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!

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

Mother’s Day Eco Gift Guide

Skip the flowers this year and give Mom something good for the earth that she will love. We have a few suggestions to make Mom’s Day special.

A stylish recycled lunch tote so Mom can pack a healthy lunch.

Mom is always on top of her thank you notes, give her the gift of a beautiful set of recycled note cards.

Turn Mom into an eco-fashionista with the Urthbags margareta tote bag

Encourage Mom’s new found yoga habit with a brightly colored yoga mat bag

Green Mom’s work routine with a neogreene laptop sleeve

Which one is the perfect fit for your Mom? Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

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!

The quest for affordable organic baby toys

It’s nice to see the wide array of organic cotton and bamboo baby clothes on the market. It doesn’t take too much searching to find brands like Babysoy, Kee-Ka, Small Plum Organics and Speesees that have made the commitment to offer affordable organic baby clothes that are also stylish. But when we set out to add organic baby toys to our store the search was much different.

Being a mom, I understand the need to give your little one something safe to love (and chew on!) We are happy to say that we found Dandelion Toys. They offer organic cotton baby toys that are filled with corn fiber, offer cute designs and most retail for under $15.

The corn fiber filling is both natural and washable plus it does not clump up like synthetic fibers. We’ve just added their line of bamboo animal shakers. Made with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified bamboo viscose they are cuddly and cute.

In addition to making great eco-friendly toys, Dandelion Toys is a member of 1% for the Planet. We are so happy to include them in the Natural Luxe family of products!

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.

We are giving away a $50 gift certificate!

That’s right, you have a few days left to enter our $50 gift certificate giveaway with our friends at Fig & Sage. We’ve been fans of Fig & Sage’s great reviews of natural and organic beauty products for a long time, so when we had the opportunity for them to review Natural Luxe we jumped at it.

Here are a few of the products they tagged as their favorites:

BABYBEARSHOP Cheeky Baby Butter$32, On Sale Now $21

We’ve looooved this stuff for over two years now! Check out our review here. This amazing stuff is not just for babies, any dry skin sufferer will adore this butta! I’ve gifted this to several expecting friends and each one raved about it.

Engage Green Recycled PETE Plastic Stars Satchel $45

I bought this for a birthday gift for one of the sweetest people on the planet who also happens to be a tiny, albeit fierce roller derby queen. She loves toting her derby gear around in this retro-inspired bowling bag.

Green Market Girl Natural Eco-Cuff Bracelet $40

I’m more of a cuff girl than I am a delicate bracelet kinda girl. I’ve had my eye on this particular handmade cuff for quite some time. I think it would make a fabulous unique gift.

Small Plum Organics Bridge Certified Organic Bamboo Onesie $25

If you know us at all, you know we like babes dressed in atypical baby attire and this one makes us smile since we’re big fans of San Fran. Check this cuteness out for baby girls. New mamas appreciate unique clothes for their babes. Hey, why not pair this little number with some BABYBEARSHOP Cheeky Baby Butter &/or Mama Belly Oil?! Baby shower gift dilemma solved. You’re welcome.

West Paw Designs Organic Bumper Dog Bed $68

We’re huge dog lovers and have 3 large retrievers between both of us that are part of our families – we just wouldn’t have it any other way. These dog beds come in 5 great colors to match any style or decor in your home. They have an organic cotton exterior and the interior stuffing is made of 100% recycled plastic bottles that is comfy and cozy.

We’ve also given them a special coupon code so check out the full review at Fig & Sage. Good Luck!

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!

Eco-friendly bridesmaid gifts

We were inspired this week when a customer searching for something different to give her bridesmaids picked up these adorable recycled paper wristlets from Engage Green.

Made with recycled silver, Dogeared’s Make a Wish necklaces make a thoughtful gift that will compliment any bridesmaid dress.

Greenmarket girl’s eco-cuffs are both eco-friendly and extremely stylish, they turn heads and prompt a ton of “Where did you get that bracelet?” questions.

If you are shopping for something different than a typical monogrammed whatever to give your bridesmaids, consider selecting an eco-friendly gift that serves as a happy reminder of your special day and friendship.