Ditch the Tube with Reco Ecofriendly Toothtabs

Disclosure.  This post is a review of  a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

Time to talk about another eco product. I’ve received a packet of 62 toothtabs from Reco, free to review, enough for a whole month. Their mantra is #SingleUseSucks, Ditch the Tube, Zero Paste, Zero Waste which sounds fab to me.

Regular followers of my blog will know that I am passionate about the environment and sustainability and may have seen, via my series of posts about my own personal journey towards zero waste, that I have been trying to avoid toothpaste tubes. These are notoriously hard to recycle, being mixed materials made from a combination of plastic and aluminium, so most tend to end up in the rubbish bin. Terracycle have introduced a recycling scheme but there is no collection point locally.

I have tried a few types of plastic-free toothpaste now, so was very interested to see how these would compare. Reco toothtabs are toothpaste tablets which contain fluoride. My dentist has stressed that fluoride is essential, so this is a definite plus point for me, since some brands of plastic-free toothpaste that I have tried don’t have fluoride. At my age, I’m sure my enamel is wearing thinner, so thumbs up for the fluoride to help with my dentall health and oral hygiene.

So let me tell you how to use the toothtabs. Pop one tablet into your mouth. Chew it to form a paste. Wet your toothbrush under the tap and then brush your teeth as normal. Simple.

I was pleased with the minty taste, as some others that I’ve tried haven’t been too great in the taste department. This is definitely my joint favourite along with one that I have purchased from my local zero waste store. However I must mention that the packet indicates they are not recommended for children.

Reco state that their toothtabs are free of artificial preservatives and stabilisers normally found in toothpaste. See their website, for full details on each ingredient. They are also vegan and cruelty free.

Also I am pleased to report that the packaging is 100% recyclable, biodegradable and home compostable. The toothtabs come in small paper bags, with a label that Reco say has been printed on 100% recycled waste paper. And Reco also say that the mailing envelopes are made purely from sustainably sourced paper.

I’ve cut out flying myself, but these toothtabs are ideal for your hand luggage when going through airport security. Dry, so no need to be separated into a see-through plastic bag and you only have to pack the number you need for your trip.

I’ve popped mine in a handy tin that I already had, but if you subscribe to their regular 3 month delivery service, they will throw in a storage tin for free, plus you get a 5% discount. The delivery will easily fit through your letterbox, and you can can pause or cancel your subscription at any time.

Plus I have a special offer to share with my readers of a 31 day trial pack of toothtabs for £3 (including free delivery) so that you can try them out for yourselves. Just visit this page for a toothtab trial pack.

And I’ve been browsing around the Reco website and have seen that they sell other brands that I already buy. There is Kitenest who I helped crowdfund and Pokito who I bought a collapsible cup for my son to keep in his school blazer pocket. And there is rCup, which we used to have until my other half accidentally left it behind after a race. I’ve got my eye on some of their other products too like the soaps, natural deodorant and vegetable loofah scrubber.

I’d love to hear what is your favourite product from Reco or your suggestions for additions to the range. And don’t forget to check out the Reco blog too where you can even discover 37 Hacks for an Old Used Toothbrush.

So join Reco and me in the mission to help our society switch from a single-use mindset to a multi-use one!

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Brushd ecofriendly dental review and giveaway

Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I started trying to address the amount of plastic in the bathroom earlier this year including dental products, but it did feel a little hit and miss regarding where to locate alternative products and would I like them. For instance the first plastic-free toothpaste I purchased, a Georganics jar of paste tasted horrid. So I was pleased to discover the dental care brand Brushd via the Ethical Influencers network, as they seem to have a wide choice of eco-friendly oral care products. Brushd are aiming to help reduce plastic pollution without compromising on good oral health, and they are dentist approved.

So I received the following products free to review.

1. Bamboo toothbrush with charcoal infused bristles.
2. Toothpaste Tablets (Fluoride-free)
3. Dental Supplements
4. Mouthwash tablets
5. Interdental Brushes
6. Electric toothbrush heads.
7. Natural Corn Dental Floss

The charcoal bamboo toothbrush was fine. The bamboo handle is biodegradable and can be composted or put in your food waste bin, but you would have to break off the bristles first. I won’t know how easy or difficult that is until the toothbrush comes to the end of its life. And Brushd do say that they are working on a solution for the bristles. But I do have a question. I couldn’t find any mention of why the bristles are charcoal infused. I’d love to know what benefits does that give?

