Why is plastic bad for us and the earth?

Why is plastic bad for us and the earth?

Plastic is a miraculous material. 

We can make almost anything using plastic. It’s incredibly durable, lightweight and colourful. Since it’s inception in the 1930’s, it’s reshaped everything we make and use on a daily basis.

The problem is, we’ve become addicted to it. We use it for everything. And that’s not a good thing…

The truth is that plastic is bad for us and our planet. Here’s why:

Plastic takes at least 400 years to degrade, releasing toxic chemicals into the environment.

Plastic is made from non-renewable resources like oil, which takes a lot of energy to produce. Every year, more than 300 million tons of new plastic is produced worldwide.

In terms of toothbrushes, it’s estimated that tens or billions of disposable toothbrushes are thrown away every year. Yikes!

But what’s the issue? The earth is massive. Can’t we toss it all in a hole somewhere and forget about it? Nope…

Plastic doesn’t biodegrade as much as photodegrade.

Biodegradation is the process by which microorganisms break down organic material. For example, when you compost food scraps or dead plants—a process that can take several months to years—the organic matter becomes fertilizer for new plants.

Plastic does not biodegrade because it’s made from non-renewable resources like fossil fuels and has no place in nature. It also contains chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA), which are found in many plastics and linked to health problems like cancer and heart disease.

Because it breaks down, plastic becomes tiny particles that contaminate our environment, our oceans and waterways, and even our food chain.

Plastic breaks down into tiny particles called microplastics, which are found in our oceans, rivers, lakes and ice. These microplastics have been found in fish and shellfish, meaning you could be ingesting them without even knowing it.

Microplastics can also affect human health by entering the food chain through water sources. The chemicals used to make plastics can leach into the water supply when they break down into microplastic particles over time, causing harm to both humans and animals alike.

Oh, and just to make things even rosier, microsplastics were recently found in human blood. Yeah, I’d say we've crossed a line.

Plastic is convenient, but we're paying a high price for it.

The reason we use plastic is because it’s cheap and easy to use, but what most people don’t realize is that these reasons are also why plastic is so harmful to the environment. For example, plastic products are cheaper than other materials like glass, metal or paper. This means companies can produce them in large quantities at low costs, which makes them affordable for consumers. This convenience comes with a high price though—plastic takes millions of years to decompose in landfills and oceans.

We also use plastic because it doesn’t weigh as much as other materials such as glass or metal; this makes it easier for us to carry around our belongings with less effort involved! However there are many downsides associated with using lightweight materials such as plastics because they degrade very easily over time due to weather conditions such as UV rays from sunlight exposure causing cracks on the surface which eventually lead into larger holes during repeated cycles through heating/cooling cycles (for example: boiling water inside microwave ovens).

Toothbrushes are a perfect example of this. First produced in 1938, disposable plastic toothbrushes revolutionized oral care. Suddenly, more people could afford to buy toothbrushes. But where have all those toothbrushes gone? Nowhere. They are all still on earth, slowly polluting our landfills and oceans. 

It’s hard to understand the true impact of plastic because we can’t see it the way we can see other pollutants like oil spills or chemical waste.

In an effort to combat this problem, scientists are working on ways to visualize what plastic pollution looks like underwater. Researchers have developed special sensors that they drop into the ocean, which detect even small amounts of microplastic in seawater samples by measuring changes in electrical fields within them. This allows them to estimate how much microplastic there is in an area and how much pollution is coming from different sources (such as rivers).

We need to reduce our reliance on throw-away single-use plastics so we can reduce pollution and slow down climate change.

Because plastic is so durable, it can take hundreds of years to break down in the environment. As a result, we need to reduce our reliance on throw-away single-use plastics so we can reduce pollution and slow down climate change.

We designed Nada toothbrush as a sustainable alternative to plastic disposables. Our aluminum handle is lightweight, hygienic and infinitely recyclable. Our minimally designed brush heads can be returned to us to be 100% recycled at a commercial recycler.

Thanks for reading!

 


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Green Nada Sustainable Toothbrush with a Metal Handle and Replacement Toothbrush Heads
"So happy to have found Nada Tothbrush" – Krysti
Pink Nada Sustainable Toothbrush with a Metal Handle and Replacement Toothbrush Heads
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Nada eco-friendly toothbrush starter kit with one aluminium handle, 3 toothbrush heads and a return envelope
Christine with a Gold sustainable Nada Toothbrush

Nada Toothbrush

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The toothbrush 2.0 – Nada is an aluminum handle you keep for life and premium brush heads we take back and have recycled into plastic pellets.

What’s included:

1 Forever Handle + 3 Brush Heads
• Rinses clean, no gross buildup
• Lays flat & won't roll over
• Soft, “floss-tip” bristles get 6X deeper
• Built-in tongue scraper for fresher breath

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I love how well they work and it feels awesome to be helping the environment!! Really, these work. Just imagine if everyone did this!! 👍🏻👏🏻”
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    1 Aluminum Handle + 3 Brush Heads
    • Rinses clean—no toothpaste or bacteria buildup
    • Lays flat—won’t roll over
    • Soft tapered bristles, for a gentler, deeper clean
    • Elevated Brush heads won’t touch dirty surfaces

    Nada brush heads and bristles are 100% recyclable. Please return your used ones in the pre-addressed envelope included with your order. We send them to be recycled into plastic pellets. ♻️Learn More

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