Tuesday, June 19, 2012

DIY Toothpaste

At work we are in the throws of preparing for the Plastic Free July Challenge - can you go for one shopping trip, a week or a month without using single use disposable plastic? It was an idea a friend had and we ran with it last year and had about 40 households participate, this year we have over 100 already! It will probably go viral and end up like Earth Hour. That is our humble prediction. In preparation for Plastic Free July I am doing a little demo on how to make toothpaste and so had to do my homework...but I got a little help...

Quin was super enthusiastic about the idea. The recipe is simple (and there are other plastic free recipe's on the Earth Carers website):

1/3 cup bi carb
enough coconut oil to make a paste
pinch salt
peppermint essential oil or similar to taste

So we started out and mixed together the ingredients and it was all fun...
 

Now time to actually try it out. Initial excitement turned to...well...

... bitter disappointment. It looked like toothpaste, it smelled like toothpaste, it was almost the same consistency as toothpaste but the taste? I think his face says it all.  
 
Oh well. He will still take it for news at school next week and said that during July he will try half normal and half homemade toothpaste and I said that was a fine contribution to Plastic Free July in our household. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Amy,

    I make my toothpaste with equal parts:

    ground pink salt (you can use white, but pink is fun!)
    bi carb
    vegetable glycerine (what do you think of this product?)
    peppermint essential oil

    It lasts for ages! But can be a little salty..I kinda feel like a take a dip in the sea each time I brush my teeth! hehe

    x

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