Lauren Singer, the mind behind the sustainable lifestyle site Trash is for Tossers, CEO of The Simply Co., and co-owner of Brooklyn’s Package Free Shop shares her recipe for waste-free toothpaste and body butter.
I began living a Zero Waste lifestyle five years ago, and since then my beauty routine has dramatically improved as a result of reducing my waste. Looking and feeling amazing while living waste-free does not have to come at the expense of your health, your wallet, or the environment thanks to a few incredible beauty DIYs and brands that are changing the sustainable beauty game, forever.
When I first started reducing my trash, the first product that I made myself was toothpaste. Why? Toothpaste comes in tubes that are not easy to recycle—plus they have ingredients that are a little sketchy, like sodium lauryl sulfite (SLS), which has been known to bring on cold sores, aggrevate gums, and be potentially carcinogenic.
Who knew that I had the skills and the ability to make an everyday product so easily!? This recipe takes all of 30 seconds to mix together, and keeps my mouth feeling clean and my breath feeling fresh all day long.
Zero Waste Toothpaste Recipe:
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
- 25-30 drops organic food grade peppermint essential oil
- A pinch of stevia to taste
Mix all three ingredients in a glass dish (I use a mason jar).
To use, scoop out a little bit with a spoon and put it onto your toothbrush. Add more or less peppermint or coconut oil depending on your textural preference.
I suggest using it for a few days. Give yourself some time to adjust, I had to. It’s pretty different, but that’s OK.
The second recipe that rocked my world was when I made body butter. This recipe yields a super hydrating lotion and the texture is next level as it resembles smearing yourself with cool whip.
Body butter recipe:
To make it, you melt together four simple, organic ingredients in equal ratios:
- ¼ cup of almond oil
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup shea butter
- ¼ cup cocoa butter
Melt over a double boiler. I prefer to melt the ingredients in a large glass bowl. Once melted, put the bowl in the fridge until it cools down to the point where it is opaque, but you can put your finger in it and it will keep the outline; about 30-45 minutes.
Once it has reached this point, you can take it out of the fridge. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the body butter until it resembles the consistency of a thick whipped cream and you can get it to form stiff peaks. At this point, you can add any essential oils that you’d like. I prefer mine sans smell as the cocoa butter naturally has a chocolatey smell, but to compliment that you can add a citrus oil like orange, or something calming like lavender. You are the chef!
From: ELLE USA