Toothpaste tablets is a swap that I successfully made earlier this year. These are the third type of toothpaste tablets that I have tried, but I have to say unfortunately these are the ones I like least. A toothpaste tablet works on the principle of you chewing the tablet before brushing. These had a rather unpleasant taste as I chewed, although less noticeable once brushing. A shame as I have really enjoyed using toothpaste tablets until now. I don’t know if it is because these fluoride free and I have always chosen to purchase ones containing fluoride. Brushd do also sell a fluoride version, but I didn’t receive this. There are 62 tablets in the jar which is a nice touch, since it means there is enough for a 31 day month. This product was almost entirely plastic free apart from a “sealed for your protection” disc inside the lid. I’m not convinced that this was entirely necessary as the similar mouthwash tablet jar did not have one. And there was also one of these discs inside the dental supplements jar too.

Which brings me on to discussing the dental supplements. Do you know that although I’ve taken multi-vitamins for years, I never realised that you could purchase vitamins and minerals specifically targeted at healthier teeth and gums, which is the purpose of these daily dental supplements. They are suitable for vegans and contain calcium and potassium along with vitamins A, C, D3 and K. Simply take one a day with water. Perfect. 60 tablets in the jar.

Mouthwash tablets is a swap that I successfully made back in January. And these ones were just as good. In fact, they seemed to dissolve even better than my existing brand. Just pop a tablet in about 20ml of water at the start of your dental routine and it will be dissolved by the time you reach the mouthwash stage. Then gargle for about 30 seconds before spitting out. Easy. 120 tablets in the jar.

The Interdental brushes come in packets of 5. The ones I received were 1mm brush width, but they also come in a 0.8mm size. Personally I would like to see some even narrower widths added to the range, as although this size was great for my back teeth, I struggled to insert the brush between my front teeth, which are very tight together. Perhaps down to 0.6mm would be good. However I was very pleased with the short handle length and how flexible the brush head was, making it much easier to reach the inside of my teeth. The handles are bamboo, but I’m not sure whether the bristles are still plastic. I assume they are. Also personally I do like a little paste on an interdental brush which I haven’t come up with a solution for yet. Since swapping to toothpaste tablets, I’ve been using the kids toothpaste for this purpose, as they have refused to give tablets a try. The box states that these are recommended by dentists, are BPA-free, vegan and 100% recyclable. However it doesn’t say how to recycle them, as presumably it will be different for the bristles to the handle? I would like to see more information on how to recycle them. Also this product is not suitable for children under 8, but I think you would be hard-pressed to get kids to do more than just brush their teeth anyhow.

I was very excited about the idea of recyclable electric toothbrush heads, as I expect that a large proportion of the population, myself included, already possess an electric toothbrush. I was envisaging that this would also be bamboo, but sadly not. Also there is no indication of whether they have perhaps been made from recycled plastic, so I’m guessing not. It seems to just be that they have their own recycling scheme, so not really any different from TerraCycle. The heads are compatible with OralB electric toothbrushes but not with Colgate ones. It also mentions that the bristles are charcoal infused, but as already mentioned I have no idea what that does. But why have the toothbrush heads got individual plastic covers over each one? Those seem totally unnecessary. I’ve certainly never seen anything similar previously. And apparently every order comes with a pre-paid compostable mailer bag so that when the brushes come to the end of their life, they can be sent back for recycling. Sounds great but I didn’t receive one of these bags, so can’t comment further. Again not suitable for children under 8.

The corn dental floss is 100% biodegradable so can go in your home compost. It does seem slightly thicker than standard floss, so although it was perfect for my back teeth, again I did find it a struggle to get between my tightly packed front teeth. This meant it did seem to break more easily too. It comes in a handy jar, but there doesn’t seem to be an option to purchase a refill. That would be a logical addition to the range in my opinion.

Oral hygiene is very important. So it was great to read that not only are Brushd focussed on helping to reduce plastic pollution, but that each time you buy a toothbrush from them, they gift one to someone in need on your behalf. This is via two charities – A Reason To Smile and Dentaid.

And I also read that they plant a tree for every subscription via Tree-Nation. I’ll be investigating this site myself, as I wish to offset CO2. By subscribing, you would save 25-30% on tablets and toothbrushes. The products would be sent to you every 4 months.

It would be fabulous to see these products in my local zero waste store, but I can’t find any mention of stockists on the website. A great range and hopefully they will address my few concerns.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition courtesy of Brushd to giveaway 6 months supply of toothpaste tablets to one lucky winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear what is your favourite product from Brushd or your suggestions for additions to the range. I’d particularly like to see them branch out from just dental supplements to a much broader range of vitamins. For instance I’m still searching for a plastic-free multi-vitamin and mineral tablet including iron.

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