Transitioning products - toothpaste review

So you're trying to go green. You're trying to help the environment and make the right choice on a daily basis. Sometimes it's hard to forgo the convenience and the frugality. Local, organic shit costs more. It just does.

The last time I bought cleaning supplies I switched out to a green brand of all purpose cleaner and dish soap and bought semi-reusable cloths instead of paper towel. I remember the cleaning supplies costing marginally more - and they've lasted more than 4 months now. So the cost per use really isn't that much more.

I am currently almost out of toothpaste. A toothpaste I want to get rid of because it contains microbeads. I had always known about Tom's of Main but my dad had recommended The Green Beaver Company.

I stopped by the regular toothpaste aisle first. The choices were endless with about a handful of types/brands on sale for around $2.99 but what surprised me was the regular price of the toothpaste. Anything not on sale ranged in regular price from $3.99 to $6.99 for the speciality/ whitening types.

The 'natural' toothpaste was in the organic section. Tom's had about 10 different types of toothpaste. The last time I'd bothered to look there'd been only one. Theirs go by type - sensitive, whitening, fluoride-free and for kids. The prices ranged from $4.99 to $6.49.

The Fortino's I was at only had a few kinds of Green Beaver toothpaste. Just by flavour - but after research they also have a 'sensitive' product. My choices were green apple, mint, spearmint or star anise. Pretty neat flavours. Turns out they also have cilantro mint (BARF,) cinnamon and zesty orange!

Green Beaver's Frosty Mint ($4.99) won out in the moment because they are Canadian!

Turns out I made a good choice because they are also certified organic, GMO and fluoride free. Tom's of Maine's website didn't specify that they were organic and some of their brands apparently have fluoride since they have to have a 'fluoride-free' tube.

Taste & Feel Review:

I still had a bit of my microbeady toothpaste left so I compared the two.

The smell of the Green Beaver was very sharp and minty without being chemically or fake. I guess I never noticed that you can actually taste the fluoride in toothpaste until you have something without it. You just get used to it.

The flavour was sharp and minty as well - but much milder. I was afraid it would taste really dull and full super different from name brand toothpaste.

The only thing I really missed were the 'suds.' For some reason my brain thinks that if there aren't enough bubbles it's not getting cleaned properly. Same thing happens when I use natural bars of soap. It just doesn't suds up enough. After a week or so - I've gotten used to it.

Afterwards my mouth felt perfectly clean and tingly from the mint. Over all - nice toothpaste.

Cost

Although this product was almost double what I paid for the microbeady tube - I still feel like it's worth it. Living alone with no kids - my tubes of toothpaste last months and I think we're all in a bad habit of using more than the recommended amount. Isn't it supposed to a pea-sized amount? I'm sure we're all squirting a boat load of toothpaste when we brush.

Overall - worth the cost.