Recycline - truly obsessive, but kinda cool

The other day I went out to dinner with some Net Impact folks, and one of them showed up with a stack of toothbrushes for us. For some reason, he thought it was funny when I assumed he was a dentist.

Anyway, it turns out that he works for Recyline, purveyor of several obsessively-environmental products, including toothbrushes. The handle is made entirely of old yogurt containers. The paper in the packaging is 100% recycled (50% post-consumer). The plastic in the packaging is touted as a re-usable carrying case (with ventilation holes!). When you're done with the toothbrush, you can send it in a pre-paid envelope back to the company, where it eventually joins other used recycline toothbrushes to become a park bench. They've truly thought of everything.

Even though I'm making it sound pretty dorky, I'm actually quite taken with the idea. Recycline is wisely founded on the belief that recycling only works if there's a market for the materials we put in those blue bins. Every trash day, I wonder if the carefully-washed tubs and milk bottles really go anywhere other than a landfill. Recycline has given me a little more faith that it does.

The company doesn't have many products yet - just dental care, razors, and disposable (I mean recyclable!) tableware. But they expect to expand the product line soon.