The Future is Green
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 23rd December 2021
Over the last decade the general population has become more environmentally conscious due to the growing concern of the impact the consumer has on the planet. In a report on consumer trends a survey showed that most people’s environmentally conscious behaviours had increased from 2017 – 2019. For instance, 22% looked for environmental information labelling in 2019 compared to 17% in 2017 and 24% considered environmental aspects when purchasing things compared to 20%.[i] This shows that people are making changes to the way they think and it is also impacting their behaviour as consumers. For instance, people have made changes to the clothing they buy (with vintage clothing seeing a resurgence in the name of sustainability) all in the fight to cause less harm to the environment.
A huge change that has impacted environmental consciousness in recent years is the rise of veganism. A study found that, in the UK, the amount of people following a vegan lifestyle had increased to 542,000 people in 2016 compared to 150,000 in 2006.[ii] This is due to a variety of reasons: veganism has become more accessible with the advancement in meat replacements and people have become more inclined to make the change. If you can enjoy your favourite meal without the guilt, why wouldn’t you? Consumers have also become more educated on the impact that our society has on the planet. Documentaries have been produced portraying the abhorrent realities of industrialised farming and plastic waste; giving people more reasons to consider the environment and animals during the weekly shop. Veganism is known to be where consumers can make the biggest positive impact on the environment.[iii] Every year we see more efforts to grow the cause with agendas such as Veganuary and Meat Free Monday. However, making changes to one’s diet are not the only concerns that consumers currently have; plastic waste has now become a huge issue and people are desperate to reduce theirs.
Widespread plastic production began in the 1950s and since then it has been gathering in our environment with the biggest concerns growing around the impact it has had on the oceans. The effects of plastic pollution on the environment have been detrimental with animals entangled in waste and plastic debris washing up on coastlines across the world – even in places where humans do not live.[iv] Due to the rise in this concern, there have been many efforts to encourage the general population and corporations to reduce their plastic waste from carrying a reusable bottle to only offering paper straws.[v] Governments have also attempted, in some ways, to further encourage plastic waste reduction. The UK government introduced a carrier bag charge in 2015, in order to encourage people to use sustainable bags, as a shocking 7.6 billion single-use bags were used in major supermarkets in England during 2014.[vi] Single-use carrier bags, fishing gear, and plastic straws are not the only products being targeted by this growing concern – so are toothpaste tubes. Toothpaste tubes are difficult to recycle because they are usually made up of a variety of plastics and many of them contain a metal layer inside the tube which is difficult to separate for recycling purposes. In the UK, 300 million tubes of toothpaste are thrown away each year with an average of 500 years for a tube to completely biodegrade.[vii] Patient concerns can now be put at ease, however, as Arm & Hammer™ has introduced the first fully recyclable toothpaste range, featuring a 100% Natural Baking Soda, vegan friendly formula.
In other areas, medical and dental professionals cannot always easily reduce the plastic waste they produce. As a clinician there are hygiene standards required that usually means a lot of single-use items are used daily. Although it may seem difficult, there are still a few solutions that can be implemented in a dental practice to reduce its plastic waste which isn’t just recommending great products to patients. Switching to compostable bags as covers rather than plastic, using metal disposables instead of plastic, and introducing recycling are just a few easy switches that a practice can make to reduce their waste.
The pollution that plastic has caused is a worldwide problem and most people will find it difficult not to find any plastic in their household or workplace. Working together to tackle the problem is the responsible action to take. In your practice and with the products recommended to your patients you can successfully move towards a more sustainable society.
Dental hygienist and therapist Michayla Morris, graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2010. Alongside working full time as a dental hygiene/therapist in central London, she also works for waterpik as a professional educator. She has recently completed a BSc in Dental studies at the University of Central Lancashire and is due to start a MSc in Global health and development later in the year.
For more information about the carefully formulated Arm & Hammer™ toothpaste range, please visit https://www.armandhammer.co.uk/ or email: ukenquiries@churchdwight.com
Arm & Hammer 100% Natural Baking Soda Toothpaste range can now be purchased from Boots, Superdrug and Amazon, with further stockists following.
[i] Global report on consumer insights. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.tetrapak.com/content/dam/tetrapak/publicweb/gb/en/sustainability/documents/Tetra-Pak-Consumer-Environmental-Trends.pdf. [Accessed: 21 Sep. 2021].
[ii] The Vegan Society. (2019). Find out how many vegans there are in Great Britain. [online] Available at: https://www.vegansociety.com/whats-new/news/find-out-how-many-vegans-there-are-great-britain. [Accessed: 21 Sep. 2021].
[iii] Carmichael, R. (2019). Behaviour change, public engagement and Net Zero (Imperial College London). [online] Committee on Climate Change. Available at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/behaviour-change-public-engagement-and-net-zero-imperial-college-london/. [Accessed: 21 Sep. 2021].
[iv] Baulch, S. (2013). The shocking impacts of plastic pollution in our oceans – EIA. [online] eia-international.org. Available at: https://eia-international.org/blog/the-shocking-impacts-of-plastic-pollution-in-our-oceans/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoeyDstKP8wIVi9_tCh1b7AcnEAAYBCAAEgIVovD_BwE [Accessed 21 Sep. 2021].
[v] Hunter, A. (2017). 9 ways to reduce your plastic use. [online] Greenpeace UK. Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/9-ways-reduce-plastic-use/?source=GA&subsource=GOFRNAOAGA014L&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoeyDstKP8wIVi9_tCh1b7AcnEAAYAiAAEgLmvvD_BwE[Accessed 21 Sep. 2021].
[vi] GOV.UK. (2016). Carrier bags: why there’s a charge. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-why-were-introducing-the-charge/carrier-bags-why-theres-a-5p-charge [Accessed 21 Sep. 2021].
[vii] 300 million toothpaste tubes go to landfill. (2021). British Dental Journal, [online] 230(7), pp.390–390. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-021-2926-y. [Accessed 21 Sep. 2021].
