Hi Inge,
I want to commend you on your drive to source things as locally as possible.
I have tried brushing with coconut oil, and it works pretty well for me. As I understand it, the anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of coconut oil are quite unique. Not all oils are created equal. For the sake of your dental health, I would be very careful about how you proceed.
I do get that you are trying to source locally, and for some things that is impossible, as you pointed out. But sourcing is a huge issue. If you live close to a port
city, where what you're looking for is coming off a ship that basically came directly from the tropics with a load of bananas and coconut oil, well I would have to look up the figures, but the
carbon costs of ocean freight, while they could (and in some cases are) greatly improved by auxiliary wind power in the form of kite-like tethered sails, are much less than the same distance flown or driven. I don't know how they compare to rail freight, but those two are by far the best choices, until they start up with
solar electric ocean freight, trains, and probably eventually
solar electric thermal heavy-lift airship freight (no infrastructure required, no deafening of marine life by giant engines, and the potential for radio/internet flag stops to individual communities).
My point is, the want to do what you're suggesting is admirable, but the relatively small amount of coconut oil you consume with which to brush your teeth probably doesn't warrant even this much effort. You'd probably find much greater returns in doing this exercise for materials and foods you consume in greater quantities, that don't have the specific requirements of an oil used for keeping your teeth from decay. And
should you still want to do as well as possible in sourcing your coconut oil, you can make sure that you are getting it from as close to the ship it came in on as possible, and that would be a great improvement too.
You just don't really want to risk your dental health, is all.
But if, in your research, you do come across an oil that is also anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, please do let us know. If I could use, say, juice from my aloe plant, or raw
honey (I know, honey is sugar, but it is also proven to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, which is why it came to mind briefly), or, I don't know, a paste from wild mustard leaves that I can harvest by the bushel, it doesn't matter, something that grows in the north, I would love to know about it.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
-CK
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
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