Remember way back when I ran out of toothpaste and started making my own? I have to tell you the past 9 or so months of baking soda brushing have left me more than a little wistful for that minty fresh taste. Plus, the homemade version leaves your teeth with that “just polished feeling” but doesn’t do your breath any favors. So when our project officially ended, we sprang for a tube of the prepackaged stuff.
We didn’t, however, go back to our plastic coated, chemical laden ways. Grant and I chose a natural toothpaste from an “ethical” company that comes in a metal tube. It doesn’t have the minty blast I had expected, but it does taste better than my home-brewed concoction.
I was also harboring some doubts about the plaque-fighting ability of what amounts to essentially baking soda and salt. So I went to the dentist, and I’m happy to report that my teeth (and my homemade toothpaste) got a thumbs up. My dentist (top of his class don’t you know) did say it had a lot to do with my great brushing technique and less to do with the paste itself. And he did add that for people under 19, putting fluoride to the toothpaste is a good idea.
Making our own was pretty economical, but we go through toothpaste so slowly that I don’t think you can use the cost as a justification. We use even less now because the – kind seems so ridiculously frothy after a year of abstinence that we are compelled to use just a teeny tiny dab.
And in all truth, I still like that polished feeling only baking soda can achieve. What I’m thinking now is that I’ll use the store-bought in the morning and the home-made version at night. How’s that for a happy medium?
The Clean Bin Project Blog 
Can you clean the toothpaste tube enough to recycle it?
My pet peeve with purchased toothpaste is the box that they come in! Why? Especially Tom’s, why can’t they do without.
Apparently, you can recycle the tube. With metal, I don’t think it’s as big of an issue to get it supper clean, since the smeltering process burns off residue. And, yes, I totally agree with the cardboard box thing. Why? Is it for ease of stacking or so deviants don’t squeeze them before purchasing?
In either case, now that we’re 1 month into the store bought toothpaste, it feeling like we’re going through it REALLY fast. We used two tiny bottles of peppermint and two of glycerine for a whole year, but now we’re using about 1/2 a tube a month or regular. That would be 6 tubes a year. It seams wasteful.
Tom’s is owned 85% by Colgate now. I wondered why the little pieces of paper with the quaint story of how Tom’s came to be and other little notes, stoped being included in the box. Doesn’t ring so true anymore.