Product Review: Compostable Dental Care from Oath Essentials

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It’s that time of year when many of us are floundering - or maybe completely foundering, depending on how it’s going - in our attempts to stay true to our New Year’s Resolutions. I didn’t make any specific goals this year, although I usually do make a few related to gardening and foraging. Did any of you readers make resolutions this year? If yours was to make more eco-friendly choices, allow me to offer you a little bit of inspiration. 

Oath Essentials approached me a while back to test out their low waste dental care products, and since I often do eco-friendly product reviews I thought sharing these with my readers would be a great fit. The fact that they are fellow Canadians, made me even happier to do the review. I feel that this is a good place to remind my readers that since I don’t want this blog to be overrun with sponsored content, I make a point of only reviewing products that I have personal experience with and only make recommendations that I really feel I can stand behind.

Oath Essentials takes pride in the transparency of their information, and they are right to do so. This is not just someone jumping on the eco-conscious trend and starting a company with vague platitudes about saving the Earth. Every product has detailed background information on sourcing and manufacturing. They also make a point of getting any certifications available to them, even going as far as sourcing FSC certified Kraft paper for the packaging materials. Detailed instructions on how to best dispose of each product are also given. A great example is the information on how to use pliers to remove the nylon bristles from the bamboo toothbrush handles. Many bamboo toothbrush suppliers seem to be intentionally vague about what to do when it’s time to switch out your toothbrush. Some just vaguely state “compostable” on the package, and ignore the fact that the bristles are still plastic. A few mention to “remove the bristles before composting”, and leave it at that. I think that Oath Essentials has the right idea in explaining in such detail. I would imagine that a lot of bamboo toothbrushes either end up in the compost with their bristles intact, or just thrown in the garbage if their owners are unsure of or too lazy to figure out how to dispose of them properly.

When my package of test products arrived in the mail I was so glad to find that the packaging was truly all paper. This has sadly not been the case with every “zero waste” product I’ve been sent to review. I received a multicolour pack of four toothbrushes, and a couple packs of the compostable silk dental floss. Oath Essentials also surprised me by throwing in a selection of their stainless steel straws, and while they aren’t officially part of this review I liked them so much I felt they deserved a mention as well. 

I like to get the negative points out of the way first in my reviews, but happily in this case there aren’t very many to report, and they aren’t very consequential issues. With the toothbrushes my only negative is more of a personal preference. I tend to prefer a slightly larger area of bristles in my toothbrushes. I don’t know if I brush too intensely, but I found that these show wear a little faster than I’m used to with toothbrushes that have a larger head. When it comes to the dental floss, my only area of concern was that I think the little tab that cuts the floss off for you on the lid could have a better angle. The motion for pulling out the floss and cutting it off was less fluid than I am used to with other dispensers. 

Like I said, very small details. No fundamental flaws here!

Now onto the good stuff. One thing I absolutely love is the option to sign up for a toothbrush subscription! My life is hectic, and I find shopping for recurring purchase like this eliminates a lot of stress, so that is something I would absolutely sign up for. The fact that you also get a discount by doing so is an added bonus. The price point on these is also much better than some of the others. The fact that I can order without worrying about an exchange rate really helps! I really like the shape and contour of the handle of the brushes, and that you can get a pack with multiple bristle colours (great for telling whose toothbrush is whose). While I personally found the bristle head a little on the small side, it’s perfect for little kid sizes mouths, and the soft bristles are perfect for family members of every age. The bristles are nylon, so they have to go in the garbage instead of the compost, but I appreciate that they are high quality bristles that are the same ones recommended by dentists, and that are used in conventional toothbrushes. Dental hygiene is important, and I am glad that Oath Essentials believes this too! One day I’m sure someone will invent bristles that do a great job of cleaning teeth, and are compostable. 

What the dental floss refills look like without the stainless steel canister.

The dental floss is also great, and something I am going to continue buying even after using up what I was sent for this review. A standout feature of this is that after you run out of the floss you can buy refills to use inside your stainless steel container. The floss is made from silk that is harvested in such a way that no worms were harmed. While this may be a problem for some vegans (I’m not sure what the verdict is on harvesting silk from abandoned cocoons, maybe some of my vegan readers can chime in on the comments and let me know how they might navigate this issue), it ensures that the floss is compostable. I often find myself running into this kind of issue with zero-waste products. Often to make a vegan version of something we are forced into using plastic, but then the resulting thing isn’t compostable. My preference is always to choose what will break down naturally, but I understand were vegans are coming from too. Sometimes there aren’t easy answers! The silk is spun into floss, and then is coated in a natural wax derived from plants, and the end result is very durable and stands up well to stubborn popcorn kernels and the like. I have to admit that I was more used to artificially minty floss than I realized, so the absence was a little weird to begin with, but I quickly got used to it. One side benefit of having unflavoured dental floss on hand is that now I have the perfect thing to cut my next batch of cinnamon rolls!

