What is big little brush?

Big little brush is a social enterprise that takes really little things, like toothbrushes, and uses them to do great big important things like helping children and adults in developing communities to have better lives, writes big little brush co-founder Joel Hanna.

The idea that grew into big little brush started a few years ago when I had an issue with a dodgy wisdom tooth. It was amazing how quickly that small, barely noticeable pain developed into the full-blown agony of a toothache, and eventually I knew it was time to go to my dentist for an extraction. Yep, it was pretty average.

The problem:

Despite this, I consider myself incredibly lucky. I live in a metropolitan area of a developed nation, which means I have access to high quality, affordable dental care. The outcome of my story might have been very different if I lived in a developing country, or even in a remote community here in Australia. I might have developed Sepsis or Noma, and without treatment it’s not uncommon for these diseases to be fatal. If you’ve ever had a toothache, you know, like I do, the pain can be overwhelming and practically debilitating. Accessing dental care in developing communities is incredibly difficult and very costly, which unfortunately means, it’s often not even considered as an option.

The idea:

We all already buy toothbrushes, that pretty much always end up in landfill. Instead of funding the big businesses who mostly own the market now, maybe we can help our fellow humans and, at the same time get a beautiful toothbrush. How much do you really love your plastic toothbrush from the supermarket anyway? So, big little brush is our way of helping.

At big little brush we sell beautiful, sustainable bamboo toothbrushes, and our profits help fund health and hygiene education and projects in developing communities here in Australia. We reckon that with a little bit of education and some resources, remote communities can hopefully prevent dental issues before they ever occur.

As well as working to help people, we also promise to make sure that all our products are as sustainable as they can be, and that’s why we chose bamboo.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve built a small but passionate team of people who love bringing big little brush to the world. It’s super easy to get on board with this sustainable and socially conscious way of brushing too. You can get a four pack of brushes delivered to your door, which should last you a whole year.

Little brushes doing big things!