One of the last few things I’ve switched over is toothpaste. Because I’ve had inexpensive access I’ve just not been as concerned about it – though I still don’t like the artificial colors and flavors as well as the other unnecessary ingredients. If a child under 6 can’t safely use it, it shouldn’t be in the house.
Our current tube of toothpaste is not so bad as others I’ve seen.
Colgate Total Whitening Paste: water, hydrated silica, glycerin, sorbitol, PVM/MA copolymer, sodium lauryl sulfate, cellulose gum, flavor, sodium hydroxide, propylene glycol, carrageenan, sodium saccharin, titanium dioxide.
Without getting into a nasty debate about any particular ingredient above, I will say this: saccharin is less healthy than sugar but is equally unnecessary for brushing teeth, anything with the word propylene does not belong in our mouths and others are just downright unnecessary. I even have issues with hydrogen peroxide (again, if I have to keep it out of reach of my 5 year old…).
There are many variant recipes available for easy internet searching. A very basic one that follows all of my requirements above is so easy:
Toothpowder: baking soda and salt (3 parts soda to 1 part salt). Store in a small glass jar (we use jam jars for everything around here).
Brushing: Ideally 3 times a day, dip moistened toothpaste into and brush vigorously for 2 and a half minutes; follow with a flossing at least once a day.
Mouthwash: A thorough mouth-washing with warm salt-water takes care of the rest of the bacteria.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Frugal Living?
A friend asked me to write up some blurbs on simple, inexpensive, (almost) all-natural living. It’s a work-in-progress (along with everything else in life!), but following are a few tidbits.
When it comes to alternative solutions, I have a few requirements before I make a change:
Glorify God: Above all else, God must be part of every aspect of our lives. If Mary lived today, would she make this choice for her family?
Frugal: must be inexpensive – or at least less expensive than the current product – I’ll pay more for something that meets all my other requirements, but money is precious so it’s a tough decision (ie I used to use Seventh Generation spray cleaner; but the cost became prohibitive during a particular year in our lives, so it had to go – we switched to baking soda, vinegar, water and occasional dish-soap on everything)
Easy to locate all necessary ingredients/products: my time and energy is precious too
Easy to prepare: did I mention the preciousness of time?
Family participation: if the kids can’t use it or mix it up, then it just won’t work; I want the children to be able to help make things at home using natural materials so that they understand the connection between the things we utilize and their sources; also I need to not worry about locking things away from them for their safety
Safe for the environment: I’m not an environmentalist above all else – it’s just that God gave us stewardship over the earth and all its inhabitants and I want to take this responsibility seriously
Safe for our bodies: typical household cleansers make me physically ill – what are the long term affects?
If something fits all of this criteria, great! If not, I have to balance out whether it fulfills or enough or do we continue with our current practice or do we drop it altogether. Many times we have dropped the use of certain products completely rather than seek replacements, because nothing fulfilled enough of the above criteria.
And, for those who will ask: NO, I don’t do something just because everybody else is doing it – if it is something that becomes a huge stress, or requires more focus or time or energy than I am willing or wanting to give, or takes away time with God and family, or requires me to make sacrifices in other areas of life, it is just not worth “keeping up with the Jones’”. Not to mention that it is only in the last 100 years that many of our typical choices or products have become in vogue and we have already seen the dangerous results of some of those recent changes made without proper testing and slow implementation first.
Ensuing posts will focus on particular areas or products. Please share other ideas in comments, but for the sake of focus, please keep them simple and straightforward.
When it comes to alternative solutions, I have a few requirements before I make a change:
Glorify God: Above all else, God must be part of every aspect of our lives. If Mary lived today, would she make this choice for her family?
Frugal: must be inexpensive – or at least less expensive than the current product – I’ll pay more for something that meets all my other requirements, but money is precious so it’s a tough decision (ie I used to use Seventh Generation spray cleaner; but the cost became prohibitive during a particular year in our lives, so it had to go – we switched to baking soda, vinegar, water and occasional dish-soap on everything)
Easy to locate all necessary ingredients/products: my time and energy is precious too
Easy to prepare: did I mention the preciousness of time?
Family participation: if the kids can’t use it or mix it up, then it just won’t work; I want the children to be able to help make things at home using natural materials so that they understand the connection between the things we utilize and their sources; also I need to not worry about locking things away from them for their safety
Safe for the environment: I’m not an environmentalist above all else – it’s just that God gave us stewardship over the earth and all its inhabitants and I want to take this responsibility seriously
Safe for our bodies: typical household cleansers make me physically ill – what are the long term affects?
If something fits all of this criteria, great! If not, I have to balance out whether it fulfills or enough or do we continue with our current practice or do we drop it altogether. Many times we have dropped the use of certain products completely rather than seek replacements, because nothing fulfilled enough of the above criteria.
And, for those who will ask: NO, I don’t do something just because everybody else is doing it – if it is something that becomes a huge stress, or requires more focus or time or energy than I am willing or wanting to give, or takes away time with God and family, or requires me to make sacrifices in other areas of life, it is just not worth “keeping up with the Jones’”. Not to mention that it is only in the last 100 years that many of our typical choices or products have become in vogue and we have already seen the dangerous results of some of those recent changes made without proper testing and slow implementation first.
Ensuing posts will focus on particular areas or products. Please share other ideas in comments, but for the sake of focus, please keep them simple and straightforward.
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