Press
The Nada Toothbrush Story
My name is Simon Cooper and I hate waste. Especially plastic waste.
I grew up in the country and my dad used to take my sister and I camping, skiing and on trips to remote parts of Canada. As a result, nature is important to me.
I am also a graphic designer, so I appreciate great design—logos, houses, cars, you name it. As a designer, problem solving is in my nature.
So one night about a decade ago, I was brushing my teeth before bed and noticed my toothbrush bristles were worn out.
But it occurred to me that while the brush head was nasty, the handle was fine.
So why throw the entire handle away?
I did some research and found out that every year billions of disposable toothbrushes end up in landfill (1 billion in the US and potentially up to 20 billion worldwide—gross).
Even more disturbing was that every toothbrush ever made was still on the earth today and would be for centuries.
The idea for Nada was born
In early 2016 I hired Ryan, an industrial designer from Toronto. Over several months we worked on new toothbrush designs, eventually simplifying them to a reusable, aluminum handle and minimalist replacement toothbrush heads.
My goal was to create something that was sustainable, beautiful and affordable. I wanted to build a business around a quality product people would be proud of owning.
During the design process, we were shocked at how badly designed disposable toothbrushes are. They’re covered in grooves and ridges, which are presumably to make holding on to them easier, but end up accumulating old toothpaste and bacteria.
Plus, if for any reason you put your toothbrush down after applying toothpaste and it will instantly roll over, getting toothpaste on the counter and bacteria on your bristles.
Our new toothbrush considered these design misses as well as the plastic waste issue.
The end result is a beautiful, simple design that uses 80 – 90% less plastic than disposables. It is also much more hygienic as it rinses clean and doesn’t accumulate old toothpaste. It also lays upright and the brush head is elevated, so you never have to worry about getting any yuckies from a bathroom surface on your bristles.
It bothered me (and some early customers) that plastic was still being thrown away, so after a while I started including self-addressed envelopes with every order. Customers now mail back their used toothbrush heads, which we send to be commercially recycled.
We recently released kids toothbrushes and are constantly looking at ways to reduce waste in our process.
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For more information, or to speak with Nada’s founder, Simon Cooper, please call 416-988-6836 or email simon@trynada.com
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