Plastic Free Pearly Whites

As part of Plastic Free July, on Instagram throughout the month I’ve been sharing a few things that help to minimise my daily reliance on plastic.

When it comes to looking after the pearly whites, a bamboo toothbrush has been a solid part of my dental care routine for a good few years now. They’re so handy for me to repurpose in the workshop too.

Finding the right toothpaste fit was bit more of a journey. I really like the Georganics English Peppermint Toothpaste. In attempt to further minimise waste I did have a little a stab at making my own toothpaste. Long story short, it was not for me. I found the required amount of baking soda made it too salty and I couldn’t stick it out. This led me to have a little dabble with toothpaste tablets which I’ve been using for a fair few months now. You pop one in, give it a good chew (which took me a while to get used to), and then brush as normal as it turns to a paste. They create so little waste/mess and I love that you can buy them in bulk and keep in your own container.

I’d also been thinking about making my own mouthwash when the perfectly timed Rachel of The Foraged Life popped up in my Instagram stories with a little DIY recipe (thank you, Rachel!). It’s a really good base that I’ve tweaked just a little along the way to suit my taste etc. It’s so simple I thought I’d share with you what’s now part of my routine in case you want to give it a try. You can also find Rachel’s original recipe here (amongst lots of other helpful info for eco-friendly living).

DIY Mouthwash

Ingredients:

• peppermint essential oil - the essential oils I use for everything (including cleaning etc.) are from Sacred Soul Holistics - they are organic and the packaging is dreamy

• tea tree essential oil

• baking soda - if you don’t have a local bulk store, Zero Waste Club (UK) supply this online, plastic free

• filtered water (I don’t have a water filter so before using, I boil some water and let it cool)

• a glass bottle - my spherical bottle is from a local supplier, Wares of Knutsford

• funnel (this is optional but makes life a little easier, no need to buy one though - I made this from a piece of scrap paper and some washi tape)

Method (to make approx 400ml)

Step i)

Prep your water & pour into your glass bottle with a little room to spare

Step ii)

Add a few teaspoons of baking soda using the funnel. I have found that too much of this can make the solution taste salty so I’d suggest going slowly with this and see what works for you

Step iii)

Add peppermint oil to taste (the more the merrier for me - I add around 20-25 drops)

Step iv)

Add tea tree oil. Not a huge fan of the taste but it’s worth sneaking in for its antibacterial properties (around 10 drops)

Step v)

Shakey shakey

I hope that you have found this little post of use or at least of mild interest! I feel like I’m mostly there with my plastic free dental care routine but I’m still on the lookout for some biodegradable, vegan floss.

Let me know if you give the recipe or any of the products a go. If you have any other recommendations I’d love to hear them.

Lauren

☾

Essence + Alchemy: A Brand Refresh

Incense | all imagery by E+A

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of interviewing Founder of Essence + Alchemy (E+A), Lesley A Bramwell. During the interview, Lesley announced that the brand would soon be undergoing a refresh:

“I wanted the glass to be reusable and offer my customers physical candle refills which fit perfectly inside the glass.


The reuse of the glass is something that I’m trying to encourage even more of and I am currently working on a brand refresh with a new glass design to make it even more versatile for reuse.”

— Lesley, E+A | Letters of Ara, April 2019

A few months down the line, driven by Lesley’s continued commitment to a circular economy, E+A have re-released some of their existing products and introduced some new additions, with even more focus on designing with re-use in mind. The new line stays true to E+A’s signature aesthetic and materials (the wood wick, rapeseed oil wax, carefully blended essential oils & handblown glass) but with a new glass design intended to be even more versatile for re-use.

The new E+A beaker candle

Handblown in the UK, the new E+A glass containers are labelled with FSC certified, environmentally-friendly ECF pulp paper. Fundamentally, these beakers are designed to last, whilst being versatile for reuse.

“Ancient alchemists were surrounded by glass apparatus in the creation of mystical elixirs.

