2 FUTURISTS, 40 DAYS, NO TRASH.

Some of you may remember us from our 2006 Dumpster Diving initiative (ecologicaldesign.blogspot.com), in which we dedicated a couple of months to nourishing ourselves almost exclusively with "rescued edibles." Well, Jesse and Aaron are at it again, but this time we've shifted the focus. Instead of extracting the outputs, we've moved up the conveyor belt of waste to focus on minimizing the inputs. Waste, after all, is an entirely human concept...




Monday, February 18

It's a little salty......

...the toothpaste that is. One thing I love about this project is that it forces you to make things that you would otherwise buy, like toothpaste for example. Toothpaste usually comes in a non-recyclable tube (except for Tom's of Maine!) encased in a small cardboard box. In order to avoid this inevitable trash, we decided to make our own toothpaste. Here's our recipe:
  • 6 tablespoons baking soda
  • 1/3 tablespoon salt
  • glycerin - enough to transform the powder into the paste-like consistency we all know and love
  • peppermint oil - 15-20 drops, or more
The conclusion: Well, it looks like toothpaste, and it smells like toothpaste, but it tastes pretty darn salty. (Apparently the salt is critical for teeth-cleaning grit.) The glycerin and peppermint help a little, but it's still significantly different than store-bought toothpaste. A week after converting to the home remedy though and it's getting better. The salty, ocean fresh quality is still there but I'm getting used to it and trying instead to focus on the fresh and clean baking soda/peppermint combo.
Posted by at 3:10 PM

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