I was really was not planning to actually ever use a bamboo toothbrush. Despite knowing what an important environmental choice it is. Intellectual assent is a very long way from changing deeply ingrained, personal habits that involve inserting things into one's bodily cavities.
In fact, I sat down to my coffee at Overstand Cafe Nimman (awesome coffee!) and was chatting with Jack about the mental blocks people have against using them. And so, being the generous and intelligent man he is, he gifted me 2 bamboo toothbrushes (yes, he sells them) and there I suddenly was - staring at my own resistance in the face of reason.
So what were the blocks in my head (please note past tense)?
The big bamboo head will be rough and awkward in my sensitive post-jaw-reconstruction-and-sometimes-still-painful mouth.
Hmmmm....
Well clearly that didn't stack up in the face of actual comparison.
I thought the natural bristles would be harsh on my sensitive teeth.
Let's be clear - bamboo toothbrushes are NOT 100% environmentally friendly, compostable or biodegradable. They have nylon bristles and only the really expensive ones are made with nylon 4 (the biodegradable kind) - MOST bamboo toothbrushes are made with nylon 6, which is...errr.... toxic plastic. So clearly my fear of abrasive harsh natural bristles was unfounded. In fact, the tapered nylon bristles are quite soft and get in easily around the gum line.
I realized as I was testing the bamboo toothbrush, how insidious advertising actually is, cos I HEARD a plastic (pun intended), slick voice from two decades ago or more whispering in my ear that the handle should have that snappy little bend in it to enable easy brushing in hard to reach spots. Haha.... Is that even TRUE?
I was concerned that the brush shape wouldn't cut it for easy brushing.
Wrong. Yes, you probably do need to open your mouth a tiny bit wider. But if I had no issue with that post jaw re-co then it's really NOT a concern.
So did we like the bamboo brushing experience? Actually yes, I did. As did my 14 year old daughter, Ploi 
We both particularly like that the bristles are not white, since we brush with a natural activated charcoal based powder.
Were there any downsides I hadn't expected?
Haha... we lost our identity!! No more "I'm the blue and you're the orange". We finally decided a dab of toxic nail polish was the most permanent way of marking which belonged to whom. Cos despite me being happy to share a toothbrush with my lover, Ploi would rather DIE that share mama spit or a toothbrush. đŸ˜…
Mine started out as green dots but my OCD self was unhappy with the spacing, so a line they became. đŸ˜‰
I also had never LOOKED at a bamboo toothbrush well, nor stopped to consider how they actually get the tufts of bristles to sit into a piece of bamboo - a material which notoriously splits. Hmmmm..... So how is it done? You only have to look carefully to see this is composite bamboo - tiny fragments of bamboo pulp pressed into a shape around the tufts of bristles and held together with glue. The glues they use for composite wood? Best not think too hard about that. The glue choice sits somewhere between petro-chemical-nasty or bone-origin-definitely-not-vegan. Like I said, let's not even think about that.
So if it's so imperfect, why is this an important transition and one we will persevere with (for now at least - the dangerous toxic mold over time issue yet to be tested in our damp, tropical bathroom)?
- Because it's a BEGINNING and better than 100% plastic;
- Because it's a signal to my daughter that every small choice needs to be considered and weighed up on criteria beyond convenience, price and aesthetics;
- And because many people NEVER use straws so the whole reusable bamboo-glass-steel straw 'thing' merrily passes them by. But toothbrushes? We all use them! Some people get through 12 a year, while others soldier on with the same inefficient mangy brush for 6 months or more. But in the end, that plastic handle is left as a waste product that will still be here polluting the planet 10 or 100 generations from now..
Being a conscious consumer MATTERS. Being an example MATTERS. Demanding change and better products MATTERS. Our spending $$$ are the most potent form of political power we have.
They WILL stop making plastic crap if we stop buying it.
I can feel Mother Earth smiling and heaving a small sigh of relief as She is HEARD.
