Why Plastic Dental Floss Is Just As CATASTROPHIC As The Plastic Straw

We all remember the movement to get rid of plastic straws that started in 2018. Since then, we have seen social media influencers with their metal straws in hand, and companies vowing to move away from the single-use straw.

Why? Out of every plastic item, why did society focus on the straw? 

In 2017, International Coastal Cleanup reported that straws were among one of the top ten items collected from coastlines all across the planet. Anti-plastic groups caught wind of this shocking data and determined single-use straws as an item humans could live without— and thus, started a movement! As we can see from our favourite eco-influencers to the recommended eco essentials, the reusable straws campaign blazed a mighty trail.

What’s the deal with floss? (Prepare to put your thinking caps on!)

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, only around 30% of the American population floss daily. And, Welch Dental Group discovered that each person uses around 122 yards of floss per year. We can deduce two key pieces from this data:

1. More people need to floss daily since brushing your teeth only reaches 65% of the plaque that builds up in our teeth.
2. If 30% of Americans are using floss, that is 12 billion yards of floss used per year just in America. One American football field is 100 yards, in other words, that is A LOT of floss.

How does floss come into the picture, and why is it just as deadly as the straw?

Nylon floss is created to be durable so it does not break—problem..IT DOES NOT BREAK. Because it is resistant to breaking, when it ends up in the oceans, marine life end up entangled in this plastic mess. The nylon plastics also contain toxic chemicals that leach out into our oceans, such as: 

1. Lead
2. Cadmium
3. PFASs
4. BPA (you know it’s bad when you don’t recognize half the ingredients!)

We are also putting these toxic chemicals into our mouths…yikes. And, around 30% of all plastics end up in our oceans every year. That is the same as pouring a garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every minute. (wow, that is a lot of trash!).

…hold up Durapik, didn’t you also just stated more people need to start flossing more?! 

We did! That is correct!

The safe eco-friendly alternative, Algae Floss. (Saving the ocean with the help of the ocean!)

The first of its kind, Durapik has created biodegradable floss using an eco-closed loop system. The floss is made from 3 natural ingredients:

1. Algae Fibers
2. Candelilla Wax
3. Peppermint Essential Oil (I bet you recognize all these ingredients, no nasty chemicals!)

The best part about the Durapik floss—it is house-compostable! Thus, the floss will not end up in landfills if disposed of properly.

Conclusion: Flossing is still great and we should all do it for our health, but make sure you use the biodegradable floss made from Algae to help save our oceans!d