At first glance, their fashionable, monochromatic bright colours and clear packaging might have you mistake them for a designy upgrade on their regular plastic shelf-mates: but the biobrush is 94 percent biodegradable! All the materials used are by-products of the wood-industry, created when residual sawdust is burned. The packaging is a thin foil made from cellulose which is garden-compostable and will break down in 42 days, while the bioplastic handle has a Lignin base and takes five years to biodegrade, com p ared to the 400+ required for normal plastic. The bristles are made from 100 percent renewable material. Founder Nannett Wiedemann is a late-forties Halle native who cut her teeth as a mechanic constructing Russian sleeper-trains in the GDR, before moving to Berlin in 1989 to train at Weißensee Art Academy, where she developed a “holistic” approach to design. She launched the biobrush in February 2017, after a particular trip to the dentist made her realise how wasteful the dental industry was. Today, a flagship of the sustainable ethos championed by the art and business hub Lobe Block in Wedding, Wiedemann’s brushes (€2.99) have received the German Design Award 2018 and are sold in about 15 countries from Switzerland to Costa Rica, including the new children’s range launched last summer (€2.69). But Wiedemann admits that it has taken a while to pick up steam in Berlin – perhaps due to the German preference for a minimal, earthy brand of sustainability (organic usually means bamboo-made or drudgy brown). As for the cleaning experience? The colourful, thick and supple bristles (available in medium and soft) make for both stylish and pleasant brush i ng – very easy to get your teeth into!
Biobrush is available online from biobrush-berlin.com and at Denn’s and LPG supermarkets.
