 I've been using bamboo toothbrushes for the past few years now and feel great comfort in knowing that when brushing my pearly whites I'm not contributing to the ever-increasing piles of landfill. Plus, pairing my compostable toothbrush with my DIY all-natural toothpaste is like a double whammy. No chemicals, no plastics. But there was a downside. I knew you could compost these brushes, except the bristles. But the question was how? Could they simply be thrown in my backyard compost? Would they break down there? Could it take years? Or were they only for commercial composting facilities? I went delving into the depths of the internet and discovered the ins and outs of how to correctly dispose of these bamboo toothbrushes. Here's how to properly dispose of your bamboo toothbrush to ensure it breaks down and returns to the earth as quickly as possible. A fresh, shiny, brand new toothbrush is a much better tool for cleaning teeth than an old, well-used, half-bristles-amissing kind of toothbrush, so it's important to replace your toothbrush regularly when needed. Bamboo toothbrushes are usually said to last up to six months, however doctors recommend replacing toothbrushes every two months, so it's up to your discretion how regularly you want to change your toothbrush. I'm a little more on the relax side of things with my toothbrush, and tend to change up brushes every six to eight months, or when they're looking a little haphazard. Whether you use a plastic toothbrush or a bamboo one, the result tends to be the same. The bristles wear down and bacteria can build up on the brush, even though the bamboo handle is naturally antibacterial. So, when your toothbrush is ready to be recycled, you want to start by removing the bristles from the brush. While most bamboo toothbrush bristles are recyclable, they're the only part of the bamboo toothbrush that isn't biodegradable. Most bamboo toothbrush companies use the industry-standard Nylon 6 bristles except Brush with Bamboo, who are the first company to create a 100% plant-based bamboo toothbrush. This means that we bamboo toothbrush users must resort to removing these bristles by hand and dispose of them separately from the toothbrush handle. There are a couple of different ways you can do this. The first is to pull them out with pliers, which is my preferred method, or the other option is to snap the whole toothbrush head off. To make the process of pulling them out with pliers as easy as possible, don't try to pull out too many bristles at once, and use a slight rolling action to help wiggle them free from the handle. These will help to pull out the bristles and the little metal staples. Once separated, the bristles can go into your plastic recycling bin, but not in the mixed recyclable bins. But as they are so small, they can be easily lost, so it's recommended to first put them inside another plastic item that you're going to recycle, like a plastic bottle. Step 2 is to compost the bamboo handle. The handle of a bamboo toothbrush is 100% biodegradable and compostable. It's recommended that you either put it in your Bioway spin to be disposed of in a commercial composting facility where it will break down in a few weeks, or put it in your home compost bin if you have one. If you do end up just throwing it in your normal rubbish bin and the toothbrush goes to landfill, it will still biodegrade, it will just take a few years. Bamboo is a material that will break down entirely over time, but it's quite robust and not resistant. It's hard to say how long bamboo will ultimately take to break down, as it really depends on the conditions, such as is it in soil or on the soil, in warm wet conditions, or a dry cold climate. If it is simply thrown into your garden, it may take as long as 5 to 10 years to fully break down. If it's buried horizontally in the soil, it may take around three years to completely decompose. If it's placed in a home compost bin, it may take around four to six months, depending on the composition and size of the bin. You can help speed up the process a bit by breaking the toothbrush into smaller pieces with a hammer, saw, or other tool. In a commercial composting facility, it may take only a few weeks for it to break down, as the conditions are much hotter and more active than in a simple home compost bin. And that is how you recycle a bamboo toothbrush properly. I hope you enjoyed this video. Let me know how you go on recycling your bamboo toothbrush. I wish you a wonderful day and I'll see you soon again.