New Designs from Yogoco – upcycled yoga mat bags
Created by a mompreneur with a love for yoga, Yogoco bags are beautiful, functional and eco-friendly. Yogoco yoga mat bags are made from cotton scraps that have been discarded during the t-shirt making process. These scraps, typically destined for a local landfill, are collected and blended together to make cotton fabric.
But Yogoco yoga mat bags aren’t just a “green” product, they also let your yoga mat breathe, have pockets for your essentials and can accomodate a 26″ yoga mat.
Take a peek at some of the new designs and colors for this season. Love the Moroccan Sky Blue and Wahini White Flower, feeling ready more centered already.
Natural Luxe is offering free shipping on all Yogoco recycled yoga mat bags, use code GREEN at checkout.
Make back to school green for you too!
Back to school shopping is in full swing this weekend and we are happy to see lots of articles chock full of green alternatives to make this school year eco-friendly. When shopping for the kids, why not take a moment to green your everyday routine too.
If your morning ritual is a cup of coffee to go or a drive through Starbucks, consider investing in a porcelain reusable coffee cup. Fill up before you rush out the door or give to your favorite barista. Vessel drinkware’s mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe.
Reusable snack and sandwich bags are obvious choices for your child’s lunchbox, but you can take advantage of these green bags too. When the 3 o’clock munchies hit, make sure you have filled a reusable snack bag with a healthy treat instead of making a trip to the dreaded vending machine.
While you are packing school lunches this year; include yourself. Taking a lunch can help your bottom line, both financially and physically. Pack the night before so you have more time to plan out a healthy meal. These lunch totes also offer insulation to keep your lunch hot or cold.
A few changes to your daily routine can save both time and money and make your world a little greener. Best wishes for a wonderful school year!
Good For You Girls – all natural skincare giveaway
We are pleased to add Good For You Girls to Natural Luxe! Good For You Girls was started by two moms, Kim and Grace, who saw the need for a natural skincare line for young girls after shopping in their local natural grocery store turned up too many chemicals and harsh ingredients. With the knowledge that too many chemicals are not only harsh on young skin but harmful to the environment, the Good For You Girls founders were determined to create a healthy alternative.
Good For You Girls are 100% vegan, cruelty-free and they do not contain dyes, parabens or sulfates. The moms were even conscientious of the packaging, all bottles are recyclable and the boxes are printed with water-based ink. The refreshing citrus scent found in Good For You Girls products is created from the essential oils of grapefruit, orange, lemon and bergamot.
Their line offers skin toner, gel cleanser, moisturizer, shimmer body lotion and natural deodorant. With prices between $7 and $14, it is an affordable option to give to teens and tweens to start them on the right path with natural skincare.
To introduce Good For You Girls to our customers and fans, we are giving away a starter kit on our Facebook page – like our page and comment on which product you would like to try for your chance to win! Good Luck!
Eco gifts for Father’s Day
Give Dad the gift of Green!
English Retreads recycled tire wallet
For the Dad who showed you how to change the oil in the car
The smooth rubber helps this wallet slide easily into any pocket, yet provides just enough traction to foil any grand theft auto attempts.
Each English Retreads original is made in Boulder, Colorado of recycled rubber inner tubes.
Vessel Drinkware business time coffee cup
Perfect for Dad’s morning commute to work
Topped with a silicone lid, our double-wall porcelain reusable coffee mug is an elegant alternative to the paper coffee cup. The double-wall porcelain eliminates the need for a coffee sleeve too!
Ella Vickers recycled sailcloth messenger bag
Does Dad dream of sailing away?
Messenger Bags are perfect for easy carry and easy access to all your important papers, cell phone etc.
Here are a few more eco gift ideas for Father’s Day
Greensmart neogreene laptop sleeve
Vessel Drinkware reusable mustache cup
Greensmart recycled PETE plastic backpack
Shea Terra Organics – goodness from Africa
Shea Terra Organics first brought the powers of shea butter to the States, now they are looking for more amazing indigenous ingredients from Africa. Founder Tammie Umbel works with cooperatives, scientists and conservationists to find natural ingredients that are good for your skin and good for the community that produces them.
We have just introduced the line of natural, organic shea butter creams and exfoliating body scrubs to Natural Luxe and can’t wait to hear the feedback from our customers. Priced between $18 and $22, the rich organic shea butter creams and dead sea salt scrubs are affordable luxuries.
With names like Bourbon Vanilla, Miombo Mango and Pink Guava Pomegranate, Shea Terra Organics sounds good enough to eat. Take a peek at what we have in store!
