Toothbrushes - wherefore art thou?

The sad closure of Out of this World has left readers wondering where they can buy re-useable toothbrushes, but don't worry because I've travelled the length and breadth of the North East on a mission to track some down.

Dear Anna,

After reading your article on re-usable toothbrushes, I went and purchased one with a bag of refill heads from Out of this World in Gosforth as you recommended.

I finally ran out of the heads last week and returned to Out of this World only to find that they have closed their doors forever.

Are there any other shops that you know of that stock them?

Thanks

Stewart Shipp, Low Fell

Hi Stewart,
You are among many readers to have contacted me about the very same thing and I have managed to find a couple of places where you can purchase the heads from.

First I'd just like to recap on the original article that I wrote and the issue.

On average most people will get through around 280 toothbrushes in their life time with about 95% of the toothbrush made up of a perfectly reusable handle which we throw away.

It's not just the waste that ends up in landfill but also the impact of the materials used and production process that has gone into each and every one of these 280 handles.

For a while now I have been using a toothbrush called the Monte Bianco Clip.
It simply is a toothbrush with a handle that you keep forever and a clip-off clip-on head which you replace when worn out, exactly in the same way as you would change the head on the razor.

Until I managed to persuade Out of this World to stock them I had to rely on my Mother buying them in Oxford for me and posting them up. So like you and others who have written in, I was extremely disappointed when the store closed.

Finding a new supplier other than my Mother has been quite difficult and a number of outlets felt that they didn't have the space to stock them.

I'm happy to report that as of next Saturday (20th September 2008) The Whitley Bay local and organic food store 'Peppercorn Food', which can be found on Park View, will be stocking Monte Bianco handles and heads.

Your other option is to go to a number of websites that offer them for sale. My personal recommendation would be EthicalSuperstore.com

I explained the situation to Melanie Shield, the Buying Manager for EthicalSuperstore.com, who very promptly sourced the range and you can now find them on their site for sale alongside a vast array of other ethical dental products.

I am happy to recommend EthicalSuperstore.com over other websites primarily because they are based up here.
They have recently expanded and moved from the Quayside to the Team Valley Trading Estate, so purchasing from them means supporting the local economy too.

Their motto is 'buy what you believe' and they sell everything and anything from Fairtrade and organic grocery shopping, to energy efficient gadgets, to unique ethical gifts that give back to the people that made them.

I hope that this is of use to you and that you're able to get a new pack of heads very shortly.

All the best
Anna

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