Great Green Goods
It’s Earth Week! What better way to celebrate than by sharing some outstanding companies doing great work and producing green goods that are true game changers? I was so thrilled with this assignment for NBC’s Today show, and below are my favorite finds across three categories: beauty, body, home.
sundays
Entrepreneur and esthetician Amy Ling Lin created sundays nail salons and nail polish with a total wellness approach. Her non-toxic nail polishes come in 100 beautiful shades, are professional grade and also help to improve the health of the nails with essentials oils, vitamins and moisturizers. Additionally, each nail polish is 10-free, vegan and cruelty-free. (10-free refers to the 10 most common chemicals found in old-school nail polishes, many of which are unpronounceable, but here are a few: formaldehyde, camphor, xylene, gluten, ethyl tosylamide, etc.)
Satin Lip Color Rich Refillable Lipstick | $28, roseinc.com
Rose Inc
These Satin Lip Color lipsticks from green beauty company Rose Inc are deeply hydrating up to 24 hours and claim to plump lips and even line them with its angled cut. Available in 10 neutral gorgeous shades that work with a variety of skin types, they are also sustainable in that the lipstick component can be refilled! Lightly vanilla-rose scented and Leaping Bunny Certified.
When the lipstick is finished, remove the empty lipstick cartridge, and clean out any remaining product. Place new lipstick refill in base ($18 for refill). Discard the original lipstick insert in trash and place refill carton and cap in the recycling bin.
Visit site for easy video tutorial on how to replace and reuse.
BODY
Hydrating Shower Essentials | $31 & up, weareuni.com
UNI
Ever feel like you walk into your shower and stare at 6-7 plastic product bottles? Uni is on a path to change that.
It features high-performance, zero-waste body care that’s unisex and reef-safe! They have a complete suite of hydrating essentials that includes: Skin Shield Body Wash, Hydrating Shampoo, Hydrating Conditioner, 24-Hour Body Serum, and Exfoliating Hand Wash.
This is how zero waste works:
Each Uni Kit includes a dispenser that you reuse and a 100% recycled aluminum refill (that is in turn, 100% recyclable!) that you use until empty, and then can recycle or return to the company.
When you receive your new refills, you can pop the empty ones into the box, and send back to the company with a prepaid shipping label for them to refill: this creates what’s called a closed-loop system!
The body care products themselves are formulated with a Marine Complex to deliver daylong, all-over hydration, and Australian superplants to protect and restore skin and hair. It smells refreshing and cleanses well and I find the scent mildly addicting!
You can do a one-time, one-off purchase or subscribe.
Toothpaste Bits from $12, bitetoothpastebits.com
Bite
Let's eliminate toothpaste tubes! BITE (which stands for Because It's The Earth) is on a mission to bring zero waste to your bathroom countertop. You simply put a tablet (made from clean ingredients) in your mouth and bite down, use a wet toothbrush and brush away. In doing so, you eliminate the plastic toothpaste tube. A one-month supply starts at $12, a 4-months supply $32. 3 fresh flavors: fresh mint (with or without fluoride, berry twist, mint charcoal). I love the long list of what their products are: all-natural, vegan, gluten-free, tube-free, plastic-free, zero-waste and cruelty-free!
HOME
Squirt Alarm Water Clock | $26, Bedol.com
Bedol
Reduce your carbon footprint by keeping time with tap water! This inventive Bedol water clock uses no batteries, chemicals or electricity to keep perfect time!
How does it work? The clock technology converts water into clean energy power.
Just fill the tank with natural tap water and you’re set. (You won’t even lose time while changing water, thanks to the built-in memory chip!) Water needs replacement about every 6 months or so, so a great time to refill would be around daylight savings changes. This company is additionally a small business–you know how we love our small businesses--working to make the planet a little greener one second at a time.
You can purchase all 5 colorways on their website as well as other eco-friendly clock designs; limited color options at Target and amazon.
LIL’ MARSH BLANKET | $69, UnHide.us
UnHide
UnHide is a company dedicated to cruelty-free faux fur products from their signature blankets in a variety of sizes to slippers, robes and more! Like all UnHide products, their faux fur is made of 100% recycled vegan materials and produced in sustainable and ethical factories. This is their Lil’ Marsh Blanket that comes in 10 colors and 3 sizes. It’s lightweight and portable, and so soft, you might just snooze while standing up! Perfect for diving into this spring and summer when you feel a little chill. Their tag reads: “For Love Not Fur.”
We have here the small size is 2.7 pounds and 50” x 60”. Other sizes include X-Small: 2.2 lbs and 34" x 44"; Medium: 4.1 lbs and 60" x 80."