DIY Natural Toothpaste & Tooth Powder

Today I ran out of toothpaste so I decided to make my own since it's less expensive, easier than walking to Whole Foods, and fun!

DIY Tooth Powder

Homemade Tooth Powder

This supersimple recipe was inspired by Toxic Beauty Blog's tutorial Say No to Toothpaste... Make Your Own.

• 4 T baking soda
• 1/2 T sea salt
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix everything together. Store in a jar.

To use: Wet your toothbrush. Pour a little powder into your palm. Scoop it up with your toothpaste bristles.

I love this powder! It left my teeth and gums feeling supervibrant and cleeeeean! I will definitely finish this entire jar and perhaps make more.

DIY Toothpaste

Homemade Toothpaste

 
I slightly adapted a coconut oil and baking soda based toothpaste recipe I discovered at Artistta blog.
 

• 5 T baking soda (scrubs and neutralizes funk)
• 3 T coconut oil (anti-bacterial and could protect you from gingivitis)
• 2 T hydrogen peroxide (disinfects, use less or none if you'd like a thicker paste)
• 1/2 T peppermint extract* (optional)
• 30 drops of SunnyDew (blend of Stevia leaf extract and chrysanthemum flower/ natural sweetener. use more or less, to taste.)
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil* (freshness and flavor! Use more or less or a different extract, to taste)

Mix everything together, tweaking the proportions of everything to suit your taste and consistency preferences. Store in a tight sealing jar in a dark cabinet or drawer to protect the potency of the peroxide. If you have a dark jar, even better.

To use: Scoop some out with a spoon and apply to your toothbrush (or you could dip your toothbrush directly into the jar, which I think is gross).

While it's good enough to use as is, this toothpaste recipe is still in it's tweaking stage as far as I'm concerned. I think I'll leave out the peroxide and peppermint extract next time, as the consistency is too runny for me. It's a little hard to keep this paste on the toothbrush.

Do you have a great natural toothpaste or tooth powder recipe? Do you trust homemade dental care products? Share your recipes and thoughts in the comments! 

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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Better Life Cleaning Products Review & Giveaway

Through the magic of Twitter I discovered Better Life, a company run by two dads who make natural cleaning products that boast "unmatched safety, unbeatable performance." I was superexcited about the product line because they are truly green: "GMO free, cruelty free, made in the USA, fragrance free, sulfate free and petroleum free." Good stuff! I also admire their fun, light spirit. Anyone who puts an image of someone reading on a toilet on their packaging knows the way to my heart!

So yeah, I kinda developed a crush on Better Life and asked if they'd send me some products for review. They did. Yippee!

Even the Kitchen Sink, what-EVER, & I Can See Clearly, Wow!

I Can See Clearly, WOW! (natural glass cleaner)
No one is allowed to touch the three mirrors in my house without feeling my wrath and I clean them weekly, so I can't say that they posed much of a challenge. Still, I was pleased with this product. Paired with newspaper, it dried fast and didn't leave any streaks. Good enough.

Even the Kitchen Sink (natural cleansing scrubber)
I'm not much of a soft scrub gal, I prefer powder cleansers, but I was curious about this product. Post-breakfast and lunch, my stainless steel kitchen sink was durty (yes, that's dirty with a "u" for extra nastiness) and this got it clean. It also rinsed fairly quickly and easily without leaving residue. I'll say this product lives up to its name.

Durty sink

Clean sink!

What most impressed me about Even the Kitchen Sink was its performance cleaning my grungy toilet bowl that has been stained since we moved into this old house. ETKS is viscous enough to shoot out of the bottle and into that treacherous area under the toilet bowl rim. Basically, I used it like a regular toilet cleaner and managed to get a good coating of the stuff on the stained area and have some slide down into the bowl. After I cleaned my entire bathroom, I brushed the heck out of the toilet and the stains were significantly reduced. I am keeping this stuff near my toilet from now on!  (I'm not including pictures of my toilet because that's just wrong. Sorry!)

what-EVER! (natural all purpose cleaner in Clary Sage & Citrus)

I love what-EVER!

This product is the money shot! For me, having a good all-purpose cleaner is key and what-EVER is amazing!

Stovetop before

Stovetop after, with barely any rubbing

Garbage cabinet floor before. Ugh!

Garbage cabinet floor after little effort. Ah!

Toaster with fingerprints.

