Maintaining good dental hygiene is crucial for overall health, but it can be challenging to navigate the world of dental products when trying to live a zero waste lifestyle. One of the most common dental practices, flossing, can generate a significant amount of waste, particularly when using traditional plastic floss. However, there are sustainable floss options available that can help reduce waste and maintain dental health.
In this article, we will explore eco-friendly and zero waste floss alternatives and provide recommendations for sustainable floss options. By making small changes to our dental routines, we can make a positive impact on the environment without sacrificing our dental hygiene.
The Best Sustainable Floss Alternatives For Guilt-Free Gum Health
For those seeking a more sustainable alternative to traditional dental floss, there are several eco-friendly options available. EcoRoots offers a zero waste floss made from bamboo fiber that is both vegan and sustainable. Etee’s plastic-free floss comes with a refillable glass container and compostable refill bags. ZWS Essentials also offers a biodegradable floss suitable for both vegans and non-vegans. By incorporating these alternatives into your daily oral hygiene routine, you can help reduce waste and promote gum health by removing germs and preventing tooth decay along the gum-line. Interdental brushes can also be used in conjunction with flossing for optimal oral hygiene.
The Full List Of Eco-Friendly Floss
1. EcoRoots
EcoRoots offers vegan floss made from bamboo fiber, activated charcoal, and organic tea tree oil. It is flavored with organic peppermint oil and contains no sweeteners, artificial flavoring, colorants, preservatives, or fluoride. They also offer a non-charcoal variety made of compostable corn, plant-based candelilla wax, and organic mint and tea tree essential oils. EcoRoots provides a glass and metal floss holder jar with the first order, and customers can order refill bundles that come in compostable boxes.
2. etee
Etee offers zero waste refillable silk floss with natural peppermint flavoring infused with the candelilla wax and peace silk strands. Although it is not vegan floss, it is the most ethically sourced silk on the market. This compostable floss comes in either a glass or stainless steel sustainable floss holder, refillable via compostable cornstarch baggies. Etee also offers Happy Tooth Essentials kit that includes floss and bamboo toothbrushes, while other kits include toothpaste and mouthwash tablets.
3. ZWS Essentials
ZWS Essentials offers some of the best zero waste floss made from silk. Although it is an animal byproduct, it is cruelty-free and only harvested after the silk worms have abandoned their cocoon. ZWS Essentials also offers zero waste vegan floss replaced silk strands with bamboo fiber. Both are infused with organic peppermint oil to serve as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent, but the bamboo floss contains additional activated charcoal. They contain no preservatives, artificial coloring, or sweeteners and are housed in glass reusable dental floss jars.
4. Georganics
Georganics offers a totally vegan and waste-free zero waste dental floss made of 100% corn-based PLA. They claim it’s compostable, but it is not clear if it is home compostable or needs to be thrown in an industrial facility. Georganics offers three varieties: spearmint, orange, and charcoal (for extra whitening and detoxifying powers). All come in a refillable glass container with refill options sans the packaging.
5. Radius
Radius offers silk and candelilla wax-coated zero waste floss, pick between peppermint, vanilla mint, or clove cardamom flavors. Ethical as well as sustainable tooth floss, it’s hand spun in small batches by the CORSEDA fair trade co-op in Colombia. It is free of BPA, latex, phthalates, parabens, gluten, GMOs, and artificial colors and sweeteners. They also offer a PETA and Leaping Bunny-certified cruelty-free option, but considering it’s made of a soft nylon base (combined with coconut oil, carnauba wax, peppermint oil, and antibacterial organic tea tree oil), it’s not zero waste.
6. Bring Your Own Jar
Bring Your Own Jar offers totally vegan eco-friendly dental floss made from 100% plant-based maize straw PLA. While not suitable for your home indoor compost bin, it’s fully composable in commercial facilities, making it ideal for those with access to one. It comes in a refillable glass jar with a recyclable metal dispensing lid, with boxed refills available sans the jar.
