Oh the Things You Can Do With a Drawer!

This idea started with a small dresser I purchased at a garage sale for $30. At the time, I was clueless what I would do with this piece of furniture until yesterday when I learned a good friend's father had passed away suddenly. I wanted to gift something more than the usual florist arrangements. I surveyed what I had on hand and pick up additional items at the local farmer's market to make a Bountiful Blessings basket.

I started by spray painting the drawer in contrasting fall colors. The local farm down the road donated a garbage bag full of  unbundled straw which I used to fill the drawer.

Holes were drilled in the sides of the drawer to create faux handles. I used the straw rope that was attached to the dried vines I purchased at the market.

The drawer knobs were reattached for decoration and the Bountiful Blessings lettering was applied.

 I played around with the arrangement to get a feel for item placement and balance. The Osage Oranges were a great addition and freely drop from the trees that line my property.

Osage Oranges

Green and orange ribbon was casually woven throughout the arrangement and hot glued in place.

There were faux autumn leaves leftover from a Halloween costume I made for my granddaughter. They were a perfect fit for my Bountiful Blessings basket. With a few snips of my garden clippers I added some colorful oak leaf branches.

Once the funeral is over, this arrangement will make a wonderful addition to the front porch as a memorial to a special dad.

The total cost of this DIY arrangement was $30 and it will have more meaning to my friend than any florist arrangement I could have sent.

Newsprint Bags: Pre-Buy

A few days ago I posted about these newspaper bags made by street children in India. The story and message behind this organization's endeavor to house and educate school-aged street children is quite touching.

After personally speaking with someone from this company via phone, I am convinced my decision to import these bags is a good choice. Yes, yes, I know it's not an American made product. But knowing this program is helping children abroad is worthy of my support. Hurrah! Accolades to this organization for finding a creative and ingenious way to generate income for shelter and education. LOVE IT!!

Here's the PRE-BUY offer on these bags. Pre-buy deadline is March 9, 2013, 11:59 PM, EST.
Pre-payment required. Limit is 50 bags per size and shipping address must be within the continential USA. All bags have jute handles. There is a NO return policy on this pre-buy.

Orders ship week of March 11, 2013

Size #1:
11 1/2" long x 9 3/4" wide x 3 1/4" side gusset

25 bags = $26.00 USD plus $12.60 S/H
(cost per bag with shipping = $1.54)
Total cost: $38.60



50 bags = $49.00 USD plus $14.25 S/H
(cost per bag with shipping = $1.26)
Total cost: $63.25





Size #2
8" long x 5" wide x 3" side gusset

25 bags= $22.50 USD plus $9.95 S/H
(cost per bag with shipping= $1.29)
Total cost: $32.45



50 bags= $41.00 USD plus $13.50 S/H
(cost per bag with shipping= $1.09)
Total cost: $54.50

Packaging: Making a Difference One Bag at a Time

We recently stayed at a private ski resort in Northern Michigan courtesy of my husband's employer. It was a weekend of skiing, eating and just plain fun, not to mention the awesome wine tasting the company sponsored. A trip to a nearby eclectic specialty shop brought me back to reality.

This shop was awesome beyond description. Their collection of unique items included furniture, trash to treasure, handcrafted art, vintage items and more. I could have spent hours just browsing. I made a few purchases for the grandkids. It was at check-out that my reality check kicked in.

The purchased items were placed in this newspaper bag. I thought, "How clever is that, someone is recycling newspapers". I then noted the newsprint was not in English and saw a tag attached to the jute handle. The message on the tag was the reality check.

I know I can't save the world, but here I was staying at a resort, shopping upscale boutiques, enjoying great food and wine while someone in India was making this newsprint bag to stay off the streets. Geez, what do I have to complain about? NOTHING! The income generated by these newsprint bags provides street children with education and shelter.

The workmanship is awesome and I've decided to import these bags in two sizes. They will arrive within the next month.

If you own a retail shop, I invite you to contact me about using these bags in your store. They are made from recycled material, eco-friendly and support an organization that rescues children from the streets of India.

As soon as our first shipment is received, I will post pricing information on both my blog and the GoPlanetEarth web site.

No Kidding, Re-Purposed Toilet Rolls

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Believe it or not, there is a use for those empty toilet tissue rolls you throw in the trash. I shaped them into small "pillow" boxes. I stacked them with double sided tape and tied together with jute cord (GPE will be offering jute cord very soon).

