DIY Deodorant can be Part of a Plastic Free Lifestyle.
It’s Plastic Free July and I’m inspired to find more ways to ditch plastic. Most of the plastic we send off to recycle isn’t recycled and our landfills are overflowing. And plastic is really toxic, leeching into our soil, our water and the food we eat. So yea, when I see something as unnecessary as the plastic that holds my deodorant, I wonder why can’t this be in a glass jar, a tin or even cardboard??
In the spirit of Plastic Free July Zero Waste Cartel published a recipe for DIY deodorant and it looked so easy, with ingredients that I either already have in my pantry or are easy to find. So I decided to give it at try. If it works and I like it, and I convince my husband to try it too, we could save eight plastic deodorant containers from going into a landfill every year.
The Recipe
2 1/2 tbsp Shea butter
2 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1 1/2 tbsp baking soda
2-5 drops of an essential oil (I chose to mix fresh basil and lime, about 3 drops of each)
Optional: A sprinkle of grated beeswax if you like a thicker paste (I forgot to add this, but I’ll try it next time just to see what it does)
Any clean container – like an up-cycled jar or metal tin
Directions:
- Melt the Shea butter and coconut oil in a glass bowl over boiling water
- Add the remaining ingredients (leave the essential oils until the last minute)
- Mix until smooth
- Pour into your container
- To use, with your fingers just apply a little to your underarm
It’s Safe, it’s Economical and it’s Easy
A quick look at the ingredients above and it’s clear that you could eat this deodorant if you wanted to. Nothing artificial, nothing toxic, nothing you can’t buy at your local health-food store.
I added up how much I spent on ingredients and each batch costs less than $3 to make.
That’s much less than I normally spend on deodorant!
And this was so easy – literally within 20 minutes I was pouring lime-basil scented deodorant into my little jar. I was worried that it wouldn’t thicken enough left on the counter so I put mine in the refrigerator to cool. After about 3 hours it was the consistency of a thick face cream. In my medicine cabinet it’s become slightly less thick but it’s still mess-free to apply. The next time I make a batch I’ll try grating in a little beeswax to see how much thicker that makes it. I happened to have a small spoon left over from a face cream of years past so I keep that in my deodorant jar for easy application.
It works!
This deodorant smells great, is easy to apply (I scoop a dime’s worth with my small spoon and rub in with my fingertips) and doesn’t leave marks on my clothing . And I smell fresh all day, even after a power-walk in humid Maryland in the middle of July.
Even though this is deodorant and not antiperspirant (read why some are concerned about the health risks of aluminum in antiperspirant here ) the arrowroot powder and baking soda in this recipe act as a natural antiperspirant. My homemade deodorant does a better job of keeping me dry than the expensive, plastic enclosed, deodorant that I’m replacing.
Think about how many thousands of those plastic containers we could prevent from being produced if just 1% of us who buy deodorant decide to make our own. Not to mention the potential drop in our carbon footprint if we make something in our kitchen instead of purchasing it after it was produced in a factory on another continent, shipped over an ocean and hauled in a truck to reach our local pharmacy shelves.
I understand that it seems like an impossible challenge to live without plastic today. I’ve been trying to ditch plastic for a couple of years and it’s still all over my house. But each switch I make means a couple less containers, depending on the product maybe more than a couple, of plastic waste that I’m not polluting. And the great thing about math is that you can’t argue with it — If I save 30-40 containers from becoming pollution a year, that adds up to a lot of plastic over the years. And, the more of us who save a handful, a dozen or 30 containers from a landfill, the more that is multiplied and the less polluted our planet is.
Becoming more aware in our homes and immediate surroundings, I believe, makes us more aware outside of our homes too. I’m less inclined to take that plastic cup or straw when I don’t need it, less inclined to buy something in plastic when there’s a glass option, and more inclined to look around me for more and more ways to live with less plastic.
I hope that you’re inspired to find ways to live without plastic too, and if you decide to try the DIY deodorant, write in to tell us what essential oils you chose and how you like it — I’ll be looking for more scent ideas once I use up my sweet basil and lime oils!
Stay healthy and happy and enjoy summer 🙂
Wanda
Love the picture of you!