Preserve Toothbrushes - made from recycled yogurt containers!

I took the kids to the dentist last week (fun fun) and they, of course, got a free toothbrush. As I tossed their old toothbrushes in the trash, it occurred to me that there may be a better option. It seems like we go through toothbrushes quickly, since at their tender ages of 2 & 4, they tend to bite on their toothbrush a lot thereby rendering it pretty useless within a few weeks! So, I googled "recycled toothbrushes" and found Preserve Jr toothbrushes.

The company Recycline makes Preserve, a whole line of household items made from 100% recycled materials. Their toothbrushes are made from recycled #5 plastic - which is yogurt containers and other so-called tub plastics! In fact, they have a cool partnership with Stonyfield Farms.

It gets even better! Not only are they made from recycled plastic, the toothbrushes are also RECYCLABLE, along with their razors and tongue cleaners! You can mail them back to Recycline, Inc with free postage-paid label that you can print directly from their website and they will be recycled into plastic lumber! (They suggest that you mail back as many as possible in one envelope to save money and resources associated with ground mail).

And it gets EVEN better! Preserve recently started its "Gimme 5" program that accepts #5 plastics - which is 'tub' plastics like yogurt containers! Yes, the ONE thing that is not currently collected by the fabulous Minneapolis Recycling program can be mailed directly to Preserve and they will recycle that plastic into many of their products! They also have drop-off locations at Whole Foods Markets in the Northeast and California. They website doesn't list any MN drop-off locations, but I heard that they indeed will have drop-off locations at the Lake Calhoun Whole Foods shortly! The Gimme 5 program also accepts Brita filters.

If folks are interested, EcoParents could start collecting these items and mail them in for recycling to Preserve or organize a drop-off at Lake Calhoun Whole Foods. Make a comment if you're interested, and we can talk about it at the meeting on Tuesday, Jan 20! Let's help make the Gimme 5 program a success!

In researching for this post, I found that they were featured on the local Everything Green radio program just this past Saturday! You can listen to the podcast here.

Their toothbrushes cost $2.79 online, but are also available at Twin Cities Green, Lunds, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Crate & Barrel.

Preserve got their start with toothbrushes, but now offer a range of personal care items, tablewear, and kitchen items - all made from recycled materials and BPA free.

So cool!