When it comes to making greener decisions, it can get tricky sometimes. For example, you might ask yourself is an electric or manual toothbrush more eco-friendly?
With innovation often comes more convenience and better performance, but this doesn’t always mean new technology is better for our planet.
Dentists and scientists seem to agree that an electric toothbrush cleans your teeth better than a manual one.
But what about their eco-friendliness?
In this article, we answer the question: Is an electrical or manual toothbrush more eco-friendly?
| Toothbrush Type | Material | Manufacturing | Upkeep | Ability To Be Recycled | Overall Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual Toothbrush |  | |  |  |  |
| Electric Toothbrush |  |  | | |  |
Environmental Impact
To be able to answer the question if an electric or manual toothbrush is better for the environment, we have to look at the impact both have on the planet.
This will allow us to make comparisons between them that will tell us which one is greener.
To make this analysis as accurate as possible, I will look at the following categories:
- material
- manufacturing
- upkeep
- ability to be recycled
I will give both toothbrush types green points for each category, depending on how big or small their impact on the plant in each category.
There are 5 green points on offer per category. The more impact the toothbrush has, the fewer points it gets.
So at the end, we will be able to answer the question “Is an electric or manual toothbrush more eco-friendly?” by how many green points each type has managed to get.
Material
Most commonly, both manual and electric toothbrushes are made from plastics. These different types of plastics are fused together to create the final product.Â
Plastic is made from polymers and can be fully or semisynthetic.
While it is a very versatile and useful material, it takes ages to break down. And when it does, it can release toxins into our environment that can harm plants and animals (including us humans).
Most plastic is made from fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming and climate change.
While there are toothbrushes out there that use more eco-friendly materials, such as bamboo for manual toothbrush handles and electric toothbrush heads, the bristles are still mostly made of nylon.
Bamboo is more eco-friendly than plastic, but only if it is sustainably sourced.
At the moment there isn’t an eco-friendly material that can replace nylon bristles that will be good for your mouth.
However, there are companies who use bioplastics. These are derived from plants rather than fossil fuels. For example, bristles made from caster oil, which comes from the beans of the caster plant.
Although the result is still plastic and will take hundreds of years to break down, it does not use fossil fuels.
Due to safety regulations, it is not possible to make the handle of an electric toothbrush out of wood. Because you need the handle to be waterproof to protect the electric bits inside, wood wouldn’t work.
As the electric toothbrush is an electric appliance, it contains not just plastic but also electrical components, such as steel, nickel and copper.
And you will also need a charger, which is also made of plastic and copper.
Taking all this into account, I will give the manual toothbrush 3 green points and the electrical toothbrush 1 green point.
So when it comes to the material used, the manual toothbrush is better for the environment than the electric one.
| Toothbrush Type | Material |
|---|---|
| Manual Toothbrush | |
| Electric Toothbrush | |
Manufacturing
Let’s move on to the next category in our quest to find the answer to the question: is an electric or manual toothbrush more eco-friendly?
Plastic manual as well as electric toothbrushes tend to be made by plastic pellets being melted down and moulded into the desired shape.
This is done by using an injection moulding machine. These machines use a lot of electricity and tend to run 24/7.
To cool down the melted plastic quicker, air or gas is used, which again needs a lot of energy.
Then the bristles are inserted using a filling machine. The bristles themselves have to be produced as well, which uses a lot of energy. Producing nylon, the material most bristles are made from, also causes a lot of polluted water waste.
Once the bristles have been attached, they need to be trimmed, which is done by a different machine.
Because we put toothbrushes and toothbrush heads in our mouths, they need to get sterilised to kill germs and bacteria. This is done using UV light.
An electric toothbrush also needs a motor, which needs to be assembled, which is also done by a machine.
Then most manufactures will test their toothbrushes on a regular basis, which is done by machine and uses electricity.
The charger also needs to be produced, which means more machines using electricity.
To keep the toothbrush free of germs until you start using it, it needs to be packaged, which is the final part of the manufacturing process.
The packaging is mass-produced using machines and often uses a mix of plastic and cardboard.
On top of that, most factories producing these products are in countries where production costs are cheaper, such as China.
This means you need to transport the brushes to the UK, which means a lot of carbon emissions.
