by Julia Gesink
The Product & Mission
Bite’s mission statement is “to end plastic waste, one smile at a time.” Bite is a sustainable oral care company that produces toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, and toothbrushes. The idea behind Bite is to rid our landfills of the billions of plastic tubes of toothpaste that are thrown away each year, so the founder Lindsay McCormick created little toothpaste bits that you chew, and they foam up like regular toothpaste. Bite’s website is also filled with information and statistics on pollution to help inform a potential consumer of the positive impact they could have by making a simple switch from plastic, to something more sustainable like Bite.
Packaging
Their products are free of any plastic whatsoever; their toothbrushes are made out of bamboo, and the toothpaste and mouthwash bits come in reusable glass containers. When you subscribe to Bite, your toothpaste bits will be shipped in a new glass container every four months, and your old glass containers are home compostable and biodegradable.
Ingredients
In addition to the major plastic waste problem, Bite also wanted to address how many oral care products have unknown ingredients, or just unnecessary chemicals. They decided that when they were making the toothpaste bits, they would be transparent about what a potential consumer might be using. They clearly list the ingredients on the website, and explain what the ingredient’s role plays in the bits. For example, Bits have sodium cocoyl glutamate, and they explain in simple terms that this is used to help the bits foam up, and it helps clean your teeth and strengthen enamel. Founder, Lindsay McCormick, makes it clear that they cut out all of the chemicals and artificial dyes and flavors, because “something that you do twice a day, every day, should be made with ingredients that are good for you.”
Shipping
Bite is sustainable even down to their shipping. When shipping your order they use compostable envelopes that are padded with post-consumer newspaper, and their boxes are fully recyclable from their cardboard to their paper tape. Bite also wanted to lessen their carbon footprint, so their products are shipped using existing postal routes, and they explain on their site about how this is the most sustainable way to purchase oral care products.
After reviewing Bite’s many sustainable efforts and seeing how much they stick to their “zero paste, zero waste” messaging, I do believe it is a sustainable brand.
Learn more about Bite here.