This is perfect packaging for things like lip balm or small bath teas. Great way to showcase small soap samples when using the Mold Market personal size soap molds. Fold the ends of the tube to form a casing for the product you will be putting inside. Oh, let's not fail to mention gift cards. How fun to place a $5 or $10 gift card inside each box. In fact, I'm getting a haircut and color later today. I'm gifting my hair stylist with the above package. Inside one box is a $5 Subway gift card. The other two boxes are filled with chocolates and candies. (It's national Hair Stylist day today!)

I attached a tag (which GPE will have online very soon) to the jute cording. A sprig of fresh greenery and printed vintage stamps complete the wrap. It would also be fun to glue some vintage stamps to the formed pillow boxes.

So many ways to make these re-purposed toilet tissue rolls make a statement in the traditional packaging world ;)

New Packaging Supplies Are Arriving

This week we started receiving some of our recycled and "organic" looking packaging supplies. Over the holiday closure (December 23-January 1) I will be assembling ideas to showcase on my blog. GPE will be selling gift packs that include various items needed to put together your own touches to a natural type of gift wrap.

I'm excited to start working on some fun packaging ideas for your soap or toiletry products. With the trend for "green" and re-purposed items, I think you'll find some of the ideas a selling point for your product.

Brown Bag Holiday Gift Wrap Idea

Now isn't this so clever? Recycled brown bag, recycled blue jeans, recycled tissue paper... VERY earth friendly and "green". I bet you have a slew of old jeans that don't fit (I do!). Or, jeans your kids have worn out by sliding across pavement, rolling in gravel... who knows how kids wear out the knees of jeans, especially boys. It's a mystery much like the missing sock the washer seems to gobble up.

Rebecca over at Older and Wiser offers this incredible packaging option to recyle denim parts.

Think soap here (not the chocolate bars). How fun to place a soap in the denim pocket and fill the bag with bath goodies (lotion, shower gel, body butter, room spray... you get the idea). Add colorful tissue and your own finishing touches and you've got yourself an "attention grabbing" package for little cost.

Corrugated Paper Soap Dishes...Gonna Give it A Try

I am always looking for ways to reuse things. Not sure how this will all pan out, but, I have a plan for using this corrugated wrap from some dinnerware that arrived today. I'm thinking about soap dishes for the smaller squares and bowl shapes. For the larger squares (at the bottom of the stack) I want to help my grand kids make charger plates. Here is the concept....

I ordered some mod podge which won't be here until next week :((, but once it arrives I want to paint the corrugated wrap in fun colors. Once dried, I plan to spray with an acrylic fixative to seal the paint. Once sealed, I'll do a couple layers of mod podge. It will somewaht primitive looking, but that's OK by me. I am sooooo open to suggestions and ideas before I give this project a try. Please share.

I am also thinking that these bowl type wraps would make wonderful pots for the grand kids to plant flower seeds. Once the mod podge is dried, I could drill a hole in the bottom of the bowl shape (for water drainage). A little dirt....a few seeds... and new life is birthed. I'll have to get back to you on this idea as I wait for the delivery of the mod podge AND I have a very busy couple of weeks. Heading to Florida for an extended weekend with the grand kids at Disney (weekend of June 18) and this weekend hosting a wedding appetizer party for my nephew.

In the meantime, if you have any ideas about this forthcoming project, I would love to hear from you.

A Noteworthy Organization: Kids Saving the Rainforest

Yesterday our company received an order from a customer who was purchasing supplies to make soap for a worthy cause. She is going to be making and selling soap to help save the Rainforest in Costa Rica. All of the profits for this soap making adventure will be donated to Kids Saving The Rainforest organization.

What Jennifer doesn't know (but will very shortly) is that GoPlanetEarth will be donating all of the supplies ordered plus the cost of shipping to help with her soaping project. I think what really bent my heart to this organization was my grandson, Carson. He just completed first-grade and one of the project topics in his classroom was Rainforests. He was very intrigued about them and also was very concerned that they were in jeopardy. I am going to make sure that Carson knows his NeeNee made a donation to help save the rainforest in Costa Rica.

If any of you are looking for a way to get your kids involved in a worthy organization, I encourage you to visit KidsSavingTheRainforest.org. This organization offers so many ways to get kids involved so they can make a difference in helping to preserve our environment for generations to come.

Beyond Soap: Wrapping a Shower Gift (Cheaply!)

I'm going to a wedding shower this weekend and have a number of packages to wrap for the event. Since I won't have time to shop for gift wrap (nor do I want to spend the money on gift wrap), I began brain-storming on ways I could wrap a gift so that it had a somewhat upscale organic look without spending $$. I started scavenging things available around my house and in the warehouse. OK, let me just put it out there... I was looking for FREE stuff.

