The Global Toothbrush
Why is transportation such a big issue? The Global Toothbrush on Spiegel Online tracks the production of a toothbrush, with a specific (and harsh) focus on the consequences of globalization.
Personally, I was shocked to read that from their production to their final assembly, “the components have traveled a full 27,880 kilometers, two thirds of the Earth’s circumference.”
All that mileage for an electronic toothbrush, which one could argue isn’t even all that necessary: what’s wrong with a manually-powered toothbrush?
Granted, ordinary toothbrushes aren’t that great either (the used-up bristles are thrown out with a perfectly useable handle, which constitutes the majority of the material), but according to the article, each electronic toothbrush has 32 components, produced at 12 locations in five time zones by forty-five hundred employees in ten countries.
Wow.