This plastic-free oral care set is an all-in-one sustainable alternative for daily use or travel kits!

Posted on 23/09/2021 by Chi Thukral

Small parts of our routine tend to have a big environmental impact, for instance, floss is good for our teeth but it is terrible for the ocean and turns it into a plastic minefield. Toothbrush bristles as well as floss are made up of nylon which is not biodegradable but another thing that makes it dangerous is that it is designed to not tear causing serious harm to ocean life. When looking at these issues it is clear that we need to move away from single-use plastics and find a more eco-friendly, long-term solution like the Seventh Generation Beam – a customizable, subscription-based, plastic-free set that is designed to be the all-in-one sustainable oral care kit.

Did you know one billion plastic toothbrushes are thrown away every year in the United States, creating 50 million pounds of waste annually? The production of the nylon bristles on each toothbrush causes nitrous oxide to be produced and released into the atmosphere as a bi-product; nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Seventh Generation’s goal is to limit harmful chemicals and they use plant-based ingredients, scents made from real ingredients, and no synthetic fragrances/dyes in their products. It encourages the importance of wellness is in our personal care, household products, and generally in our everyday lifestyle. The concept demands we expand our understanding of what nourishes us without harming the planet through beautiful and innovative design.

The aim is to create 100% plastic-free packaging. The challenge is to rebrand a traditional product line and redesign the packaging system to be fully sustainable while utilizing no plastic or bioplastic. Biomaterials like tin, wood pulp, plant cellulose, food waste, grass, algae, and mushrooms are being considered. It will all be sustainably sourced, preferably materials that are at the end of their lives and can be composed into biomass to regenerate depleted farming soils.

The design and aesthetics are playful, warm, organic and unlike the language, one might typically associate with “eco-friendly products” which usually only sparks the idea of “bamboo”. Seventh Generation shows that innovation and changing the things we choose can be achieved with visuals just as much as the value added by the product itself.

The kit consists of toothpaste tablets, refillable floss, and a toothbrush. While this is a concept, the aim is to make these products plastic-free as well. Toothpaste tablets already exist and help reduce product and chemical waste while eco-friendly floss and toothbrushes are also gaining popularity as people become more aware of the consequences their actions have on the environment.

Designer: Beatrice Ma

iPod nano hits iFixit’s dissection slab, rated so-so on the repairability scale

Posted on 16/10/2012 by Steve Dent

Tearing down a device the size of an iPod nano is definitely not for the faint of heart (or shaky of hand), but none of that deters iFixit, who just tackled Apple's latest pint-sized player. We called it the best nano so far, but if the tiny iPod with newfound Nike+ functionality calls it quits, can you do something about it yourself, or will it need to be binned or go back to the repair depot? iFixit is torn on the device, saying that it's easy to take apart and replace the LCD or digitizer glass, but that the battery is glued solidly to the chassis, and other important parts like the Lightning connector are soldered together. That makes the replacement of those components nigh-on impossible, resulting in a repairability score of 5/10 for the device -- not that we'd be brave enough to crack it open ourselves.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Apple

iPod nano hits iFixit's dissection slab, rated so-so on the repairability scale originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPod nano review (2012)

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Tim Stevens

If you think Apple is getting a little predictable with its yearly device refreshes, you probably haven't been charting the progress of its iPod nano. While most products in the Apple line receive an update every 12 months or so, few have experienced the kind of annual reinvention of the nano. It's a rare example of the company drastically re-thinking a product with such regularity -- or of simply not really knowing what to make of it.

Depending on how you look at it, this new seventh-generation iPod nano is either the latest, most optimal design of the long-running series, or it's Apple's latest shot in the dark. Even the cynics will have to agree this is a pretty good shot, thinner than ever and packing more functionality than in the past -- including Bluetooth 4.0. It sure doesn't make much of a wristwatch, but is the latest littlest iPod worth the $149 price of admission to its 16GB capacity? Read on to find out.

Gallery: iPod nano review (2012)