Mysore/Mysuru: In the coming months, when the time arrives to replace your toothbrush, it’s likely that you haven’t given much thought on how to properly dispose of the old one. You may simply toss your old brush into the trash.

Mysuru, with an average population of 1.3 million, generates approximately 60 tonnes of toothbrush waste annually. Toothbrushes ending up in landfills can pose a significant environmental threat as the plastic in these brushes can pollute the environment.

Addressing this issue, an ‘Oral Care Recycling Station’ has been established in Mysuru, providing a place to deposit used toothbrushes for their transformation into eco-friendly footpath pavement blocks.

Mayor Shivakumar inaugurated this innovative facility recently at Smile Dental Care in Kuvempunagar. He was joined by Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji of Avadootha Datta Peetham, solid waste management expert B.S. Chidambar and Founder of Ideas Unlimited, Nagendra Setty.

This concept is the brainchild of Dr. Bharath Kumar Garla and Dr. Prathibha Garla. Their goal is to raise awareness among public and school children about plastic pollution. Instead of discarding used oral care products such as toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss holders in regular trash, people can now deposit them in Oral Care Recycling Station.

These collected items are sent to a recycling facility run in Mysuru by Jagruth Tech, where they are transformed into eco-friendly footpath pavement blocks. The programme has already achieved success in several schools, including Kautilya Vidyalaya, Nypunya School, Kuvernpu School and East-West School. In these schools, Oral Care Recycling Station is placed for a week, and students are educated about plastic pollution.

Through the Oracycle Oral Care Recycling Programme, individuals can actively contribute to reducing oral care waste and conserving valuable resources.

During the inauguration, Mayor Shivakumar commended the initiative’s aim to make Mysuru a city free of waste toothbrushes, while Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji expressed a desire to see 20 such units installed at the Datta Peetham Ashram in city.