7. Dental Lace
Dental Lace offers a refillable glass container with 100% silk floss. The floss is coated with candelilla wax and infused with organic peppermint essential oil. Dental Lace also offers a refillable glass container with compostable silk floss.
8. TreeBird
TreeBird offers a pack of 2 zero waste refillable floss holders made of stainless steel and a pack of 4 spools of floss. The floss is made of natural mulberry silk and coated with plant-based candelilla wax. They also offer a vegan floss made of bamboo fibers coated with vegetable wax.
9. DIY zero waste alternative to dental floss
There are many DIY zero waste alternatives to dental floss, such as using a reusable interdental brush, a toothpick, or a water flosser.
10. Zero Waste Floss Holder & Picks
Zero Waste Floss Holder & Picks offers a zero waste floss holder and picks made of bamboo and natural bristles. The floss is made of silk or vegan wax.
11. Good People Inc.
Good People Inc. offers a zero waste dental floss made of silk thread coated with plant-based vegan wax. The floss comes in a refillable glass container with a metal dispenser.
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Why Choose Eco-Friendly Flossers?
Traditional floss is made of petroleum-based plastic and nylon, which are not biodegradable and can take hundreds of years to decompose. This results in a significant amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills and oceans. Eco-friendly flossers, on the other hand, are made from sustainable materials that are biodegradable, compostable, and plastic-free.
One of the main benefits of eco-friendly flossers is that they are environmentally friendly. They are made from materials such as bamboo, silk, or cornstarch, which are biodegradable and compostable. This means that they break down naturally and do not harm the environment.
Eco-friendly flossers also come in recyclable packaging, which reduces waste and helps to conserve resources. Some brands offer refillable glass containers or cardboard boxes, making them a zero-waste option.
In addition, eco-friendly flossers are cruelty-free and vegan, making them an ethical choice for those who are concerned about animal welfare. They do not contain any preservatives, gluten, or harmful chemicals such as PFAS, which are found in traditional floss.
Overall, eco-friendly flossers are a sustainable and ethical alternative to traditional floss. They are better for the environment, cruelty-free, and made from natural ingredients. By choosing eco-friendly flossers, individuals can make a positive impact on the planet and their own health.
How We Found The Best Zero Waste Dental Floss
Finding eco-friendly dental floss that is also zero waste can be a daunting task. Until recently, the only compostable dental floss options on the market were made of silk, which involves boiling silkworms alive in their cocoons. However, some companies have started using “peace silk,” which is harvested from vacated cocoons rather than occupied ones, making it supposedly “cruelty-free.” Nonetheless, even this is not a guarantee since the moths used for domesticated breeds of silkworms cannot fly, see, or eat and are allowed to hatch for the sole purpose of laying more eggs, from which a large percentage of larvae will just be allowed to starve.
Furthermore, many “zero waste” dental floss options still came in plastic bags, defeating the purpose of being eco-friendly. Fortunately, the sustainable floss game has improved, and there are now vegan and compostable options available.
To find the best zero waste dental floss, Sustainable Jungle used its sustainable beauty criteria as a guideline, which includes non-toxic, cruelty-free, vegan, palm-oil free, ethical sourcing policies, and thoughtful packaging. The best products on this list use a plant-based or vegetable wax like candelilla wax instead of silk or beeswax as their glide-ready coating.
Floss is unique because it can be a waste product, so Sustainable Jungle searched for naked or reusable packaging and biodegradable dental floss itself. The following are the top zero waste dental floss options that met Sustainable Jungle’s sustainable beauty criteria:
Final Thoughts On Sustainable Floss
Dental hygiene is crucial for overall health and immunity, and opting for zero waste floss or another natural alternative to flossing can reduce the use of petroleum-based plastics and toxic chemicals, resulting in a healthier smile and planet.
Consuming less floss can also make a difference in reducing waste. Sustainable Jungle recommends switching to a sustainable toothbrush to keep teeth plastic-free.
In conclusion, a sustainable smile is achievable with the right dental hygiene products. Spread the knowledge of sustainable flossing to friends and loved ones to help them become eco-friendly flossers, too.
