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Each year, over 12 million plastic pregnancy tests are thrown out in the UK alone. In a bid to reduce waste caused by single-use plastic items, one company has designed an at home test made entirely out of paper.
When listing personal care products that generate unnecessary plastic waste, items like toothbrushes, tampons, or flossing sticks might first come to mind.
Bamboo toothbrushes, MoonCups, and water picks have helped us reduce our reliance on these traditionally plastic items, but most wouldn’t consider the waste created by at-home pregnancy tests unless they’ve ever had to use one, two, or ten themselves.
For most people trying to have a baby, getting a positive result can take anywhere from six months to a year. Over that period, they’ll likely use and discard of several dozen of tests, with the majority ending up in landfills for hundreds of years.
Though most of us grew up believing that recycling is a solution, less than 10 percent of the 7 billion tons of plastic that humans have generated across the globe has ever been upcycled into new products.
That’s why Hoopsy, named after the Dutch word for ‘hope’, was created. It is the world’s first home pregnancy test made out of 99 percent paper.
