Zero Waste stinks! a plastic free deodorant DIY


A Zero waste deodorant recipe that will cost you about 1 dollar!! A loony!!! A buck.

While I've heard many rave reviews about Natural and Zero Waste deodorant creams like Meow Meow Tweet, I've always found them super expensive (15 dollars?!?) and hard to find for those of us who are not American. Shipping is often killer when you live outside of the US or North America (usually add 10$ on top of the price and I could eat alot of Greek yogurt for that price!).

One of the main reasons I went zero waste was to reduce my overall costs. To be totally honest, I'm not a rich person, in fact, I'm pretty darn broke. That being said, I have an abundance of things that I consider way more important than money, like friends, family, and health. On the flip side, I'm definitely not living an impoverished life! I have enough. And honestly, one of the appeals of the zero waste lifestyle is frugality. Zero waste does not have to be an expensive lifestyle!! I truly believe this. 

I digress. Back to the deo. Why spend so much money on a deodorant when you can make your own for supa supa cheap!
*cha-ching.




this is my deodorant.


One caveat:

I tried a few zero waste recipes before I found one that worked for me. So there were definitely some STINKY TIMES, y'all.  I felt awkward, uncomfortable and super self-conscious. I even caved and bought an expensive alum rock deodorant that worked extremely well for 20 days then totally stopped!! AGH. What a waste of money and the plastic it came in. *fail*
The point is: not everything works for everyone, so don't go out and triple this recipe before you actually try! If you don't like it you will waste a lot of ingredients (been there done that). Make a small batch and test it out first. However, for me this recipe has been the bomb diggity! and my wallet is rejoicing.

Enter the Zero Waste Chef's deodorant recipe:
Genius in simplicity. Above excellence in accessibility. Beyond measure in ease of assembly. 

1/4 cup baking Soda
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
optional: add essential oils (lemon, grapefruit, cedar, teatree.. whatever makes you feel fancy!)
I used Thieves.. because thats all I had.

Mix dry ingredients before adding coconut oil. Make sure coconut oil is runny or at least softened enough to transfer and mix easily. Warm up if necessary. Add essential oil last. Stir.
This recipe is not super precise, I had to tweak the amount of coconut oil I added until I reached a texture I was happy with. Have fun with it! 

Lastly, I wanted to do a SquawkFox style price breakdown (because she's super awesome):
1/4 cup of Baking soda = $0.29
1/4 cup of Cornstarch   = $0.26
3 tablespoons of Coconut Oil = $0.49
and I'm sorry.. I have no idea how to calculate 10 drops of essential oil price... I'm not Kerry. 
Overall actual price for this jar of deoderant?? 
$1.04 !!

So far mine has lasted for almost 6 months already! How about you? Do you have any zero waste deodorant tips you swear by? Would love to hear your experiences.

Have a great day,
d.

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