Handmade bamboo brushes and heads have a much smaller environmental impact, as no machines are used.
But the bristles are still made of some sort of nylon, which uses a lot of energy to produce.
Because the electric toothbrush is so complex to produce and uses a lot of energy during the process, I cannot give it any green points. Even with a toothbrush head made from sustainable bamboo, the electric toothbrush would have an immense environmental impact.
The manual toothbrush has a lesser impact, so I give it 3 green points, given that the impact can be reduced if the handles are handmade from sustainably sourced bamboo.
| Toothbrush Type | Upkeep |
|---|---|
| Manual Toothbrush | |
| Electric Toothbrush | |
Upkeep
The next section we want to cover in our quest to find the answer to the question: is an electric or manual toothbrush more eco-friendly is the upkeep.Â
Once you have your toothbrush and use it, does it still have an impact?
With the manual toothbrush the answer is very simple, no. Because it’s operated by your hand, all you use are your muscles.
Therefore, the manual toothbrush, no matter what material it’s made of, gets the full 5 green points in this category.
But with the electric toothbrush it’s a different matter. Because you have to charge it every so often, you are using electricity.
And while the UK is making progress in using renewable energy, in 2021 still 35% of electricity used came from fossil fuels, according to the National Grid.
The older the battery gets, the less charge it can hold. This means you will have to charge it more often, using more energy.
That’s why I only give the electric toothbrush 3 green points in this category.
| Toothbrush Type | Upkeep |
|---|---|
| Manual Toothbrush | |
| Electric Toothbrush | |
Ability To Be Recycled
The final category I will look at to find the answer to the question “is an electric or manual toothbrush more eco-friendly?” is the ability to recycle them.
The worst thing we can do to our planet is to increase the material we commit to landfill.
So recycling the things we use is an important step towards living more sustainable lives.
And the good news is that both manual and electric toothbrushes can be recycled.
But it’s complicated. You can’t just put them in your recycle bin at home. This is because they are made using different types of plastics fused together.
To recycle them the plastics have to be separated, which is a rather complicated process.
That’s why only specialist recycle centres accept manual toothbrushes and toothbrush heads. One such centre is TerraCycle.
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There are a few programmes this specialist runs in partnership with Colgate/hello and Philips. Both programmes are free for consumers.
But you have to bring your used toothbrushes and heads to one of the collection points, which are dotted around the UK.
Both programmes don’t just accept toothbrushes but also other dental care products, such as floss containers and toothpaste tubes.
Find out more about recycling toothbrush heads in our article about this topic.
The handle of the electric toothbrush can also be recycled but as it is classed as an electric appliance, you have to bring it to your local recycling centre, like with a kettle.
There, all parts of the handle will be recycled.
Although both manual and electrical toothbrushes can be fully recycled, I only give them 4 green points each.
That’s because recycling them is not that easy, which means many people won’t do it and millions of toothbrushes end up in landfill.
While I believe we should make an effort to do our bit, the big companies should do their bit to make it easy for us to recycle their products. After all, it’s the big corporations who emit a huge amount of carbon emissions.
| Toothbrush Type | Ability To Be Recycled |
|---|---|
| Manual Toothbrush | |
| Electric Toothbrush | |
Conclusion
| Toothbrush Type | Material | Manufacturing | Upkeep | Ability To Be Recycled | Overall Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual Toothbrush | | | | | |
| Electric Toothbrush | | | | | |
To conclude our article, we can reveal the answer to the question: Is an electric or manual toothbrush more eco-friendly?
The manual toothbrush wins hands down with 15 green points out of 20. The electric toothbrush only managed to get 8 green points.
But this does not mean that you have to choose a manual one. This is down to your preference.
And let’s not forget, studies have shown that the electric toothbrush cleans your teeth and gums better than a manual one.
Whether the better performance outweighs its huge impact on the environment is a difficult question to answer and everyone has to decide for themselves.
Our Top-Rated Sustainable Toothbrush Heads:
| Toothbrush Heads | Compatability | Value For Money | Sustainability | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Oral-B/Braun & Phillips Sonicare | Excellent | Outstanding | 4.78 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Philips Sonicare | Excellent | Outstanding | 4.78 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Georganics | Great | Excellent | 4.78 | Read Review | Visit Website |
