Biodegradable flossers promote gum health and protect environment

In New York, a graduate student in design has invented a biodegradable, single-use dental flosser. 

Dubbed Carbyn and made from polyhydroxyalkanoates bioplastic and biochar, the flosser also absorbs atmospheric carbon—meaning it sequesters more carbon than it emits as it biodegrades. 

“Increasingly, our material choices have become moral choices,” inventor Jessica Smith tells Yanko Design. Carbyn can be composted at home, and the biochar makes the soil more fertile, she adds. 

The invention was among the 20 finalists for the 2020 James Dyson Award.