What do I mean when I say I am going on a consumer “diet”? I have come to the realization that I have lived my entire life up until this point as a hyper-consumer. I grew up in a consumer-driven society and influences from every aspect of my life have marketed certain products to me, and convinced me to buy things. As a consumer, I am making a conscious decision to cut down on consumption, and cut out consumer products that I do not need.
Why would I want to do this? For three main reasons; to save money, to reduce my consumer footprint, and to work towards a more minimalist lifestyle.
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One month ago I took another step on my zero waste journey. I knew as I was getting down to the end of my tube of toothpaste, it was time to find a zero waste alternative for this plastic-packaged product. I searched many online shops and looked to other bloggers for advice on zero waste toothpaste products. However, I could not find an alternative that suited me and was within my price range. I do not believe choosing zero waste or sustainable products should mean bending over backwards financially to make it happen. That is why I opted to make my own homemade toothpaste with simple household ingredients.
I will admit, there are hundreds of homemade toothpaste recipes out there and the only real way to find the one that is right for you is by trial and error. The recipe that I have come up with that suits me best is as follows; What is so bad about plastic anyway? Well, to answer that question simply - everything. Since the beginning of the 20th Century we have been using plastic to package just about everything. It is versatile & it is durable. It has fueled our desire for convenience, but now it has taken over not only our landfills, but our lakes, rivers and oceans.
The word plastic originally meant “pliable & easily shaped” but has now come to define a high demand category of materials known as polymers. Polymers exist naturally in many plants. However, over the course of the 20th Century humans developed synthetic polymers. These synthetics are derived from petroleum oil and engineered in a lab. The manufacturing of synthetic polymers releases dangerous fossil fuels into the atmosphere. The ability to create these synthetics allowed for scientists and engineers to manipulate the length of the atom chains making up the material. Therefore, they could manage the strength, weight and elasticity of the material for different purposes, to meet consumer demand. |