Toothbrush

Every item you buy leaves a footprint - the material to make it, to package it, and to ship it. And it gets worse once you throw it away. Think about all that you throw away in a week. In a year, how much of it is still going to be hanging around?

Now think about your toothbrush. We all need a toothbrush, right? Unless you have no teeth. I used to buy these Oral-B things, the ones the dentist gives out. And two weeks into using it, the bristles would be bushy and I'd have to get a new one. Then I'd throw it out.

Then I found my Preserve toothbrush. You can buy them online, apparently, but I found my at my grocery store, in the "Whole Foods" department. It's made from recycled materials - in this case, yogurt cups. And three months later, the bristles are still nice.

The Preserve site is worth checking out. Not only do they have a whole line of bath and kitchen products, they also offer recycling for #5 plastics. Cool!