Why Toothpaste?
The Tooth about Climate Toothpaste
People ask me: Why toothpaste? It’s a fair question. I have two answers.
ANSWER #1: Climate Toothpaste came out of my artwork.
I’m a visual artist. In 2015 I was working on artwork in which I was replacing brand names of grocery products, with similar words. Sort of pop art cognitive dissonance. I had several computer sketches, some of which I turned into artworks. Here is an example:
I’ll return to the sketches in a moment.
Meanwhile, I had joined the climate movement at a poorly attended Earth Day in Portland in 2014. I remember thinking: this is Earth Day, a beautiful spring day in Portland. Uh oh. Where are all the people who care, and who I hoped were solving this issue? That day I met Walt, who deftly procured my signature on a clipboard. By golly, less than two weeks later I went to a meeting of our local Citizens Climate Lobby chapter, and I became an enthusiastic climate activist.
It didn’t take long to realize that my first impression was correct: there are not enough people working on climate, and our planet is way short on time — as of 2020, about ten years before dire consequences of our inaction become irreversible. I went to CCL meetings regularly for a year or so, and even created a t-shirt fundraiser for the group. I was searching for a way to use my art skills to help the climate movement. But HOW????
Back to the sketches: One of them swapped a toothpaste brand for the word CLIMATE. It worked seamlessly. It seemed…fresh, somehow. A tingling sensation overtook me. Folks, this was my peppermint epiphany. Or in the foam-filled language of Toothpaste, a pfefferminze offenbarung.
So my CLIMATE digital sketch, instead of becoming a 2-dimensional artwork, became my first product package. No, it is not toothpaste. True story: people are sometimes disappointed by this. To them I can only say: I am sorry. BUT! It is better than toothpaste, if you can believe it. It’s a container: a funny, real toothpaste box, covered with science(!) and jokes. It’s raison d’etre is inside the box: the Activist Activator letter, which lists climate groups in your home state by category (Green New Deal, carbon price, etc.) and tips to reduce your carbon footprint. Climate Toothpaste is a primer on the climate movement, with information everyone can use.
Little did I know then, how strong my Anti-Apathy Stimulant® would be.
ANSWER #2: Climate Toothpaste is my subconscious attempt to exert control over climate change(!)
I spent ten years in New York as a visual artist. Those ten years had their highs and lows, including watching a tower fall on Sept 11. At one point I naively assumed my second solo show would be as successful as my first. Big mistake. I overspent wildly on the show. I sold quite a few pieces, but I was up to my eyeballs in debt. I didn’t know how I would get out of it. I started having recurring nightmares…about my teeth.
In the dream I am chewing gum. As I chew, the gum gets stickier and sticker. Then the gum starts to stick to my teeth. Then — ack! I can’t get it off of my teeth. Oh no! My teeth start crumbling. Frantically, I start pulling crumbled tooth bits, mixed with gum, out of my mouth. Eventually all that’s left is nubbly tooth stubs.
I recently met someone who has these dreams too. I don’t recall where I read this, but in dreamworld, teeth are a symbol of strength and control. When a situation is out of control, I dream about my teeth crumbling out of my mouth. I still have these dreams occasionally. I don’t chew gum anymore.
Isn’t it nuts, that someone who dreams about her teeth falling out and is a climate activist, made Climate Toothpaste? I only realized there was a connection a year ago.
That’s weird. But it’s the tooth.
Are you quietly wondering how to join the climate movement? Which climate group is doing what, what’s the difference, and where can you fit in? Would you like to meet high quality people who self-select for actively seeking a livable future? Do you mentally equate a sit-in with a root canal?
If any of these are true for you: RUN, don’t walk! to ClimateToothpaste.com and get yourself some Climate Toothpaste.
Climate Toothpaste uses humor to talk about one of the most dire crises humanity is facing. We have enough bummers to talk about right now–who wants to talk about that? But if your entry to climate conversation is FUNNY, well, that’s different. If you are standing next to a tower of Climate Toothpaste, people come talk to YOU. I should know. Every time I stand next to a tower of Climate Toothpaste, I have more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
If you are with a climate group and think your group could use Climate Toothpaste, please contact me at hcodystudio(at)gmail.com.
Heidi Cody is a climate activist, artist and the founder of Climate Toothpaste, which educates about climate action. Her artwork is at HeidiCody.com.