Stainless steel toaster getting it's shine on!

• what-EVER doesn't leave any reside. None! My tile countertops, my appliances (stainless steel and plastic), my stovetop-- everything is shining!!!!! 
• what-EVER cleaned my grody stovetop which was covered with oil, tomato sauce, and oatmeal that boiled over.
• what-EVER cleaned the stainless steel kettle that was on said stovetop and pretty much covered with the same things except more of it. (I only clean the poor thing about once a week and it's always on my stovetop.)
• what-EVER cleaned under my sink where I store my garbage bin so it cleaned up all the stuff that's missed the garbage since I last cleaned under there (whenever that was).
• what-EVER was wonderful in the bathroom too!
• what-EVER smells great gently and naturally thanks to plant essential oils, instead of knocking you over the head with faux fragrance. It's also available scent-free.

I basically spent most of my afternoon cleaning because it was so fun and easy to use. Also because I was looking for something dirty enough to stump it. I never found anything. It truly surpassed my expectations. what-EVER is the best all-purpose cleaner I've ever used, store-bought or homemade, hands-down!

In summary, all three of the products were easy to use and cleaned the surfaces they promised to clean without any bad stuff or much elbow-grease. The bottles were easy to handle. I was also impressed that the products arrived with minimal packaging. Just product bottles, two spray nozzles, and two balled up wads of paper to keep things from shifting around. Very eco-friendly! I totally plan buy a few bottles of what-EVER and try Simply Floored natural floor cleaner too. I'll let you know what I think of it! (Update: Simply Floored is awesome and super convenient to just squirt and wipe with a damp microfiber mop.)

So you want some too, right? Okay! Better Life wants to send the same products I tried to one of my readers. Woo hoo! Feeling lucky? Enter the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Connect with Better Life: Website // Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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Is Your Man a Mess in the Kitchen?

I just stumbled upon a blog post titled "A Man in the Kitchen Equals a Mess". My knee-jerk reaction, was "Heck yeah! Tell it, sister!" followed by my PC reaction, "That's a sexist generalization."

Sometimes you wanna strangle the cook instead. (Image via Food Channel Shop)

Truth is, I've only lived with one man in my adult life, and yeah, he's a mess in the kitchen. A loveable, well-meaning mess.

I learned my lesson a few years ago when I asked him to make me dinner for my birthday. He prepared a delicious, elaborate meal and an even more elaborate mess! Every dish and pot in the apartment was dirty. Food and packaging was everywhere. I refused to clean on my birthday, so I left the mess for the next morning. I didn't sleep well because it drives me crazy to go to bed with a dirty kitchen. I then spent the next day cleaning for almost two hours. (We didn't have a dishwasher then.) Argh!

Is your man a mess in the kitchen too? If so, here's my advice to make life a little less stressful:

• Let your guy cook for you, but make sure it's something simple and easy to clean up. Salads, sandwiches, and re-heating things are good for that.
• Offer to cook with him so that you can keep things under control. Put stuff back in the fridge. Throw stuff in compost bin or trash. Mix up things that might splatter.  He'll think you're being supersweet and a great assistant-- which you are-- but you're also secretly doing damage control.
• Ask him to clean up after himself. He will totally half-ass it, but that's less the work for you to do later. 
• Keep tools and products he likes to clean up with in an extremely visible and easily accessible spot in the kitchen. 
• Ask to eat out on your birthday, anniversary, and other special occasions.
• Remember that you love him.

Before anyone gets angry at me, I wanna clarify that I understand gender has nothing to do with how tidy or messy a person is. When working as a residential cleaner, I cleaned two insanely dirty apartments and both were occupied by one person-- one by a guy, the other by a gal. So I can't say one gender is messier than the other. Still, I have noticed that cleaning responsibilities tend to fall upon women when they're coupled with men. #realtalk

If you're the messy one in the relationship, theKitchn has 3 practical tips for cooking without making a mess.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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Green Alternatives to Plastic Food Storage Containers

Plastic food storage containers pose serious health risks and pollute the environment. (Read yesterday's blog post for more details.) Good news is we have plenty of healthy, eco-friendly alternatives that will keep our leftovers fresh and protect our lunch from getting smashed. Here are a few:

Pyrex Glass Containers

This Pyrex 10-piece set is on sale now for just $15!

