Eco Lips: October 2022 Brand of the Month

In the early 1990s, Andrea Danielson began brewing small batches of natural lip balm in her kitchen for her friends and family. She took great care in handcrafting the balm and packaging it in small amber glass jars to preserve the freshness of the pure ingredients. Andrea didn’t realize that by giving a sample of her natural lip creation to Steve Shriver her life would be changed forever.

Steve had larger-than-life lips, and was always searching for a better balm. When Steve met Andrea in 1995, he immediately fell in love with the lip balm, and moments later he also fell in love with Andrea. They were married in 1997 and Steve, a lifetime entrepreneur, quickly spent Andrea’s life savings on ingredients and packaging for the couple’s first product, Hemp Lip Buzz.

By 2003, Steve and Andrea built a specialized private label natural body care company focused on making high quality products for many other successful brands. Their company rapidly became a leading natural body care manufacturer in the Natural Products industry.

Their top sales rep, Jim King, also had a love for lip balm, and had a vision for creating a lip balm brand like no other. Together, the team pivoted from making products for other companies to making their own. Eco Lips had arrived.

Now Eco Lips is a Certified B-Corporation, Fair Trade Certified and the creator of PlantPod® a plastic free lip balm container.

Here’s how they continue to do good for people, the plant, and future.

EVERY TIME YOU MAKE A PURCHASE, YOU’RE MAKING A CONSCIOUS CHOICE. WHEN YOU CHOOSE ECO LIPS, HERE ARE SOME WAYS YOU’RE HELPING TO SPREAD THE GOOD.

Since introducing the very first organic lip balm in 2003, Eco Lips has helped make organics part of people’s lives. That’s good for people everywhere. Know what’s also good? How we source ingredients to ensure authenticity and that the growers receive a fair price – a practice that’s vital in helping developing communities share in our success. And even better, our day-to-day work happens in a setting that welcomes all.

Our environment is so precious. That’s why every decision we make considers its impact on the planet. Why? We believe in the power of natural, organic ingredients over products that are petroleum-based or loaded with chemicals like other brands. This extends to packaging – our lip balms are packed in our exclusive Plant Pod®. It’s 100% plastic free. Plus, our production facility runs on renewable energy. Clearly, we don’t give lip service to sustainability – we live it every day.

As a registered B Corporation, we’re using business as a force for good. This comes to life in many ways, from Fair Trade practices with the growers we work with, to being generous with our profits to create impact in the communities we serve. This creates a better quality of life for our staff, everyone we work with, as well as people who use our products every day.

Fair Trade Certified

Do you care about the environment? Do you want to make a difference, but don’t know how? If so, then purchasing fair trade is for you! The fair trade movement is all about ethical consumerism. It’s about making sure that the products we buy are made in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. By choosing fair trade products, we can make a real difference in the world!

So what exactly is fair trade? Fair trade is an ethical certification system that ensures fair prices for farmers and workers, as well as good working conditions and environmental standards. In other words, it’s a way of ensuring that the people who make our products are treated fairly and paid a living wage.

There are many different fair trade certifications, but Eco Lips products are certified by Fairtrade USA. Fairtrade USA is an independent nonprofit organization that works to promote fair trade. They certify products that meet their strict standards, and they also work with farmers and workers to help them improve their working conditions and earn a fair wage.

So why should you care about fair trade? There are many reasons!

First of all, fair trade is good for the environment. By ensuring that farmers and workers are paid a fair wage, we can help to reduce poverty and improve working conditions. This in turn helps to protect the environment, as poor working conditions and low wages often lead to environmental degradation.

Second, fair trade is good for the people who make our products . When you buy fair trade, you can be sure that the people who made your product were paid a fair wage and treated fairly. This is particularly important in developing countries, where workers are often exploited and working conditions are often poor.

Finally, fair trade is good for you! When you buy fair trade, you can be sure that you are buying a product that was made in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. You can also be sure that you are supporting farmers and workers who are being treated fairly.

Eco Lips Fair Trade Highlights

Fair Trade USA continues to grow as innovative model of responsible business, conscious consumerism, and shared value to eliminate poverty and enable sustainable development for farmers, workers, their families, and their communities around the world. We welcomed new team members to commercial team and are growing in retailer’s sustainability commitments.