We recently shared an infographic on Facebook that highlighted some of the ways people are wasting items on a daily basis and offered alternatives for reducing single-use plastics. One of the suggestions was to do away with plastic floss containers and try a refillable glass floss container — something most people didn’t know existed.
So, what’s up with glass floss containers? And how you can get your hands on one?
Glass Floss Containers:
What You Need to Know
Flossing your teeth is healthy — and you should feel good about it. But you might not if you stop to think about the amount of waste those little plastic containers create over time.
If everyone in the country flossed their teeth according to American Dental Association recommendations, we would fill up a landfill the size of a football field that’s six stories high with the empty floss dispensers. Okay, you might be thinking, but not everyone flosses as they should. True, but even if just half of Americans flossed according to ADA recommendations, the empty containers would still fill up a football field three stories high.
No matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of plastic each year for something as seemingly insignificant as a floss dispenser.
Enter glass floss containers.
As the name suggests, glass floss containers are simply glass containers that contain a spool of floss inside. The biggest benefit is that these glass containers can be reused over and over again, thereby reducing plastic waste and lowering costs.
The most reputable product on the market is Dental Lace, sold directly through the company’s website and on Amazon. The company was started by founder Jodi Breau in a small home workshop after she became fed up with the waste her flossing habits created.
As reporter Steve Minich explains, “Breau begins with high-grade, biodegradable spools of silk floss from China. Instead of packing it in plastic, she uses reusable, refillable glass containers. The packaging is 100 percent recycled paper with soy-based ink.”
While glass containers are ideal, there are other zero-waste flossing products on the market. These include Le Negri natural silk floss, which comes in a recyclable metal tin, and Eco-Dent, which comes packaged in a compostable cardboard container.
Now that you know glass floss containers — and other alternatives — are a thing, will you be making the switch from plastic?