My evil toothpaste

I mentioned before that one of the things I'm doing now that I have a son is thinking more about health and safety. And that is true. But I'd also started thinking about health and safety and the environment before now.
It started with theology, I think. I got to really thinking about what it means that I believe that we are stewards of God's earth, and that as stewards we are meant to care for it and tread a little lighter than we are perhaps apt to do in this age... Maybe we are even meant to improve our little corner of earth instead of razing it and its adjacent plots. So, for example, I have thought about my own contribution of waste to landfills, and I work at recycling as much as I can every day. Sometimes I even let things accumulate in my car during the day so that I can bring them home and recycle them when I don't find bins along my way. I've tried worm composting twice (um, my worms keep dying), because I have seen pictures of 30 year old heads of lettuce that fail to biodegrade in mixed landfills.
More and more these days, I am finding that my concern to be a good steward of the earth overlaps with my own interest in being healthy, and now, in keeping my son healthy. I found out recently that a common ingredient in household items--one that I was putting in my mouth twice a day, actually--is not only an environmental contaminant, but also a possible health risk. It's name...duhn duhn duh: triclosan.

Here's what my toothpaste used to be

You'll find it in any of your hand soaps labeled "Antibacterial." (Yep, that means every soap from the popular Bath 'n' Body Works. Sorry friends.) In socks that are supposed to prevent odor. Ironically, I had done a hard target search (oh, at Target... the unintentional pun that now I have kept and even mentioned!) for hand soap that was non-antibacterial a few years ago in an effort to minimize my own home breeding of super-bacteria by wiping out every little thing on skin. And because all the doctors and research say that what really matters is washing thoroughly with simple soap and water. At that point, there was only ONE option in a whole section of hand soaps. So that's been our home soap for a few years.
It turns out, triclosan is probably worse than I suspected, and it's in more things than I knew!  Before you think I'm all conspiracy-theory crazy, please remember that I'm just looking to minimize unnecessary things that I do that can cause harm.
I won't bore you with all the details. But here's my summary. Triclosan persists in groundwater (i.e., doesn't biodegrade.) It also persists in human tissue. Meaning the body can't filter it out as waste very well. And now it is suspected to disrupt human hormones. For these reasons, among others, it is already banned or restricted in parts of Europe.
And I was putting it into my mouth! Ick.

Here are my toothpastes now (I found the 2nd one cheaper, and with fluoride).

There are other reasons I didn't just choose original colgate (sans triclosan) or something comparable, but we won't get into that now. For now, let's just say I didn't want my toothbrushing to pollute the fresh water I'm lucky to have, deposit a strong chemical into my body, or possibly make me grow chest hair. Okay, so that last part probably wouldn't happen. But it sounds a little wild to let my toothpaste affect my hormones!
And if you're like me, and curious about all the details, read more. Here. And here.