By Jenni Davidson
Gatwick Airport has donated more than 20,000 used toothbrushes to a Brighton University building project.
The used toothbrushes will be used as building material in Brighton Waste House.
Brighton Waste House is an experimental project to build Britain’s first house made almost entirely of rubbish.
The toothbrushes – which are given out to business and first class passengers – will be inserted into the wall cavities as insulation.
Brighton Waste House is the work of architect and university lecturer, Duncan Baker-Brown.
It is supported by Kevin McCloud of Channel 4’s Grand Designs, who worked on a similar house in London for a TV programme in 2008.
The house is being built in the grounds of the University of Brighton’s Faculty of Arts campus on Grand Parade.
The toothbrushes were sourced by Cat Fletcher from Freegle, a charity that promotes keeping waste out of landfill.
Ms Fletcher is sourcing a variety of recycled materials for use in the waste house.
She said: “We discovered there are millions of toothbrushes collected and thrown away by airline passengers after just one use.
“This is a terrible waste and we are grateful to Gatwick for allowing us to recycle them.”
