Is the everyday Crest/Aquafresh/Colgate toothpaste you get at the drugstore biodegradable?
Very little that we use on the trail is totally biodegradeable, given the trail environment — including baking soda. The important question is not whether things are biodegradeable, but whether they are harmful to plant and animal life in the quantities that are likely to accumulate from hiker activity. I suspect that Crest et al are harmless, except for the unnatural, though otherwise harmless, white stain that remains from hikers spitting on rocks or soil. My practice is to kick a small impression in soft dirt with my foot, spit any toothpaste into that depression, and then using the same foot, spreading whatever dirt that I kicked up over the area. This protects sensitive people from seeing the unnatural whiteness that ensues from toothpaste having been spit in the open. I’m pondering the question of the harm that might ensue from hikers seeing the unnaturally white teeth that tend to follow the use of Crest et al by hikers, but as yet have not come to a conclusion. My problem is t
