"5 Billion toothpaste tubes" yeah you read that right, 5 billion toothpaste tubes end up in the landfill and the ocean.
Why u ask?
Toothpaste tubes are made up of multiple layers of plastics, aluminum and adhesives. They are like onions one has to peel a lot of layers to know what is inside.
A nerdy fact, The outer layer is Reverse BOPP printed probably on PET or LDPE, when one peels inside we get another layer PE (can be LLDPE or EVOH) , a barrier layer consisting of Aluminum attached to a LLDPE layer and finally lamination of a good grade LDPE, every layer is sandwiched together via adhesives.
Generally each tube has anywhere between 5-7 layers.
Tubes are designed in such a way because of multiple reasons.
1. Paste contains water which if not kept inert will become a bacterial infestation ground.
2. Again to keep the toothpaste well paste-y water should not evaporate thus these multiple layers.
3. Aroma should also remain intact in the paste thus the layers.
4. Lastly, Tubes should be squeezable and by far retain their shape thus some plastic layers are introduced in the matrix.
The reasons stated above are thus used so that we consume how we consume, to make our life easier (maybe but I beg to differ , who likes squeezing the last ounce from the tube)
What this creates is a pile of waste which takes 100s of years to degrade.
Everyday we are unknowingly creating that waste which is not recyclable (because they are contaminated and made of complex matrix) and filled with materials which have little to do with your oral health (eg Water, Humectants, Preservatives, etc)
This is the problem we at Shunyam wanted to remove, thus we removed the water (a major culprit) compacted the toothpowder and made a tablet which is easy to use, has the convenience of a paste and on a grand scheme of things doesn't pollute.
We took care of both the planet and your oral health.
Help us reduce that waste from the planet, Shop our products on www.shunyam.org/toothpaste-tablets