I did end up making cinnamon rolls after writing this review, and I was right - this is the just the tool for the job!

If you can’t already tell, I am happy to say I highly recommend Oath Essentials and their products, and I hope you’ve found my insights helpful. If you are looking for more details you’ll enjoy poking around their online shop where this is a wealth of information.

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This review was sponsored by Oath Essentials. I was paid for my time, as well as given free products to test. All opinions stated - positive or negative - are my own.

Product Review: Zero Waste Cartel’s Bamboo Toothbrushes

Hello again, lovely blog readers! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written anything on here, and I lay the blame squarely on these two beautiful distractions:

Quite a while back I was gifted some bamboo toothbrushes and a bamboo travel toothbrush case from Zero Waste Cartel, and now that it’s been a few months of my family and I using them I thought I’d better pop on here and let you know how we like them. Spoiler alert: with some caveats - we really liked them!

I’ve tried a few brands of bamboo toothbrushes before, and they’ve all had their positive qualities as well as their drawbacks, so let me get the negatives out of the way first.

The main issue I find common to zero waste and eco friendly products is cost, and these toothbrushes are unfortunately no exception. Although - as of writing this - this pack of 10 brushes I was gifted is currently on a 50% off sale, but the normal price is $41.00, and that doesn’t include shipping. I did see on their website that if your order is over $75 the shipping is free, but it wasn’t clear if that would apply to international orders or not. For me buying things from the USA comes with the added challenge of the exchange rate. If I were to buy these toothbrushes, they would cost me $54.16 before taxes and shipping (which would all also have the exchange rate applied to it). Some people might be able to afford to spend more than $5 per toothbrush, but that’s not my reality at the moment.

I do want to reiterate that this cost issue isn’t specific to Zero Waste Cartel, so don’t necessarily take this to be a negative point aimed specifically at them. Unfortunately, there are loads no of eco products that are out of my family’s reach financially. I hope that as plastic becomes less common, that some of these alternatives can come down in price so that everyone can afford to be good to the planet.

I do have to say that if the cost wasn’t an issue I would absolutely buy these toothbrushes, because I think they are great! I also had a look at the rest of the products on the website, and it certainly would be easy to spend enough to qualify for free shipping since so many of the products looked useful and well constructed. Zero Waste Cartel has been very thoughtful about their approach to packaging, and I love the little quips all over it like ‘open to save the planet’! They also donate to tree planting organizations with each purchase, and it lets you know that right on the front of the box. This is truly a product you can feel good about buying.

The only plastic involved here is the nylon bristles. When I asked if they were working on a completely biodegradable version, I was assured that they were hopeful one would be developed, but that in the meantime they are going with the bristle that is most recommended by dentists. I am happy with this answer because dental health is so important - I remember hearing that good dental hygiene could add four years to your life! I’m glad they are considering the quality of their product as well as wether or not it is eco-friendly. Sometimes health concerns trump whether or not you can compost something, in my opinion.

You can also make sure these bristles see their share of use because after you switch to a new one, you can still use that old toothbrush for cleaning! I always keep an old one in with the rest of my cleaning brushes. They are really great for cleaning jewelry and other delicate pieces too, since they are a soft nylon.

I also really like the travel toothbrush holder (also made of bamboo). Since receiving the brushes and writing this review I’ve actually had the chance to use it a lot and take it on a few trips. I was initially concerned about mould. I know there are claims that bamboo has anti-bacterial qualities and whatnot, but I still wasn’t convinced that putting a wet piece of wood in a dark, semi enclosed space was going to go well. I’m happy to say that I was completely wrong, and have had no issues at all with mould or anything funky like that.

These toothbrushes have worked well for all three members of my family who need them (Baby Forager still has no teeth). They are very durable - we’ve been using the same ones for a couple months now and are just starting to feel the need to switch to new ones. One super tiny drawback is that since we are all using the same package, we’ve had to use a sharpie and make little marks on them to tell who’s is who’s, but we’ve done this for every brand of bamboo toothbrush we’ve tried. I noticed that there are specific kids toothbrushes for sale by Zero Waste Cartel, and while that would be nice, these brushes are on the smaller side compared to some other brands we’ve tried (smaller both in handle size and bristle area), so we’ve found using them for a pre-school aged child hasn’t been a problem.

All said, I absolutely would recommend these toothbrushes. For my family we will continue to buy what we can afford, but when it fits in the budget we do try to buy bamboo toothbrushes instead of conventional plastic ones. Zero Waste Cartel is definitely a company I would consider ordering in the future for any eco friendly product needs.

