Why polish off your daily oral care routine with sustainable mouthwash? Because more than 500 million plastic mouthwash bottles are swirled, swished, and spit into landfills yearly.
Surely there’s a greener way to prevent gingivitis.
And there is! These sustainable oral care brands are proving we don’t need plastic to fight plaque or toxic formulas. So grab your toothbrush, set your timer for two minutes, and get ready to swish your way through our list(erine) alternatives.
As we refresh our mouths, we’re also working on refreshing our content by employing our new Brand Rating System. This extends our assessment of a brand’s eco-performance against a range of criteria, such as chemical use, climate impact, and transparency. To learn more about this new system, take a look at our explainer here.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
Eco-Friendly Mouthwash Alternatives We Love Swishing With
Georganics offers a waste-free way to rid your mouth of bacteria with either dissolvable tablets or fully recyclable aluminum bottles.
Instead of alcohol, treat your teeth to by Humankind’s Mint-Lemon natural non-antiseptic mouthwash that keeps your mouth clean and fresh with grape-derived tartaric acid.
Index: Non-Toxic Mouthwash
- by Humankind Jump to brand
- Georganics Jump to brand
- Blue Haven Holistics Jump to brand
- Nix Jump to brand
- Olive & Oak Organics Jump to brand
- The Dirt Jump to brand
- Lucky Teeth Jump to brand
by Humankind
by Humankind’s Mouthwash
Price Range: $12–$42
by Humankind tablets make for the slickest, most sustainable alternatives to mouthwash liquids around. They’re not only zero waste, but also free of alcohol, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and synthetic dyes and flavors.
Powered by tartaric acid (derived from grapes), they balance your mouth’s pH while freshening breath with Mint-Lemon, Ginger, and Peppermint flavors. Just drop one tablet into warm water in one of the brand’s durable glass measuring cups—or your own if you opt to bypass buying an initial glass and just get a compostable pouch of tablets.
Then choose if you’re buying one-time or subscribing to have minty fresh breath delivered right to your door, eliminating 2.91oz of plastic waste each time.
About by Humankind
by Humankind is dedicated to making eco-friendly toiletries that are better for our bodies and planet, each one designed to reduce the single-use plastic footprint by 90% or more. The ingredients are everything we like—easy to understand, scientifically proven, safe for daily routines, and, in most cases, natural and plant-based—and products are made through ethical manufacturing partners in the US, UK, and China.
The brand is carbon neutral by supporting forest preservation projects in Brazil and New Jersey. Customers may also offset their monthly plastic footprint by supporting Plastic Bank.
Georganics
Georganics’ Mouthwash
Price Range: $12–$29
In the same vein as their zero waste toothpaste tablets, Georganics has a dissolvable take on dental care. Their non-toxicmouthwash tablets are a pearly whites’ best travel companion, and come in English Peppermint, Spearmint, Active Charcoal, Orange, and Tea Tree varieties. They’re free from synthetic colors, fluoride, SLS, glycerin, and water (you add that!). This lowers their transportation emissions and makes them ideal for those times you’re away from home.
They also offer a liquid option if you’re into oil pulling. Based on traditional Ayurvedic practices, it contains organic coconut oil that pulls out debris and bacteria as it’s swished around.
If you’ve never oil pulled before, know it’s not like regular mouthwash with a quick 30-second swish. You’ll actually be swishing for 5–20 minutes. We oil pull regularly with pure coconut oil, and while it does take a little getting used to, trust us when we say it’s not as daunting as it sounds.
The glass or aluminum bottles are recyclable and the outer cardboard box is compostable.
About Georganics
Their products are certified vegan (aside from peace silk floss), cruelty free, COSMOS organic, and mostly sourced and manufactured locally in England.
Blue Haven Holistics
Blue Haven Holistics’ Mouthwash
Price Range: $22–$24
Blue Haven Holistics’ mouthwash is also inspired by traditional Ayurvedic practices. The Oral Detox oil pulling mouthwash not only strengthens gums, reduces plaque, and freshens breath, but can whiten teeth over time—especially if you’re choosing the activated charcoal variety.
Inside the reusable glass bottle, you’ll find clean ingredients like organic coconut and sesame oils, organic neem, organic clove, and organic fennel seed.
