Ahoy hoy! As the continuous improvement of our products is very important to us, we are always trying to find more sustainable solutions and materials to work with. For this reason, we have long been searching for more environmentally friendly bristles made from renewable raw materials for our sustainable bamboo toothbrush. And we found what we were looking for! After a long test phase, we would proudly like to present our new product innovation:
Our sustainable bamboo toothbrush, but from now on with completely petroleum-free bristles!
Before going into more detail, we have summarized the most important facts about the bristles and their material for you:
- The new bristles are made of renewable raw materials and are therefore 100% plant-based.
- They are made from castor oil, which is a natural product obtained from the seeds of the castor oil plant (Ricinus Communis). The material is BPA-free and does not contain any mineral oil.
- The raw material is neither used as food, nor as animal feed. Therefore, its cultivation does not compete with the cultivation areas for food.
What exactly is castor oil?
Castor oil is extracted from the seeds of the Ricinus communis tree. The plant grows mainly in India, Brazil and China. Castor oil consists of 80 to 85 percent ricinoleic acid, the starting material to produce polyamide. To remove unwanted components, the oil is first refined, deacidified and afterwards treated with steam. It can then be converted into the desired monomers for polyamide production in special plants. Approximately 600,000 metric tons of the oil are extracted annually. Germany alone imports about 40,000 tons of this oil. These traded quantities show, however, that this is still a very small percentage compared to the entire plastics market. The great thing about the original castor oil plant is, that it is neither used as food nor as animal feed, which means that its cultivation does not compete with the cultivation of food.
The new bristles contain - proven by certification - only plant-based carbon. They are made from the most environmentally friendly material currently available. Unfortunately, they still cannot be composted under normal household conditions. Therefore, we recommend disposing the bristles separately from the handle into the residual waste.
There is also a small optical change to our toothbrush: from now on all bristles are white. To distinguish the stiffness of the brushes, the handles have different colours. The dark blue version has very soft bristles and the medium bristles come in red, light blue, green and nature.
If this innovation makes you as happy as us, and you want to get your own petroleum-free sustainable bamboo toothbrush, click here!
