ABSTRACT
The increasing growth of human population together with the material consumption of most industrialised nations taking place at an unsustainable rate have been causing the degradation of the planet. The implementation of sustainable methodologies can contribute to the implementation of more ecological practices. Ecodesign is one of the approaches to designing products with special consideration for the environmental impacts of the product’s lifecycle. It is a growing responsibility and understanding of our ecological footprint on the environment. Therefore, it is vital to search for new products, for example those used in daily routines of body care, as tooth brushing, that are associated to water waste and energy consuming on new mechanical toothbrushes.
Additive manufacturing allows the production of complex products and also improves on prototyping process, being considered a sustainable manufacturing technology. In order to illustrate its potential for the development of sustainable products, a case study of a toothbrush will be presented.