About Blue Haven Holistics
Blue Haven Holistics’s focus is holistic luxury bath and body products, all handmade in small batches in Florida, using wild-harvested, organic, and biodynamic food-grade ingredients.
Nix
Nix’s Mouthwash
Price Range: $25–$29
Mother Nature approved and dentist-recommended, Nix’s non-toxic mouthwash comes in the form of crystals that can be added to water, dissolved, and used like traditional mouthwash.
Natural, vegan, palm oil-free ingredients are used like peppermint oil, vitamin E, grapefruit seed extract, erythritol, and menthol. The formulation freshens breath, controls bacteria, inhibits plaque, and prevents oral cancer.
We’ve tested it ourselves and can speak firsthand to its breath freshening power, which lasts well into the day. Plus, we love the flavor, which leaves a subtle minty taste in our mouth without the overpowering burn of alcohol-based mouthwashes. The lingering minty taste fades quickly, too, in case you find yourself desperate for a second, post-brush cup of coffee (as we often do!).
The first order comes in a 9oz plastic bottle that’s meant to be reused. Alternatively, use your own container and be totally zero waste. The refill crystals come in a reusable glass jar with a bamboo measuring spoon.
About Nix
Nix wanted to nix chemicals in favor of quality, natural ingredients—and no single-use plastics—in their sustainable mouthwash without fluoride, alcohol, or other things we’ve been falsely told are good for our oral health. It’s made in California and shipped in recyclable cardboard.
They also donate 10% of profits to organizations committed to tackling environmental issues and helping underprivileged children receive adequate dental care.
Olive & Oak Organics
Olive & Oak Mouthwash
Price Range: $20–$50
For a mouthwash that is as close to the standard variety we’re all used to, check out Olive & Oak Organics. The liquid River Mint Mouthwash freshens breath while supporting gum and mouth health with a blend of essential oils such as oregano.
Alternatively, the Organic Chai Pulling Oil includes, well…chai spices, myrrh, and chamomile—making that 20-minute swish a much more pleasant experience.
Both options come in lovely cobalt blue glass jars that can be reused or recycled (but with how pretty they are, we’d reckon you’ll be doing the former).
About Olive & Oak Organics
Olive & Oak Organics is a small-batch organic apothecary in Utah, run by respective herbalist and artist Jaquelin and Adrien. Their passions for herbal folklore, plants, natural medicine, health, and sustainability find expression in their product range—from tinctures to elixirs and herbal balms to oils. Many ingredients are wild-harvested or organic and all are free of fillers, dyes, and chemicals.
The Dirt
The Dirt’s Mouthwash
Price Range: $29–$40
Ingredients like sesame and coconut oil, sea buckthorn oil, natural menthol, and hexane-free stevia make up The Dirt’s version of oil pulling alternative to mouthwash—sustainably bottled in reusable and recyclable glass.
Thanks to the addition of essential oils, they’re available in several different flavors: Rose Clove, Super Mint, Fennel Anise, and Sweet Cinnamon. The Ayurvedic tonics are 100% natural, dentist-recommended, naturally brightening, antibacterial, and designed to support tooth and gum health.
About The Dirt
The Dirt is one of Los Angeles’ lowest-waste oral care brands, started when founder Shannon Drake realized many “green” personal care products were just greenwashing. Hence their insistence in using only non-GMO ingredients that are mostly gluten and free of fluoride, toxic flavors, SLS, and xylitol.
Lucky Teeth
Lucky Teeth’s Refillable Mouthwash
Price Range: $25
Targeting gum disease, inflammation, sensitivity, stains, and bacteria, is Lucky Teeth’s whitening mouthwash. Its vegan formula consists of food-grade hydrogen peroxide and organic essential oils. It’s free of alcohol, sugar, palm oil, and glycerin.
The glass bottles come with a bamboo cup to measure the liquid. When that’s empty, order a concentrated 3oz refill and add filtered/distilled water to turn it into a full bottle of mouthwash. If you don’t want to reuse or recycle the glass bottles, their trade-in program allows you to send back ten of them for recycling and get a free product in return.
About Lucky Teeth
Family-owned Lucky Teeth only uses recognizable ingredients (read: no fillers, preservatives, binding agents, or unpronounceables) in their oral care products, which also include zero waste floss and remineralizing toothpaste. Everything ships plastic-free and instead of using animals, Lucky Teeth tests on friends and family.
