Every toothbrush you’ve ever owned still exists.
Think about it. Every plastic Colgate, Oral-B or Boots own-brand brush you picked up during a weekly shop. The cartoon-clad versions that your parents bought you to encourage healthy dental habits during childhood. Now all buried under a mountain of plastic waste, somewhere on the planet. According to National Geographic, you're likely to use around 300 toothbrushes during your lifetime. That’s a heck of a lot of plastic pollution - and that's just one person alone.
To be precise, an eye-watering four billion toothbrushes end up in landfills or in the oceans each year. That's enough to circle the globe twelve times and includes both manual and electric toothbrushes, in addition to wasteful packaging which won't biodegrade.
What’s being done about all this? In 2022, UN Member States agreed on a resolution to end plastic pollution. An Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee is developing a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, hoping to finalise it by the end of 2024. This is a step in the right direction, but government commitments and tangible results are very different beasts.
Luckily, there are sustainable brands trying to, and succeeding, in making a difference to single-use plastic waste.
SURI is one of them. The brand designs reusable, repairable and recyclable toothbrushes to keep forever. SURI’s Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush (£63.75) is a reimagination of a classic toothbrush, crafted from innovative, bio-based materials with no trace of petroleum-based plastics.
Specs
- Battery life: 40+ days
- Colours: Sea Mist, Midnight Black, Winter Fern, Morning Waves
- Power source: Battery Powered
- Cleaning modes: Everyday Clean and Polish
- Material features: Biodegradable, Recyclable, Sustainable
The brush uses recyclable plant-based heads and bristles and the streamlined aluminium body is designed to be taken apart and repaired, all while delivering a dentist-level clean. The super-soft bristles are crafted from castor oil which replicates a similar feel to nylon bristles without leaving microplastics behind once broken down.
Most impressively, SURI will recycle the toothbrush heads for free in the UK and the US, offering up a user-friendly process to benefit both the customer and the planet. All you have to do is return your used heads in a prepaid compostable mailer bag provided upon purchase and let the SURI team take care of the rest.
A subject all self-professed sustainable labels are expected to acknowledge, the controversial matter of carbon offsetting is a matter the brand has directly addressed. SURI has partnered with ClimatePartner to offset 100 per cent of its brushes' emissions, spanning transportation to manufacture, and is also fully B-Corps accredited. Could the brand go the extra mile and embrace climate positivity? We’d hope so.
The design
As an unashamedly, die-hard believer in fashion-over-function, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for aesthetics. SURI ticked all the boxes on this front. The toothbrush’s slim build is uber-light, making it perfect for travelling and offering a charming visual addition to my cluttered bathroom shelf. I can’t deny that an immense sense of smugness came over me as I placed my brand new, pistachio-hued brush front and centre of my designated shelf for my flatmates to ogle. I’m sure SURI fan Gwyneth Paltrow experienced the same delight when adding her dainty toothbrush to her Goop-peppered beauty pantry.
Yet, customers don’t need to debate whether style or performance is more crucial, as the toothbrush delivers both in equal measure. It’s incredibly straightforward to assemble and manoeuvre. Everything slots neatly into place and the brush is ready to be incorporated into your routine immediately.
Pick between various brush and polish modes to switch up your oral modus operandi and allow the 33,000 sonic vibrations per minute to lift plaque from your pearly whites with ease.
User experience
Two minutes may seem fleeting, but brushing your teeth even for this brief period can be boring nonetheless. SURI’s two-minute timer and haptic feedback every 30 seconds help the seconds to whizz by while ensuring you’re not cutting corners. Once finished, place the brush into the magnetic mirror mount provided and be on your merry way.
The 40 days of battery time is also highly appealing. I’m often away for weekends so the reliability of SURI’s battery time is a big plus. My old, much-loved electric Oral-B toothbrush couldn't compare and I’d often be kept up at night by the brush’s violent flashing LED while charging every other week.
Finally: price. SURI’s terrific toothbrush costs £75, a snip of the price of harmful plastic options, but an even further cry from the tear-jerking £800 cost of the famed Oral B iO10 electric toothbrush.
Considering the popular Oral-Bl 3-3500 model is RRP £100, SURI is a steal. Not only is it more affordable, but you’re saving more than a few pretty pennies with the brush in tow. The planet will thank you for your sustainable choice, which hopefully is your first of many.
