What lessons are we teaching our children? Well, if yours is kitted out with one of Colgate’s battery-powered kids’ toothbrushes, designed to be used for three months before being discarded, you may well be teaching them good dental hygiene habits but a strong set of gnashers won’t count for much when the planet is caput.

So perhaps we should be questioning the companies that produce these disposable, yet non-recyclable products? Certainly the Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment is, according to a report published by The Times.

“This is an example of another product designer not thinking beyond the product and disregarding the aftercare of the product and the resources thrown away,” Mindy O’Brien, Coordinator for the organization told The Times newspaper.

“The batteries of our battery-powered toothbrushes are removable to make sure they are disposed of adequately,” a spokesperson for Colgate Palmolive told The Times.  

“We share your concern for the environment and are working hard to make all of our products and packaging more sustainable, while also delivering solutions that enhance oral health.”

That’s all well and good Colgate, but when even my five-year-old has chosen a bamboo brush over a branded My Little Pony extravaganza complete with flashing lights, and this very morning can be heard shouting at her dad ‘if you want to kill a pack of pelicans, keep using that plastic toothbrush, daddy’, you may want to move a little faster or risk losing customers for good.