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Zero Waste Cartel provided me with a set of 10 bamboo toothbrushes and a bamboo travel case free of charge in exchange for this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Rockwell Razor Review - Zero Waste Shaving?

I was contacted a while back by Rockwell Razors to see if I was interested in reviewing their safety razor shaving kit from a zero waste/eco-friendly perspective. I happily accepted their offer of a free shaving kit, and waited eagerly for it to arrive in the mail.

I’ve been seeing a few new, innovative ideas out there for shaving but they are mostly marketed heavily toward men. Rockwell is not an exception. I don’t really mind using a men’s razor since they do the exact same thing, but it does get annoying after a while when everything you order is labelled “quality men’s goods” or something to that effect. It’s completely Rockwell’s decision if they want to market their product to men only, but I feel they are closing themselves off to a huge market of people that do a lot of regular shaving. Nevertheless I was still more than happy to try their product since there was no reason a “man’s” razor wouldn’t do the same job as the lurid pink ones that are marked up significantly more in price in the store.

I was also really excited about the idea of zero-waste shaving. One handle that can last a lifetime if you take care of it, and a replaceable, recyclable blade seemed like an ideal solution. Short of using a straight razor, this does seem like one of the most ecologically responsible options out there. There are companies creating disposable razors with their own in-house recycling options, but if you are trying to avoid plastic consumption, that is still a problem. I also feel that people are probably just throwing away most of those too because they aren’t picked up by any city recycling program. I’ve found if it’s not convenient people usually don’t take the eco-friendly step.

Upon opening my package from Rockwell I was a little bit disappointed to see that the packing wasn’t entirely zero-waste. Most of it was made of paper, but there were a few things still wrapped in plastic. My city’s recycling depot does take most forms of plastic overwrap, but that’s still not technically zero-waste, so marketing it as such is a bit of a misnomer.

The other thing I’m still working out is whether I can actually recycle the blades. Rockwell markets them as recyclable (and certainly the stainless steel they are made of is), but figuring out how and where to recycle them is proving a bit trickier. Most cities will not accept these in their curb side pickup, or at their depots due to the extreme hazard the workers would be placed under dealing with sharps. I plan to contact a local scrap metal recycler to see if they will take them, but other than that I’m coming up short on ideas. I’ll keep using the blades and collecting them in the provided blade bank until it’s full and that will take a while, so I have a bit of time to work out how to deal with my used blades. This runs a bit counter to what Rockwell claims on their website about the blade bank:

“The Rockwell Blade Safe fits all double-edge razor blades and is completely recyclable - once it’s full, simply throw it in the recycling!”

— Rockwell Razors

UPDATE: I have since learned that the local scrap metal recycling facility will in fact accept used razor blades, so while it’s not as simple as just tossing the blade bank in the curb side recycling bin there is a fairly easy way to get it done.

The blades come wrapped in paper, and they go as-is into the blade bank which is also metal. From there I can either empty the used razors into another container to dispose of them and keep using it, or attempt to bring the bank, blades, and all to whatever recycling facility I can find. Even if I ultimately find they can’t be recycled, this does still seem like a better option than all those plastic cartridges going in the garbage.

I was a little nervous to actually use the razor, since I’ve always just gone with the conventional type from the drug store. This seemed a little bit intimidating at first, but really it was hardly different at all from using any other razor. The only thing I noticed is that I had to watch how I held the handle as I shaved because at first I didn’t notice I was actually turning the part that opens the razor holder, so that got looser as I shaved.

Once I got used to it I actually found I liked the process. It seemed easier and more portable to use the shaving soap and brush than shaving as normal in the shower. I found it was really easy to just shave using the sink, and some damp cloths to wipe off any excess soap. I think this probably used a lot less water, so that’s also a point in their favour for eco-friendliness.

All in all, there were some shortfalls I found with how the company marketed their product, but I do actually like the process of using the safety razor and will continue to use it instead of the conventional option.

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Rockwell provided me with their shaving kit free of charge in exchange for this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

DIY Magnetic Spice Rack

If you’ve been following along with this blog for a while, you’ll know we moved recently. Our new place has a lot more built in storage, but it is overall quite a bit smaller than our last place, so we’re having to be a bit creative with how we store things. The kitchen is especially challenging in that there is quite a bit of storage, but a lot of it is hard to access (think massive corner cupboards with no lazy Susans, and really small openings). This really made it difficult to figure out where to store all my small spice jars.

