Organic Lip Balm
From LoveToKnow Organic
Organic lip balm can be difficult to find, much to the dismay of the eco-conscious consumer. Thankfully, Eco Lips is here to fill the void.
The Birth of Eco Lips
Eco Lips began as a homemade product created by Andrea Danielson in her kitchen for friends and family. When she later met and married entrepreneur Steve Shriver, Andrea's little home business quickly became a thriving company, not as the Eco Lips brand, but as a company who manufactured lip balms for other brands.
Later, with the help of Jim King, the couple decided to create their own brand. Together, they took their knowledge of formulations from the hundreds of other brands they helped to develop and used that knowledge to create a unique, organic lip balm, Eco Lips.
Organic Lip Balm: Eco Lips Interview
About the Company
LTK: How large is your company?
Eco Lips: We have a dozen employees and operate out of a 7000 square foot space in the heart of downtown. We recently relocated our business due to the flood of 2008 and were faced with the choice of new construction or going back to the 100 year old building we previously occupied.
A newer building would have been an unnecessary use of natural resources which weighed heavily on our decision to move back to the J. G. Cherry Building in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
LTK: Are your manufacturing methods "green" as well?
Eco Lips: Yes, we make efforts in every area of our organization to be environmentally responsible. We have an eco committee that focuses solely on improving our products, packaging and processes to be as eco friendly as possible. We see it as an ongoing obligation to the planet.
We initiated a project to bring solar energy to the building where we make Eco Lips which turned into the largest solar program in the state. We use Compaq fluorescent light bulbs. We give back one percent of our profits to environmentally focused programs.
We believe it is important to take a grassroots approach to being green and encouraging and educating your neighbors to get involved. That's why we take on local projects like the Adopt a Highway clean-up program, and we support local organizations with people power and product donations for their events.
About the Products
LTK: How many varieties of organic lip balm do you have currently?
Eco Lips: We are currently offering 15 varieties with more in the works. We have a new product that will be released later this year that we are very excited about. I can't comment about this product yet, but it will be a hot topic once we release the news.
LTK: Why are your products not 100 percent organic?
Eco Lips: We choose certified organic ingredients whenever they are available. Vitamin E is one example of a natural ingredient we commonly use that is not available as certified organic. If organic vitamin E was available, we would be using it in our products.
LTK: Why is there a variance of 90 to 99 percent organic?
Eco Lips: We offer a wide variety of lip care products and each is specifically blended to achieve certain benefits for the user. We offer everything from protection from the sun and wind to moisturizers to cold sore remedies and even vegan options.
An example of a product with a lower organic content is our Bee Free vegan lip balm. We use candelilla wax in the Bee Free blend in place of the certified organic beeswax that we typically use in our other products. Since candelilla wax is not available in organic, and it's the best vegetable-based wax for a lip balm, this product has a lower organic content compared with our others.
LTK: How can you guarantee your products to work better than any other?
Eco Lips: Simply by doing just that. We really do guarantee every product we sell--you really just have to try it. If you need encouragement, feel free to visit EcoLips.com and look at the Customer Reviews section. We have always had a no-questions-asked return policy, but it's rarely used. Everyone seems to love Eco Lips!
LTK: How are your products better than your competitors'?
Eco Lips: We are dedicated to lip care. All of our energy goes toward creating the best lip balm for the world, whereas others have multiple product lines to juggle. The hard-working people at Eco Lips are focused on one thing: Keeping your lips healthy. We have become very good at what we do.
We have found that advertising is not as effective as word of mouth. People find out about our products through friends and family. This is why sampling is so important to us and we often go to events and hand them out. It's a great feeling to see people so excited about a stick of lip balm, but we see it every day and have the testimonials to back it up. That's what happens when you take years of experience and combine that with a dedication to quality.
LTK: Anything else you'd like to add?
Eco Lips: We are very excited about a new partnership with Shakti Rising. Shakti Rising is a non-profit group committed to women and the power of real life choices.
Eco Lips feels responsible for educating people about the importance of choosing organic products. One notable event that we organized was called the Organic Endurathon. The founder of Eco Lips, Steve Shriver, ran several consecutive marathons across the state of Iowa to raise awareness for organics.
LoveToKnow would like to thank representatives from Eco Lips for taking the time for this interview.
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