Are you in the process of switching from a plastic-dependent lifestyle to a completely non-plastic and zero waste one?

Well, you’re at the right place! While looking for eco-friendly lifestyle products and making sustainable dental decisions, the first thing that comes to our mind is a toothbrush and then it’s sidekick, a tongue cleaner. www.tronweekly.com

Let’s talk about the environmental impact of our COPPER TONGUE CLEANERS!

Here, we have compared a copper tongue cleaner with a plastic alternative using our environmental rating system. You can read more about it here.

Factors	Copper	Plastic
1. Raw Material	Recycled Metal	Synthetic
2. Manufacturing Emissions	High	High
3. Product Lifespan	1 year	3 months
4. Biodegradability	NA*	>450 years
5. Packaging	Minimal	Not Minimal
BZ Eco-Rating	3	1

BZ ECO-FACTORS RATING:

Our environmental rating is formulated by considering the following 5 factors:

Raw Material:

Our copper tongue cleaners are made of recycled metal, hence they’re rated 1; while plastic is a synthetic product, hence rated 0.

Manufacturing Emissions: 

Manufacturing both copper & plastic tongue products is an energy-intensive process. Hence, both are rated 0.

Lifespan: 

Copper tongue cleaners last for a year or so which is much longer than the plastic ones which need to be replaced within a matter of months or so. Hence, the rating of copper is 1 and plastic is 0.

Biodegradability: 

Metals can be recycled and reused indefinitely and hence have the advantage over plastic since they create waste for a lifetime but can also be a one-time investment. Copper is a metal hence it does not biodegrade and exists indefinitely, so our copper tongue cleaner is rated 0.5, and plastic takes more than 500 years to biodegrade, hence it is rated 0.

Packaging:

BZ follows minimal packaging practices, our tongue cleaners are shipped in reusable cotton pouches made from recycled industrial waste from Katran Market, hence rated 1. While plastic tongue cleaner is rated 0.5 since the packaging may or may not be eco-friendly and minimal depending on the manufacturers.

Let’s talk Copper!

Copper is considered to be one of the oldest metals used by humans! It has a few distinctive qualities like;

• Aesthetic & Ethnic
• Anti-bacterial
• Safe to use

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE PRODUCT:

1) Number of units wasted worldwide: 

World’s population- 7.53 billion people ~

29.4 billion tongue cleaners each year.

Only 9% of all the plastic in the world is recycled! 

The whole of humanity produces 600 million kg of plastic waste in only 365 days.

2) Packaging waste created:

Plastic is one of the most widely used materials when it comes to packaging. 

It contributes to around 40% of packaging waste. A plastic bag has an average working lifespan of 15 minutes, after which it is discarded. Approximately, about 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. 

Quick Usage Techniques:

Cleaning:

Clean the copper tongue cleaner with lukewarm water after approx. a week’s usage. The anti-microbial properties of copper helps in maintaining oral hygiene.

Storage: 

After usage, rinse the tongue cleaner, let it dry off, and then store it in a dry place. Sterilize it in warm water for a longer and more hygienic experience.

Disposal:

Since copper tongue cleaners are recyclable, you can: Drop them off at any commercial metal recycling unit.