Category: DIY

DIY Toothpaste and Deodorant

So easy and fast to make your own toothpaste and deodorant!
Time to stop buying plastic containers every time you need a refill. Re-purposed one instead!

The following recipes come from Famille zero-dechet‘s first book with additional inputs from the numerous zero-waste blogs and videos available online. Parentheses below provide french name in case (les mots en parenthese donnent la version francaise des ingredients).

Toothpaste (Dentifrice)

  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp baking soda (bicarbonate de sodium)
  • 3 tbsp clay (argile)
  • 3-5 drops of peppermint essential oil (menthe poivree)

Mix all ingredients and fill up a re-purposed container.

Deodorant 1

  • 2 tbsp shea butter
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch (farine de mais)
  • 1 tbsp baking soda (bicarbonate de sodium)
  • 15 drops of essential oils

Heat up shea butter to liquid, then add all ingredients. Contain in re-purposed container.

Deodorant 2

  • 40 g coconut oil
  • 10 g bee wax
  • 30 g baking soda (bicarbonate de sodium)
  • 20 g arrow root or cornstarch
  • 15 drops of essential oils

Heat up beewax and coconut oil to liquid, then add all ingredients. Contain in re-purposed container.

Which essential oils for deodorant? from Famille zero-dechet‘s first book

  • palmarosa: against sweat smell
  • lavender (lavande): soothing/healing
  • clary sage (sauge sclaree): reduce excessive sweat
  • tea tree: against bacteria
  • peppermint (menthe poivree): refreshing
  • ylang-ylang: my additional oil because I love the smell 🙂

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DYI Composting Tumbler

Hardware: find it used (side street, craigslist or ReUse Hawaii)

  • 55-gallons plastic container (Donation – it was considered as waste!!)
  • plastic pipe cut in 2 (found in the back of the house)
  • pieces of wood, handles, screws and bolts, pipe or curtain bar (ReUse Hawaii)
  • Tools: circular saw, drill, … Remember you don’t need to buy tools just go to the Honolulu Tool Library!
  • Compost is a mix of 1/3 of food scraps with 2/3 of carbon. For the carbon, I use cardboard boxes or office papers that I shredded with a used shredder found at ReUse Hawaii. Other carbon are dried leafs from your yards.
Re-purposing 55-gallon container into composting tumbler.
Tumblers are transportable, re-purposing plastic waste, reducing eventual odors and rodent attacks, therefore perfect solution to compost in small yard area even in town.
Low budget solution using old wood, old plastic pipe, old handles, and cheap screws and bolts either free or bought at ReUse Hawaii.
by Categories: Compost, DIY, Upcycle 2 Comments