Chew Paste – the all natural toothpaste taking a bite out of plastic waste.

On a trip to the remote Anambas Islands in Indonesia, I took in the brilliant turquoise aqua waters and white sand beaches that are truly eye candy for the soul. Yet, I was shocked and saddened by how many plastic personal care products and wrappers floated in clumps on the shores and were trapped in pockets of seaweed. Toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes stood out the most.

The multi-trillion-dollar hair and skincare industry are one of the largest producers of disposable packaging on our planet. In addition, heavy bottles filled with personal care products are transported all around the world, wasting enormous amounts of carbon footprint.

While steps are being taken to stem the “tide” of plastic and single-use packaging, it is clear that we still have a long way to go to change consumer behaviour in terms of waste management and environmental protection.

After the Anambas trip, I went home thinking hard about how my business should not be just another cosmetics company in a vast sea of others – all doing the same thing.

What if you didn’t need a bottle at all?

The best way to not need a bottle or tube is to get rid of the water content in your cosmetic formula. Why are we shipping water around the world? These are questions I kept asking myself.

By removing water from the formula, it is exciting to discover the birth of new products. Take the water out of toothpaste and press it into tablets, and it becomes Chew Paste. You have the water at your sink so there is no need for a plastic tube. When you run out, refill your existing container with more tablets!

What is toothpaste and why do we want Chew Paste?

Brushing teeth has been around for centuries, it helps remove plaque (biofilm) and fight bad breath, so it has become a hygienic and social necessity. We usually do this twice a day to prevent bacteria buildup. Before modern toothpaste was invented, the pharmacist mixed a toothpaste cream with some abrasive powders that might have contained talc or even ground seashells. Essential oils such as camphor, eucalyptus and peppermint were added.

Today’s toothpaste contains about 40% water to squeeze it into the plastic tube and suspend the rest of the ingredients, namely abrasives, flavourings, and in some cases fluoride, antibacterial agents, and a surfactant to make it foam.

Leaf Juice Skincare decided to go back to basics, but with a modern twist. We removed the water from the toothpaste formula and instead pressed the dry ingredients into chewable tablets which we gave the name Chew Paste.

Activated bamboo charcoal was an ingredient of choice. Activated charcoal is known to absorb nasties and neutralize bad odours. We wanted to make sure our abrasives were safe for your teeth. Not just any charcoal that might scratch your enamel, but one that has been tested and approved to EU standards for dental care.

We used real natural peppermint oil which is both tasty and antibacterial. Xylitol makes everything taste tolerable but also has anti-cavitary properties and we mix with a sulfate-free surfactant. Since it has no water content, we do not need to use a preservative.

Shockingly we humans are consuming 1 billion tubes of toothpaste in plastic tubes every year that will take over 500 years to decompose.

This is unacceptable and unnecessary.  We can all do something about this – stop buying toothpaste tubes and they will quickly disappear from the shelf!

If you have been using conventional toothpaste for decades then making the switch may feel a bit strange at first and adjusting to Chew Paste may take a moment.

However, you will quickly discover new advantages. They are easy to take and pack everywhere. Kids love them, especially the black Dracula looking mouth they get. Don’t worry, there are normal white tablets and of course natural ingredients that are better for you and fluoride-free.

Buy In a convenient tin that is easy to refill again and again.

How to use Chew Paste

Just wet your bamboo brush, bite down and start cleaning your teeth. Add more water if necessary. It’s that easy, and each time there is one less plastic tube the planet is littered with.

Chew Paste is better for you and our planet!