Manual or electric boothbrush?
What to choose?
You're in a store ready to choose a toothbrush. You hesitate between two models: a manual toothbrush or an electric one. You consider that both brush your teeth equally well.
Remarque :
You'd like to buy the one with the lowest environmental impact of the two.
Manual toothbrush
This is a fairly ‘classic’ toothbrush, with a plastic handle and nylon fibre bristles. It comes packaged in cardboard and a plastic shell (also known as a blister pack). It has a shelf life of 3 months.
Electric toothbrush
The electric toothbrush also has a body made mainly of plastic. But it also has a motor with a battery to rotate the brush head. The bristles are also made of nylon fibre. Once a brush head has worn out, you can buy a new one and keep the same body. It is sold in similar packaging. The brush lasts 8 years, but the head only 3 months.
Méthode : LCA to the rescue!
From an environmental point of view, the answer is not easy. On the one hand, a manual toothbrush consumes no electricity. But on the other hand, the electric toothbrush lasts longer and it's only possible to change the head.
The Life Cycle Assessment is therefore the appropriate tool to try to clarify this issue.