Comments on: Is Tom’s of Maine still green? By Claire Burstein of The Feng Shui Fairy.

By: The Moss Project: Creating Space for Beauty to Flourish. ~ Sue Jones | elephant journal

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:19:53 +0000

[...] who have had the good fortune to visit my lake cabin in rural Maine know exactly what this means. Chances are that many of these good folks have poked fun at me about [...]

By: squirrelbait

squirrelbait — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:32:26 +0000

Tom's also has made great charitable donations to the community and is well known for treating their employees very well.

By: Claire Burstein

Claire Burstein — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:30:04 +0000

I respect your decision to do so, Heyo. If you don't see fluoride in toothpaste being "bad" even though it's harmful to humans and other animals, that's your call.

By: Claire Burstein

Claire Burstein — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:26:50 +0000

Thanks for pointing that out, Sarah. I wasn't aware of that. I have mixed feelings about the subject of animal testing since my father was a biologist and made some great scientfic advances due to animal testing. I understand the outrage, as well, and think that it's great for others to be able to make their own choices. It can be a major consideration for some.

By: Claire Burstein

Claire Burstein — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:24:05 +0000

Thanks for your comment and for mentioning Auromere. It's another one that I really like, it's based on ayurvedic formulas if I remember correctly and is really designed for your health, dental and otherwise.

By: Claire Burstein

Claire Burstein — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:21:50 +0000

Hi, Heather. Floss is not recyclable, as far as I know, and I've worked at a recycling plant.

By: Claire Burstein

Claire Burstein — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:18:17 +0000

To those of you who are wanting a full-out bashing, you're gonna have to look elsewhere because I don't feel that's appropriate and I'm coming from a place of compassion and education in working towards those ideals. Ultimately, it's gotta be about choice. I'm not here to force-feed you my opinions. What I am here to do is show you some alternatives that might be even BETTER for your health and well-being, and for the planet. Knowing that, if you still want to buy the Tom's of Maine's products with fluoride and SLS, that's your call. But, now you know and can make that choice. It's something that's weighed on my conscious, personally, and when I have the opportunity to make more conscious choices that fit in with my lifestyle, I do it.

By: Claire Burstein

Claire Burstein — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:17:18 +0000

Since attending the Natural Products Expo West on behalf of Elephant Journal and speaking directly with a rep from Tom's of Maine, I learned that the products that foam (sodium laueth sulfate/sodium lauryl sulfate) and have fluoride in them sell WAY better than the ones without. That, my friends, is due to consumer demand. Consumer demand is related to awareness. There are many consumers who still buy Colgate and the other crap in the general marketplace. You and I might not be doing that, but even I wasn't aware of the dangers of fluoride in toothpaste and drinking water until I attended a lecture about that subject and did more research on my own. Tom's is doing a lot of things to breed consciousness and awareness and I commend them for that.

By: Claire Burstein

Claire Burstein — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:16:13 +0000

Hey, everyone! Thanks for your comments and feedback regarding my Tom's of Maine article. Honestly, this was the first review that I've ever written. I did so because of a comment that my feng shui teacher had made, one that I made on Waylon's facebook wall, and the desire to research their products with the idea of educating myself and others. I honestly didn't know that they were owned by "The Man" as Waylon pointed out until I saw one of the comments. So thanks for educating me on that.

Here's where I'm coming from: I'm a feng shui consultant/teacher and environmental advocate. Feng shui is about working towards ideals, cleaning the toxins and clutter out of our lives, and being conscious about what we bring into our environments…and, although the Chinese and Feng Shui practictioners have not been known for their environmental protection efforts, I'd like to work towards changing that.

By: Waylon Lewis

Waylon Lewis — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:12:43 +0000

Good points. Would love to hear from Claire re more on her thoughts on why she thinks we oughta ixnay Tom's from our conscious consumer habits, other than that they're owned by The Man, as many great companies are.