Ecoroots...Would i use it? Oral Health Care Edition

Sorry this pic is so blurry, it would seem that I'm in a time warp. 

What would be a cool post:  Ecoroots: Oral Health Care Edition.  However, I'm not going to post about this because I didn't even brush my teeth last night.   

What I'm really going to post about: Is it gross to use boar hair for your toothbrush.  

It's gross, right?  But is it?  

Hair really takes forever to biodegrade, however, most zerowasters consider it a biodegradable piece of trash, to be put in the compost.  

I try to compost the hair that comes off of my head in the shower (not always...we have a trash can in the bathroom and it usually goes there)  I've been wanting to get into the habit of putting it in the compost but need the momentum.  the hair that ends up on the floor, is swept up and I try to put it outside, unless there's a lot of non biodegradable stuff in it, for example, bread ties or tiny pieces of plastic.  For my brush, if I clean it, the hair goes into the compost.  

So technically, hair is biodegradable.  It just takes a long time to biodegrade.  

People get into the nitty gritty with this, mostly over other concerns, such as they don't want nylon bristles because although nylon is recyclable, no one knows where to recycle nylon toothbrush bristles.  So in comes the boars.  

They say that the pig bristles are sheared from a pig, and the manufacturer comes from China.  So it seems humane.  One can never be sure of the supply chain, I learned that from the "The Jungle," by Uptown Sinclair, a helpful book that really shows what happens when people are distanced from their food supply.  

What could you use instead of nylon?  I think there are bamboo toothbrushes with bamboo bristles and others with boar bristles.  

To be zero waste you don't use plastic, and if you do, there should be some sort of recycle program for it.  I cannot find a recycle program in my neighborhood for nylon toothbrush bristles.  

Plant based bristles, could still have some nylon in them.  People will sell anything.  

Which brings us to boars and tooth powder.    

For me, as a highly sensitive person, I feel grossed out that this was on a boar's body and they lived the life they lived and as a vegetarian, I'm not really sure if the harvesting of such bristles was humane or not. 

How would anyone know unless they visited the place where they were harvested?  You wouldn't.  Which leaves us all in the dark until the Humane society does an expose. We hope that never happens, because we trust that the process is humane.  Shaving the hairs off and keeping the pigs in an open air field, in which they love to sun their little bellies.  

I just feel as a highly sensitive person, brushing my teeth already is hard for me, then throw in animal hair and tooth powder, and what do you get?  I get the willies when I'm ready to brush my teeth.  And that is one habit from which you do not want to shy away.  Brushing your teeth is super important. I've been considering lately...

I used Kathryn Kellogg's 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste's tooth powder.  I'm thinking of adding coconut oil to it to soften it up and make it more homogeneously mixed and just so I feel better about having it in my mouth, as opposed to thinking I'm putting dirt in my mouth to clean it.  

With tooth powder you get an uneven mixture of particles.  Could I add coconut oil, to make an evenly mixed paste?  How long would this mixture of baking soda, bentonite clay and artificial sweetener stay good in coconut oil?  We are going to find out.  

I didn't brush my teeth very much for several years in high school and I'm paying for it in crowns, but am definitely doing it more regularly now, every night.  I can't convince myself to do it more than that, but I'm also flossing (with biodegradable silk floss).   But that's a story for another time.  I just feel like convincing myself to brush wouldn't be so hard if I didn't mind the feel of whatever I put in my mouth.  

I think that's understandable. 

When I add the tooth powder (like dirt) and boar bristles (animal grossness) you get the ultimate grossest oral hygiene experience ever.  Which is not able to be kept up over time.  Sometimes I think that zerowasters go without and sacrifice to figure out what's zero waste and what's not.  So the one thing we don't think of is comfort and feeling good about ourselves.  I think that people need to take that into consideration when trying new things and go with your gut.  Maybe take changes a little slower instead of going cold turkey.   

   

So the answer is no, it's not gross to use a sustainable product in your mouth (even if a few bristles fall out, as per amazon reviews).  I have two types of toothbrushes in my supplies, ones with nylon bristles and ones with boar bristles and I'm going to use the nylon bristles for three months, so I can get used to using the tooth powder.  You'd think I'd have gotten used to it by now, but new weirdness keeps popping up.  I will keep brushing with bamboo handles and boar bristles, until I find out the harvesting practices are inhumane and/or another option becomes available.  Innocent until proven guilty.  And maybe I should try the bamboo bristles!?  I heard they are a little too biodegradable.  

I may try something with that tooth powder.  a little mad scientist coconut oil may be in store.  And I'll keep tweaking until I find something that I like.  Something that makes ME happy.  Also fluoride.  No more cavities.  

I also think when I'm done with the toothpowder, I'm going to do the Tom's of Maine thing with TerraCycle.  I need my normal dental nightly routine fixed!  I hate dreading putting my toothbrush in my mouth.