The 20-Minute Environmentalist Part Five: DIY Bath Products

Making your own bath and beauty products is easy and fun - and a great way to avoid unnecessary chemicals, while limiting the amount of packaging that ends up in landfills. Pretty packaging is all well and good, but if you want something you can leave out on the shelf for guests to see, you don't have to spend your hard earned cash on beautiful single use bottles that will just end up in the recycling bin, or - worse - the landfill. You can make your own decorative containers for your DIY bath products in the same 20 minutes it will take you to make the bath products themselves. Plus, your own reusable decorative bottles and jars can be cleaned out and used again the next time you whip up one of these quick natural bath product recipes.

You will also help to save the environment from production process waste and lower energy usage that would otherwise have been used to make, package and transport the product. Making your own DIY eco-friendly bath products and storing them in reusable containers is an easy, inexpensive way to help save the planet while saving money as well.

There are many bath products that are easy to make at home using all natural ingredients. Here are five easy, inexpensive bath product recipes that will each take less than 20 minutes to make and enjoy.

1. Toothpaste - When I realized how easy (and cheap) it is to make your own DIY toothpaste, I couldn't believe that I had been wasting my money on commercial toothpaste all these years. Keep packaging tubes out of landfills and chemicals and artificial sweeteners away from your family with this easy DIY project. Mix ½ cup baking soda in a bowl with ½ teaspoon of salt, then add a few drops of flavoring oils or essential oils - like peppermint, wintergreen, clove, anise or cinnamon - and enough water to create a paste. Store your DIY toothpaste in a covered bowl or reusable squeezable tube. For more tips and recipes, check out my article, How to Make Your Own Toothpaste.