Pyrex makes a variety of food storage containers. Besides being healthier, these glass containers are easier to keep clean (you can put them anywhere in the dishwasher), they don't absorb food smells or colors, and they can go from the oven to the fridge to the microwave to the dishwasher. Easy!

Pyrex Premium Glass Lids is the only storage product with an airtight and leak-proof glass lid! Their website boasts "a contemporary and sleek lid design that is 100% oven safe, and offers increased durability and greater food visibility than plastic lids." The one downside is they are a bit pricier: You can buy a set of three 2-cup containers on Amazon for $25.

We just purchased a set of nine assorted Pyrex containers with supertight leak-proof plastic lids that are BPA-free. They were only $32 on Amazon. You can't put the lids in the oven, but that wasn't priority for me.


Mason Jars

Weck Jars (Image via Williams-Sonoma)

Though made for home canning, mason jars are great for storing liquid leftovers like soup and sauces. The wide mouth jars are good for chunkier leftovers. Sadly, the standard lids have BPA in their lining. Ugh! There are reusable BPA-free plastic lids though. Ahhh! Green Depot sells Weck canning jars with glass lids (and rubber rings). So does Williams-Sonoma. These are 100% plastic-free. Hooray!

Metal Containers

Klean Kanteen Canisters coming this Spring! (Image via Klean Kanteen.)

Since you can't see through them, metal containers aren't ideal for storing leftovers in your fridge (unless you're willing to commit to labeling each container with a post it or painters tape). But metal food storage containers are just as easy to keep clean and fresh as glass, while being lighter and more durable than glass, making them the perfect containers for school lunches, trips, hikes, and other times you wanna brown bag it.

Klean Kanteen just announced they'll release a line of leakproof, 100% stainless steel food canisters this Spring. I love, love, love their water and coffee bottles, so I can't wait to try these new products! Extra excited that the line will include vacuum insulated canisters too! They were chosen by National Geographic to be part of the Gear of the Year 2012. Making them even more badass is the fact that they are designed to make shopping for bulk foods supereasy. They have space on the lids for you to label them with the bulk ID number using a grease pencil or marker. I'm guessing they've got the container weight printed on them too. Hooray for not having to take plastic bulk bags or remember to wash resusable ones! Klean Kanteen canisters are dishwasher safe! Woo Hoo!

Lunch Bots Trio Stainless Steel Container. (Image via Lunchbots.)

Lots of other companies already make stainless steel food containers. EcoLunchbox makes 100% stainless steel bento style boxes in several sizes. Lunchbots makes a variety of stainless steel containers, including several with different compartments and insulation.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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Please Don't Eat the Plastic!

Are you putting your healthy food in unhealthy containers? (Image via Align Life)

You've probably heard that plastic food and drink containers might not be that safe, but do you know which containers and why? Some common plastics are known to release harmful chemicals into our air, foods, and drinks.

BPA (bisphenol-A) is a chemical that's been getting a lot of media attention over the last few years. It is found in PC (Polycarbonate) plastic #7 which was used for baby bottles until the FDA banned it last July. It's still found in other food packaging, including metal can linings and clear, hard plastic containers (like 5 gallon water jugs) and eating utensils.

Phthalates are found in PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastic #1 which is commonly used for soda, water, and cooking oil bottles. You're probably okay using soda and water bottles once, but repeated handling, exposure to sunlight, and other heat exposure (like hot water washing or being left in a hot car) breaks down the plastic and encouraged the release of chemicals. As for the safety cooking oil, plastic is a made of oil (petroleum) and oil absorbs oil, so there is probably plasticy chemical goodness in any oil that came out of a plastic container.

PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride, aka Vinyl) plastic #3, which is commonly used for condiment bottles, cling wrap, as well as teething rings and toys (*ftw?!!!!*), can leach phthalates too. PVC also leaches lead and off-gases toxic chemicals. Bonus!

BPA and phthalates are both potent hormone disruptors that are increasingly linked to health effects like brain and behavior changes, cancer, and reproductive system damages.

PS (Polystyrene, aka Styrofoam) plastic #6 is commonly used for meat trays, as well as hot food and drink containers. It can leach carcinogenic styrene and estrogenic alkylphenols. Yummers!

Our plastic in a dead seagulls belly.

All plastics are forever, like diamonds, except in a much more despicable way. So even the safer ones like #2, #4, and #5 are piling up in landfills and mucking up our oceans. Wildlife, who now have a hard time distinguishing between plastic and food, are eating it. This is obviously unnatural and unhealthy for them and for any carnivorous creatures who end up feasting on them.