Taking inspiration from the traditional laboratory beaker, this collection of scented candles are hand poured into reusable British made handblown borosilicate glass vessels.

Wood wicks are handmade in the Essence + Alchemy garden laboratory with natural and untreated FSC wood.  ”

— E+A

Refill beaker candle, E+A

E+A offer refills singularly or as part of a subscription. Along with the rest of the line, they are packaged plastic-free, using recycled materials that are 100% recyclable and biodegradable.

“Essence + Alchemy is part of the circular economy movement — an alternative model to the ‘take, make, use, dispose’ approach to production and consumerism by designing products that can be ‘made to be made again’.

The Refills ⟲ line was launched in 2017 to offer a refreshing way of refilling containers without having to ship anything back.

Simple, no frills, refillable luxury.”

— E+A

New E+A votives, with tea-light refills

Lesley’s brand refresh has enabled her to further minimise waste throughout the lifespan of her products, providing a refreshing alternative to the excess waste often associated with consumables such as candles. The responsibly sourced borosilicate glass can be reused long after the candle has burned away. These are beautifully considered candles that have been designed with the planet in mind.

Lauren

☾

The warm glow of a lit E+A votive candle

Low Waste Washing Up

Our low waste dish washing set up

As part of Plastic Free July last year, one of the things I shared was our low waste dish washing set up and this little collection of tools that my partner and I gradually built up over the years. When taking steps to live more consciously, whilst it can be tempting to replace existing plastic items with more sustainable ones, I’m very much an advocate of first using up what we have. When the time does come to replace any items, we can be sure that we have gotten the most out of them and can feel good about our choice to replace them with something less environmentally impactful.

Whilst these tools all have their uses, the one I reach for most is the coconut scrubbing brush (top left). It’s the perfect size for cups and mugs but it makes cleaning bowls super simple too. Replacement brush heads are available for the wooden handled brush on the right so when the heads reach the end of their life they can go straight into the compost. We also have a large bottle brush that’s great for our reusable water bottles and a less than appealing, old, slightly abrasive cloth that’s useful for the surfaces etc.

One of the more recent additions to our little collection, and the biggest step away from a daily reliance on plastic, was this block of olive soap from Savon de Marseille. As I have a skin contact allergy to fragrance, before I found this, I sourced fragrance free washing up liquid in a plastic bottle. So, to find this fragrance free bar of soap suitable for washing dishes made me very happy. When I posted about this in July 2018 it was still early days but, eight months on and this block of soap has very much become part of our daily habit. Given how well it’s lasted, I expect to get at least 3 more months out of it before we’ll need to replace it. When the time comes, we’ll be looking for another block of soap - we’re definitely converted. For anyone who can’t part with liquid soap, Elsa Lindholm has written a helpful blog post about making your own plastic free dish soap.

Being a natural avoider of dish washing responsibility (!) I do find that using these tactile tools that use natural materials such as wood and coconut fibre make tasks like doing the dishes a little less painful, and a little more mindful.

A few things I’ve learnt along the way:

• to help prolong the life of wooden brushes, it’s worth taking a little time to oil them before first use, and to let them air and dry out throughly after each use - we repurposed a cracked class tumbler to keep them in by the sink but something that would allow them to drain better would be more sensible!

• if you want to give the brushes a good clean, you can do so by soaking them in a little organic white vinegar

• keep the block of soap on a soap dish - we found that it quickly stuck quite firmly to our wooden soap dish (pictured), making it more solid and preventing it from sliding around

• to use the block of soap - rub your brush on it and swish it in the water or apply straight to the dishes. Or, to get the water really soapy for a good soak, hold the block under the tap and run the water over it straight into the basin

• watch out for block soap that has been made using palm oil - there are palm oil free versions available like this one

If you have any tips or recommendations for low waste washing up I’d love to hear them.

Happy dish washing!

Lauren

  ☾