make the bristles stand up and sanitize it all in one step."
All you have to do is add about one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to a pot of boiling water and dunk your toothbrush head in it for about a minute, making sure it doesn't touch the bottom of the pot.
Once done, the brush is sanitized, the bristles are straighter, and you get a little more life out of it.
How it's working
Toothbrushes aren't cheap these days, and not everyone's budget allows them to buy new ones as often as recommended. Buying eco-friendly toothbrushes can break the bank, and throwing out still-usable plastic ones just dumps more harmful waste into the environment, where it breaks down into microplastics, harming ecosystems and human health.
Tricks like this allow you to transform your throwaway tool into a reusable one. Gabrielle says this works on bamboo toothbrushes as well, so if you've made the leap already, you can save money and the energy cost of producing more toothbrushes.
If your toothbrush is beyond this hack, knowing how to properly recycle it — ​​Crest and Oral-B will even take toothbrushes back — or ways to repurpose it can also save you money and keep them out of landfills.
Each small step you take leads to bigger savings for the environment. You can find ideas from organizations online to help you reuse and reduce waste from other household items. Look for Trashie, ThredUp, GotSneakers, and more.Â
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Saves money 💰 What people are saying
Other users took to the post's comment section to applaud Gabrielle's hack.
"Love this!!" one wrote. Â
"Why are these type of hacks not more popular on here?" another asked.
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