This is what I came up with. I snagged some sheets of the brown kraft paper that we have on rolls in the warehouse. I used this to wrap the gift boxes. To add some color and jazz it up a bit, I overwrapped the kraft paper using some printed cellophane rolls that I had around the house. The design I used happen to be a spiral print.

Hmmm... what to do about a bow? I wanted something that would fit the natural theme of the wrap. AH, hah! How about cutting and curling strips of the brown kraft paper. Perfect! I curled 6-8 strips and then stapled them together. I grabbed a hank of raffia from the warehouse on my way out the door. It would be ideal for dressing up the kraft paper and would lend itself to the "earthy" feel I was going for.

Exacta-mo! It worked. A few strands of raffia centered on top of the curled kraft strips was just the ticket.

Oh dear, what to do about a card. I hadn't even given this a thought. No time to run out and buy one. What could I possibly do in Publisher? I know! Some fun quotes about marriage in various fonts and colors. Yes! That will work. I printed out the quotes on white cardstock then added a second page with a personalized greeting . Some natural raffia threaded through a couple of hold punches and I was good to go. The card pages were intact.

The final touch was a strip of brown kraft paper around the outside of the card. It was held in place by a clear 4 x 2 inch label printed with the bride and groom's names and a quote from their wedding invitation. Since I had to print a sheet of 10 labels, I used the remainder of the labels to help hold the raffia ribbon and kraft strips in place on the wrapped packages.

Some Green Packaging Ideas for Soap

One of GoPlanet's tutorials was recently featured on CraftGossip.com (how to line a wooden soap mold). I couldn't help but take a peek at the many great crafting ideas offered. This site covers a wide gambit of crafts from glass art to recycled crafts. During my visit a couple of clever green packaging ideas caught my attention and best yet, they can be done on a shoestring budget.

The above soap is wrapped with a strip of newspaper and finished off with natural raffia. How cool is this? I remember back in my college days doing a "how-to" demonstration on how-to wrap a gift from re-cycled products; newpaper was the wrap of choice. I used the help-wanted section to wrap a college graduation gift. Jobs pertaining to the graduate's career path were circled in red marker. Corrie of Lomond Soaps shows another creative use for newpaper.

GoPlanet did a tutorial a while back on how-to make soap logs or soap rolls. Here is a creative take on dressing up those finished soap rolls as shared on CraftGossip.com using handmade paper and natural dyed raffia. Presto, bingo... you've got yourself a very handsome looking soap log.

This green packaging option is from GoPlanet. A recycled corrugated shipping box was cut into pieces to fit each soap. The corrugated side faces up. The soap is set atop excelsior (natural aspen wood fibers). A couple of bay leafs were placed behind the soap, then shrink wrap was applied. The final touch included threading several strands of natural raffia through punched holes.

Do you have a green packaging idea to share? I'd love to hear from you. As part of GoPlanet's green commitment, we are always looking for ways to recycle and are continually brainstorming on ways to create more green packaging options from recyled materials.

Create EZ "Green" Upscale Labels for Soaps

I just love handmade paper. It lends such an organic, earthy feel to handmade soap. It's a perfect marriage: Handmade Paper... Handmade Soap. I've been preparing for a presentation at a local day spa. The company is looking to make and sell their own private label soaps. My job is to consult with them on the how-to, what-ifs and cost of making all this happen. This naked bar is made from Goat's milk soap base. Ground adzuki beans were added for texture and our house blend of Olive Asian Tapenade fragrance was used. If you haven't used this spa quality fragrance in your soap products... well, you don't know what you're missing. It's an awesome scent.


When consulting, your job is to throw out ideas. Your goal is to motivate and inspire so your client grows your "seed" ideas to fit their particular clientele or retail setting. One of my favorites, and a tried and true classic, is wrapping soap in handmade paper. The photos below are just mock-ups of what could be done in an upscale spa setting without spending big $$ on custom imprinted labels.


The above label was imprinted on handmade paper with a laser printer. If you have the extra cash to spend, include a 3/8 wide piece of grosgrain ribbon to secure the tucked ends of paper. Use an custom printed adhesive label to secure ribbon to soap bar. The pic below from Sweet Petula shows the simplistic beauty of this packaging.



For our soap, we used double-sided tape to secure the tucked ends of the Thai Birch paper. The back of the paper is imprinted with labeling information. GoPlanetEarth offers a nice selection of handmade papers that are perfect for soap bands or full wraps as shown here.

Last Week's Poll Results....

Last week's poll question was "Are you willing to pay additional $$'s for organic based soap supplies and/or green packaging options?"