I had a few of the magnetic spice jars Ikea used to sell a while back, and my initial idea was to buy a whole bunch more, but it looks like they are out of stock. I know you can buy these elsewhere, but they aren’t that cheap, and usually come with a little magnetic stand to put on your counter which I don’t need since I’m planning on using a side of my fridge that is otherwise empty. They are also fairly expensive if you need as many of them as I will.

It occurred to me that I might be able to use some of my fairly extensive mason jar supply and make my own to go with the three large ones I already had. I had even purchased magnets for another project that was never realized that would work perfectly for this, so I’ve barely spent anything. Even if I do need to buy a few more jars my plan is to keep an eye out at thrift stores. If I need to buy some more mason jars, they will be the 125 ml size (1/4 pint for my American friends). That seems to work well in terms of weight for the magnets, and size to contain my spices.

Supplies you’ll need:

The picture above shows the supplies you’ll need. I do know there are better, stronger magnets available, but this is what I had around. With this type of ceramic magnet you’ll need two magnets per 125 ml jar.

1. 125 ml Mason Jars

2. Ceramic Magnets

3. Gorilla Glue

4. Chalk marker (to write the names of the spices on the jars)

To prepare the lids:

To keep things sturdy, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the back of your gorilla glue to attach the mason jar lid to the ring. After that glue the magnets to the top of the lid and leave to cure overnight. You don’t need a lot of glue, so go easy on it. You don’t want any overflowing onto your counters and that kind of thing so use a bit less than you think you’ll need.

Allow the glue to cure:

Leave the jars to cure for 24 hours, or for as long as the instructions on your glue say. I’ve been stacking them like the photo above with the empty jar on top to sort of keep a bit of pressure on things as they dry. It will probably suggest you clamp whatever you are glueing, but I don't have a clamp, and haven’t found it to be necessary with these so far.

Putting your jars into use:

To keep track of what is what use a chalk marker and write on the bottom of the jar what is inside. This is easily wiped off if you end up changing what you’re storing in each jar.

I think a major bonus of using this system, is that my local Bulk Barn allows us to bring our own refillable containers to their store instead of using those little plastic baggies to take ingredients home in. In this case I can just wash the container, and put the empty ones in a tote bag to take with me next time I need spices! When it comes to washing the jars, the dishwasher will be completely fine, but for the lids with their magnets I suggest lightly hand washing them. I’m not sure they’d hold up in the dishwasher.

Let me know if you give this a try! I’d love to see what you come up with in the comments!

Mending Toddler Jeans - Knee Patches

I have a kid who is really hard on his jeans. He’s super excited to see you? He slides to his knees. He’s super disappointed about something? Cue falling to his knees. The end result of all this “power sliding” is that the knees of his jeans wear out while everything else is looking almost brand new.

Now I know there is no way I’m the only one in this situation, so I wanted to talk about this fairly simple (and adorable) way of adding knee patches to super skinny toddler jeans.

“Repair is a radical act”

— Patagonia

I love the above quote from Patagonia. I know they are using it as a marketing slogan and using it to convince you to buy their clothes, but the sentiment behind it is so true. We live in an era of disposable fashion, and if we care about this planet - not to mention the people who make our clothing - we need to change our approach. Mend what tears. Fix what is broken. Remember that there is a living breathing human who made each item you are wearing and it becomes that much more precious.

I try my best to make good choices about the clothes we buy, and to fix things where I can. Since I know a lot of you reading this blog care about this earth and like to DIY I plan to start sharing more about this and offering tips and tricks that I’ve picked up along the way. I’m not the only one doing this and there are many people doing an even better job, but I’m just here sharing what I’ve learned.

My go-to way of patching up jeans is to use a sewing machine and a lot of back and forth stitches. It’s super fast, and fairly invisible. With these skinny little jeans that wasn’t an option as the leg wouldn’t fit, so instead I made some patches and embroidered them to the jeans.

To make the patches

1. Cut pieces of denim or other fabric to the size that you need it plus about a 1/4 inch extra on all sides. You’ll want the fabric to be a similar weight to whatever you are repairing. I usually mend our jeans until they are too far gone, and then keep them around to use as spare fabric for this kind of purpose.

2. Using a sewing machine turn over and stitch a 1/4” rolled hem on all sides of the patches to finish the edges.

To attach the patches

1. For a visible mend: Using embroidery thread, or other strong topstitching thread use your favourite motif to attach the patches. I did little +’s in alternating rows in a very contrasting white thread. I think straight lines, or x’s - or even a combination of both - would be really adorable.

2. For an invisible mend: (note that this will not be truly invisible, but at least way less obvious) match your thread to the colour of the garment you are mending. Stitch down the patch around the edge, and in straight lines or some other unobtrusive pattern to hold down the middle of the patch.