Learn more about the connection between plastic and health:
Healthy Child, Healthy World: Be Wise with Plastics
Environmental Working Group: Pick Plastics Carefully
PlasticAlbatross.org

Sorry this post is such a downer! Of course, I would never just leave you guys with bad news without also offering steps you can take to help improve things. I'll be sharing alternatives to plastic food containers tomorrow and will continue to offer tips for reducing plastic use at home on this blog, so please stay tuned! In the meantime, please visit My Plastic-free Life, which is super encouraging and has lots of resources.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree

"What are we going to do about this tree?" is a question uttered around the world on January 2nd. I love my Christmas tree, but I guess keeping it up until Valentine's Day wouldn't be Kosher. (Not that Christmas trees are at all Kosher. LOL!) Here's how to dispose of a Christmas tree the clean and green way:

First, see if your city has a Christmas tree recycling program. To find out, just Google "Christmas tree recycling [Your City]". It's that easy! You can use this info to strategically plan the day you curb your tree.

Providence has free curbside pickup of Christmas trees (and holiday trees too) from Monday, January 7 until Friday, January 18, 2013. The trees will be collected by Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation and turned into compost. They ask that residents do not put trees in any type of bag.

The NYC Department of Sanitation will be conducting special curbside collections for mulching and recycling of Christmas trees Wednesday, January 2 through Saturday, January 12, 2013. Trees will be chipped into mulch that will be distributed to parks, playing fields, and community gardens throughout the city. Please, no bagged trees here either.

New Yorkers can also participate in NYC Parks & Recreation Mulchfest by bringing their holiday trees to designated sites throughout the five boroughs on Saturday or Sunday, January 12 & 13, 2013, from 10 am to 2 pm. Free mulch will be available at Mulchfest locations so BYOB!

Then, get it out of your house without making a mess...

My favorite ornament. I love squirrels!

1. Remove all lights, ornaments, and tinsel from your tree and save them for next year. I just throw my small collection of sturdy ornaments in a plastic storage bin, but Better Homes & Gardens has an impressive "Ultimate Guide to Storing Holiday Decorations." If you break any glass ornaments in the process Clean My Space has tips for cleaning them up.
2. Remove your tree from the base. Be careful not to spill any water.
3. Wrap an old sheet around your Christmas tree before hauling it through your apartment and out to the curb. Once the tree is outside, shake the sheet out so that you don't bring in any pine needles. You can wash the sheet as you normally would later.
4. Fallen needles can clog your vacuum, so be sure to use a hand broom and dustpan to collect the bulk of the mess. You can touch things up with the hose attachment after you've done this.
5. If tree sap gets on anything, it's easy to clean. Wash hard surfaces with warm water and a little dish detergent or Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds. You can remove sap from fabric by spot cleaning it with rubbing alcohol. Blot the sappy spot with an alcohol-moistened cloth, then blot up the dried sap with a new cloth or a clean, dry section of the same cloth.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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Learn to Clean Green in 2013!

Is cleaning green your New Year's resolution? I hope that Olivia Cleans Green can help!

Image via MoreKitties.com

Check out these posts for a quick start:

• Build Your Own Natural Cleaning Kit
• How to Clean with Essential Oils
• 4 Easy Green Cleaning Supermarket Swaps
• 5 Reusable Alternatives to Swiffer Dusters
• 3 Green Alternatives to Swiffer Sweeper and Wet Jet
• 7 Healthy Bathroom Air Fresheners
• What's Wrong with Chlorine Bleach
• How to Clean Up Pet Stains Naturally

I've written many other posts on how to clean different objects and areas of your home. You can find most of them under the label "cleaning how-to" or you can just type a keyword into the "search this blog" widget on the right sidebar.

Using non-toxic cleaning products and practices in your home can help you become healthier, save money, and make your home safer for your kids and pets. If any of these things are on your list of goals for 2013, consider green cleaning another step in the right direction.

Have a happy, healthy year! Please keep in touch with all your green cleaning and homekeeping questions either in the comments here, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Thanks so much for reading this blog entry! I hope it was helpful. Please like Olivia Cleans Green on Facebook, join my email list, subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Twitter, and subscribe to my blog posts (by RSS or email) to keep in touch and discover more creative green homemaking tips.