Today through May 31st, if you purchase a Shea Terra Organics shea butter cream or exfoliating scrub you receive a FREE shea butter lip balm. Enter coupon code SHEALIP at checkout
Move over neoprene, there’s something greener!
Developed by our friends at GreenSmart, neogreene is a water-based material which allows for a much cleaner chemistry than neoprene. Unlike neoprene, the new and improved neogreene eliminates the need for toxic solvents to be used to bind the material together.
Neogreene has a soft, flexible feel and is waterproof which makes it the perfect material for a laptop sleeve. Considered toxic-free because there are no phthalates, VOCs, chlorine, neogreene is a great green alternative to neoprene.
Now that we have found this great green invention, take a peek at the cool products GreenSmart makes with it
Laptop Sleeves
Reusable lunch totes
Reusable Wine Totes
We love finding companies to work with that look at the industry and know that they can do things a little bit better; a little bit greener. GreenSmart has made the commitment to continue to improve the manufacturing process, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
Have you kicked bottled water yet?
Now that the weather is starting to warm up, I’m reminded that I should turn my 3 o’clock coffee into a 3 o’clock glass of water. It’s always easier to focus on your daily intake of water when it’s not 30 degrees outside.
With that in mind, I wanted to post a great piece from Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff – The story of bottled water –
In the past I’ve used reusable stainless steel or aluminum bottles for water, but I couldn’t help but notice that I didn’t care for the taste of the water. Last summer I started using a BPA free acrylic reusable to go tumbler and I love it! It’s sweat free, fits in my car cup holder and for some unknown reason I tend to drink a lot more water; it’s got to be the straw!
We just got in some new designs from Vessel Drinkware, my personal favorite is still the purple henna. I was excited to see that the ever popular mustache mug is now available in the reusable to go cup. Take a peek at the new designs and hopefully you will be inspired to kick the bottled water habit for good.
Charlotte’s Green Halloween Costume Swap
Natural Luxe was thrilled to partner with Green Halloween this year and bring an eco-friendly alternative to Charlotte’s halloween costume options. Many families have two or three kids Halloween costumes hanging in the closet that have been outgrown or passed down to younger siblings a few times. The costume swap was a great way to declutter closets and save some green in the process.
Five local businesses let their time and energy to helping us collect costumes for the swap. It was a great way for them to reach out to their current customers and maybe meet a few new ones. A big thank you to Beth Smith-Shuey with Keller Williams South Park, Jim Mishoe with Nationwide Insurance, Belly Elan, The Boulevard at NoDa and Atherton Market for helping out this year.
Over 50 gently used childrens costumes were collected and on October 9th we had the pleasure of helping costume swappers pick out something “new” for this year’s trick-or-treating. Looking forward to this event next year with more drop-off locations and of course, more costumes!
Thank you Charlotte for making our 1st annual Green Halloween Costume Swap a successful event!
Make a stand against big oil – at home
We are all sick about the situation in the Gulf. If you can’t trade in your SUV for a Prius or you aren’t able to carpool to work or take mass transit, here are a few changes that everyone can make at home to cut down on our oil consumption.
Change your household cleaning products and personal care products to non-petroleum based alternatives. I am amazed at how much petroleum is in the products that we use in our homes everyday. Here are a few examples:
* Liquid laundry detergent – If every household switched one 100 oz. bottle to a non-petroleum based detergent we would save 466,000 barrels of oil.
* Trash bags – If every household replaced one package of 20 count drawsting trash bags with recycled trash bags we would save 39,000 barrels of oil -courtesy of Seventh Generation
After you change your cleaning products, take a look at your bathroom counter.
* Switch to natural lip balms. Name-brand balms are made from petroleum products, which harm the environment during production
* Using lotions made from natural plant-based ingredients, they are helathier for your skin and keeps non-renewable resources out of your medicine cabinet
Check out the Good Guide to see how your favorite brands rate and find some great alternatives. Remember that small steps make a big difference!
In search of – cool reusable coffee mugs
We love that everyday more people consider making their morning cup of coffee at home to save money or bring their cup with them to their local coffee shop to save the planet. The problem is finding a cool reusable coffee cup that you want to take with you. Most of the ones we have found our plain or covered with a corporate logo; or they are made of plastic that make our coffee taste horrible.
The search is over – we have found cool reusable coffee mugs made by Vessel Drinkware. Made of double-walled porcelain, these cups don’t require a coffee sleeve and my coffee tastes great. Add in the fact that they are dishwasher and microwave safe and the designs are cute, cool and a little funky – we are sold.
If you take a mug to your local coffee shop instead of using a to go cup, you will save 2555 trees every single year – pretty amazing. A lot of stores are now offering small discounts if you bring your own cup too.
