Less waste, more money: Homemade toothpaste

I’m on a mission to help people transition from conventional hygiene products to the safe, natural homemade stuff. First off is toothpaste.

So why should you look into switching out your toothpaste?

Why not? It's just like whipping up a snack in the kitchen. And you have full control of what's in it!

The tube your toothpaste comes in is a nightmare to recycle, and we want less of the pesky plastic to litter our oceans and our landfills. Plastic is a major global problem, and we need to stop using it in order to get rid of it. Neither bioplastics nor biodegradable plastics degrade in natural environments and need to be treated in a special facility.

Conventional toothpaste can also contain problematic ingredients. Here are some of them:

Fluoride:
heavily discussed, I will not touch this - educate yourself and make up your own mind.

Mica:
Some toothpastes uses mica as an abrasive agent. It also makes your toothpaste look pretty and sparkly, but mica is a mined mineral that has a lot of humanitarian and environmental issues attached to it.

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS):
Strictly a foaming agent and is known to be an irritant on the skin. SLS and it’s slightly milder cousin Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) has both been found to contain dioxane which are carcinogenic for humans.

Triclosan:
Triclosan is an antibacterial agent in toothpaste and can combine with chloride in tap water and form chloroform. Chloroform is a possible human carcinogen. Triclosan has also been found to modify hormone regulation in animals and bacteria has been found to develop resistance to it, which in turn might assist them in becoming resistant to antibiotics.

This study claims that toothpaste in any form is not needed to remove plaque.

Important things to remember about your new toothpaste:

1: Coconut oil melts at 24 degrees celsius. If your toothpaste melts in the bathroom or in the summer, store it in a cooler location.
2: Spit the toothpaste out in the garbage bin OR rinse the sink with warm water.

Finished toothpaste

Recipe:
The base:
1:  3 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
2:  2 tbsp baking soda

Put ingredients in a jar a mix thoroughly. A warm spoon might help if your coconut oil is a bit too hard.

Flavour:
1 ts ground cloves
1 ts ground cinnamon
  OR
10-15 drops of peppermint essential oil
5 drops of eucalyptus essential oil

Put your desired flavourings into your toothpaste base and mix well.
Your toothpaste is now ready to use.
Apply to your toothbrush by using a stick or a spoon if you're not the only one that uses it.

And that's it! No worse than mixing up your favourite dip in the kitchen. :)

This toothpaste is dentist approved after 6 years of use.

If you think making your own toothpaste is too much hassle, then purchasing a licorice root will do the trick too. Just chew on the end until it fringes up and rub it on your teeth until they feel clean. Do not use the licorice root if you have high blood pressure.

Thanks! :)