Eco Lips Notes from the Prez

Trim those packaging pounds

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This recently came to me in my Green Guide newsletter. Although it is common sense, I believe we all need to be reminded sometimes how easy it is to "reduce".

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Nearly everything we buy comes wrapped in material that we tear open and immediately throw away. All that packaging adds up to about a third of all garbage tossed in the U.S. Try carrying every single piece of packaging you would normally toss throughout the course of a day, and imagine just how uncomfortable you'd be from the weight of all that wrapping.

Here are a few ways to cut down on waste:

Cut back on single-serving foods and beverages. Instead, buy items in bulk and portion them out into reusable containers.
Tone down the take-out. Cooking just one more dinner and packing just one more lunch a week will have a big impact on unnecessary waste and will save you money.
Buy household items, like detergent and cleaning supplies, in concentrated forms so that you get more product per package.
Avoid items wrapped in excessive packaging, such as plastic bags inside of cardboard boxes.
Whenever possible, look for packaging made from recycled materials. The higher the percentage of recycled content, the better.
Check the plastic code before you purchase to make sure the package is recyclable. Take the Green Guide's Plastics Smart Shopper's Card with you for quick triangle decoding.

For more tips like this, visit www.GreenGuide.com

The Problem With Palm Oil

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Rainforest Action Network recently launched a very compelling campaign surrounding palm oil and its destruction of rainforests.

If you are visiting our site because you are concerned about the use of Palm Oil in Eco Lips, be assured that all of us at Eco Lips feel the same way and applaud your efforts in raising awareness about this problem. We do not use and have not used Palm Oil in any of our retail products. In fact, we are very picky about the oils that we do use and where we source them. You can count on us for quality oils such as organic sunflower seed oil, organic jojoba seed oil and organic hemp seed oil. These organic oils are sustainably grown and give your lips the deep moisturizing that they deserve.

Speaking of “green”, Eco Lips does not use GMO’s, carmine, petroleum-based ingredients, gluten, hydrogenated oils, lead, lanolin, artificial color or fragrance, that are common to many natural and connventional lip balm products. In addition, we are dedicated to solar energy and started the largest solar project in Iowa a few years ago. We hope to be off the grid completely someday in the near future.

Please peruse our website and you will quickly see who we are and what we stand for! Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

To further support the cause, we would like to offer you a FREE ECO LIPS KIWI STRAWBERRY LIP BALM AND FREE SHIPPING on your order over $10.00 if you use the coupon code "PALM FREE". www.ecolips.com (offer expires September 15th)

Your activism is inspirational and has been the very foundation of our business from the beginning. Remember, Don’t Panic, It’s Organic!

For more information by the Rainforest Action Network click here

Eco Lips Founder Steve Shriver makes 40 under 40 list

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Natural Foods Merchandiser Magazine recently announced their 40 under 40 and Steve Shriver, Founder of Eco Lips made the list!

Here is the article:

As a harmonica player with a band that plays local, environmentally friendly benefits, along with having
run a lip-balm business for more than 10 years, Steve Shriver knows something about chapped lips. In addition to lip lube, Shriver puts his passion into eco-friendly projects.
In 2007, he began the Organic Endurathon, running marathon distances every day while stopping at schools and businesses to promote organic education. His company sponsors Team Eco Lips, a group of sports and outdoor enthusiasts, in an attempt to excite younger people about the organic mission.
Eco Lips is solar powered and expects to be completely off the grid by the end of 2008. Shriver initiated the project
by working through the Iowa Renewable Energy Association,
an initiative that turned into one of Iowa’s largest solar-power projects, gaining immediate support from the state and the local energy department.
Shriver is also a supporter of the arts and was a founding
board member of New Bohemia, an organization dedicated to building an arts and cultural district in Cedar Rapids. He spearheaded a project called Art Bikes—a kid-friendly bike ride from Eco Lips to an environmental fair at an outdoor center. He is also a consultant for the first “green” house in Cedar Rapids and part owner of Iowa-based Be Green Carpet Clean.

What are the biggest challenges facing the naturals industry?

One of the biggest things I focus on is the whole organic versus natural consumer perception. That’s one of our biggest industry challenges.

What would you like to see change in the naturals industry in the next five years?
More organic education. I’d like to see the momentum stay strong with organic regulations.
I fear that as the bigger companies start to sink their teeth into the industry, they’ll lobby for looser regulations,
which will ultimately hurt the whole industry.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?
I’m not sure there’s any industry out there that has the amount of good people working for good causes [as the naturals industry].

What’s the one natural product you can’t live without?
Larabars. I munch on those things all the time. I love them.

What keeps you going on a tough day?
I try to start every day out with a really hardcore workout and get all my adrenalin out early in the day, so that the things that would normally stress me out don’t seem like such a big deal. Also, in our new catalog I put a picture of my wife and kids. So, occasionally I whip that out and see my family smiling at me.

Got any tattoos?
I do—Buddha’s eyes. After a trip to Nepal and a fairly spiritual experience, I got the eyes of Buddha on my upper right shoulder.

If Ben & Jerry’s named a flavor after you, what would it be?
Sweet and Sour Organic Power.

click here for the complete article

FLOOD UPDATE

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Believe it or not, this new building is actually starting to feel like home! The fax and phones are ringing, production is running, and we're shipping out Eco Lips like it's going out of style!

We are 100% back in action and busier than ever, thanks to everyone's support and hard work. We are grateful to have such a vast support network of people who have shown their support in many different ways.

This will likely (hopefully) be the last flood related post that I will write. Thank you again for keeping up to date on our progress!
Cheers,
Steve

Flood Update

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It's been an amazing week! I could go into detail about the damage done to our city, but I’ll save that for another time…plus you can hear about that on just about any news channel. I am happy to announce that Eco Lips is fully functioning out of our new building (on higher ground-of course). We have been working diligently to relocate, and with the help of our employees and volunteers we're back!
Thank you for the many, many words of encouragement we have received!