Trying in every way possible to reduce our impact, I decided to try the floss my kids use. They chose it to avoid plastic, whereas what I've been using is recycled plastic.
So, I got "Radius Natural Floss" made of fair trade silk and I saw "cruelty free" on it, and realized I didn't really know what silk production entails.
"Extracting raw silk starts by cultivating the silkworms on mulberry leaves. Once the worms start pupating in their cocoons, they are dissolved in boiling water in order for individual long fibers to be extracted and fed into the spinning reel."
Um.
I see that there's vegan silk, but a good rule of thumb for corporations is that unless they state something, they're not doing it, at least if it's something ethically good. And... vegan silk appears to be... Nylon? Yeah. The company has "vegan sponge floss" but it's plastic.
The kids are horrified by the silk now. One of them wondered if there's bamboo floss, so I guess that's next.
Bamboo is alive, but we can't hear it scream without special instruments.
It seems like most bamboo floss comes with activated charcoal. Let's see... WebMD says:
"When you use activated charcoal toothpaste, your teeth may look whiter at first. But after continued use, your teeth may start looking more yellow. If this happens, it’s because the activated charcoal has worn down your enamel and revealed the dentin layer of your teeth."
When will the winning stop?
#climate #sustainability #cruelty
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