Preserve is helping consumers be more green while caring for their pearly whites. The company, which has been making toothbrushes from recycled yogurt cups since 1997, recently partnered with design firm Continuum to further decrease the environmental impact of its toothbrush. The result is a packaging concept dubbed the mail-back pack, a lightweight (just 2 grams) BOPP/polyethylene laminated pouch that encases the brush. The pouch protects the product during shipment and features a sturdy hang tab to present it at retail. But it also doubles as a return envelope for the toothbrush. When it’s time for a new toothbrush, consumers slip the used one inside the pouch and mail it back to Preserve (the first 250,000 units sold feature pre-paid postage); the company then turns it into plastic lumber for picnic tables and boardwalks.

> The Bottom Line: Preserve launched the new mail-back pack toothbrush at Whole Foods in January and at Target on Earth Day, April 21. Within three weeks of the launch at Target, the package outsold Preserve’s previous packaging by 37 percent; that figure is now running at 45 percent. (Package design: Continuum, www.dcontinuum.com; mail-back pouch: Printpack, www.printpack.com)  BP