Cleaning up on toothbrush waste; In association with Environment Agency.

JUST how much waste does one new toothbrush create?

There's the plastic bubble, a cardboard back and, of course, the old toothbrush you're about to throw out.

If everyone followed the advice to change their toothbrush every three months, the country's landfill sites would be awash in fall-out from our dental hygiene routines.

In years to come all those plastic sticks that refuse to rot will be testament to our obsession with teeth.

But Premier waste management company, which collects thousands of old toothbrushes every year from household bins in Darlington and is keen to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill, argues the case for greater use of non-electric toothbrushes with replaceable heads.

Models such as the hyG Ionic Toothbrush, available at www.nigelsecostore.com/, follow the same principle as a electric tooth brush in replacing the brush head and about three centimetres of stick.

The Monte Bianco Toothbrush replaces just the very head of the brush and you can buy three heads for under three pounds from ecotopia.co.uk/index.jsp And lastly, there's the Terradent replaceable head brush in which you only replace the bristle section, clipping it into the head of the brush. Iit comes in an adult and colourful kids version. Go to www.eco-dent.com/terradent.htm