54% of you said YES. The remainder was divided as follows:

27% voted NO
12% voted YES, but soap supplies only
8% voted YES, but packaging only

There you have it. If you're manufacturing bath & body product, you might want to consider offering "green" options.

Update to Mold Market Sheep Mold Post

After posting info about Mold Market's new sheep mold (due for release in late February), I received an email from a hotel in Ecuador. Andres, the owner of Black Sheep Inn, was interested in this mold to promote their hotel in the high Andes. What an incredible place!! I am committed to visiting this hotel within the next year. Awesome views, great prices, and on top of all that... they are an eco-certifed hotel with recognition for Best Green Ecological & Community Practices.



Perched on a hillside just outside of the rural village of Chugchilán, their guesthouse, hotel offers all the comforts of home while exploring the real Andes of Ecuador. Day hikes, open air markets, local artisans, and awesome views. A gourmet vegetarian DINNER, farm fresh BREAKFAST, and packed LUNCH; also free tea & coffee all day long, purified drinking water, hiking maps & hot showers. I am sooooo ready!!

Hemp... an Eco-Friendly Soap Base

GoPlanetEarth was one of the first on-line soap suppliers to offer a high-end hemp melt and pour soap base. We introduced our hemp soap base long before it was an "in-vogue" eco-friendly option. As more and more consumers are looking for "green" options, GoPlanetEarth is there for you. We are continually seeking out products that, we believe, offer eco-earth friendly advantages. For example, did you know that Hemp can be used as a substitution for cotton, requires significantly less water than cotton to grow, produces stronger fibers than cotton, and tends to last longer than cotton. All great reasons to purchase Hemp Soap base as an eco-friendly alternative to your current product line.
Our eco-friendly, earth-friendly symbol is now being displayed on our web site. When you see this symbol, you can order with confidence and know that the product is part of GoPlanetEarth's green commitment. Not every item is offered as eco-friendly, but when that option is available, rest assured, we will always select the "greener" product.

Other "Eco-Friendly" products currently available:

• Olive Oil Soap Base
• Cellulose Bio-Degradable Bags
• Room Freshner Spray
• Organic Soap Base
• Pure & Natural Soap Base
• Phthalate-Free Fragrance Oils
• Adzuki Bean (an exfoliant)
• Stone Ground Oats (an exfoliant)
• Ground Loofah (an exfoliant)
• Natural Raffia
• Natural Kraft Gift Boxes
• Handmade Papers
• Natural Corrugated Wrap

The Phthalate Debate

I received the following email from a customer concerned about Phthalate issues. I have posted my response on the blog in response to other emails and phone calls I have received about this 'hot' topic.

Denise:

You know, it's was surprising last year that most of the vendors I utilize for my M&P soap making hobby, even know what Phthalates were. Now, it seems to be some are changing and some are not. That's ok. I still have some questions that I'm hoping you can help me with. I'm sure this is a major undertaking... I am looking forward to hearing from you. I currently have a drawer full of fragrances I need to use up, and reassess the direction I'm going.

Sincerely,
A.B

Here is my post:

There has been much debate in recent years about the use of 'phthalates' in cosmetics, fragrances oils, and medical equipment. Phthalates are a group of chemical compounds used in plastics and as fragrance stabilizers. The discussions concerning the use of phthalates have increased lately due to a report published in the Pediatrics Journal about the alleged health effects of phthalates in children. The Journal conducted a study in Seattle that analyzed urine samples from 163 infants for the presence of phthalates. The presence of at least one phthalate molecule was found in every urine sample, while 81% of the samples had measurable amounts of more than one phthalate. Those infants exposed to multiple fragranced baby products tended to have the highest level of phthalates in their urine. Based on this, it was concluded that the topical application of fragranced baby products was the culprit.

A rebuttal was issued to these finding by the Personal Care Products Council. They stated that the results “do not make sense because only one of the seven phthalate compounds reported is even used in baby care products. This suggests that most of the phthalates found in the urine samples came from another route of exposure…” DEP (diethyl phthalate) is the phthalate used in fragranced baby-care products which is regarded as safe for use. The researchers responsible for the published study did not test any baby-care products for the presence of phthalates (only urine samples were examined) and their research did not account for other potential means of exposure. The mere presence of DEP does not equate to genuine risk.

The FDA continues to evaluate data on DEP and has not taken any action to restrict the use of DEP in fragrances. Extensive research on DEP has shown no evidence of being a reproductive toxin or endocrine disruptor as suggested. Even the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP) which provides scientific advice on the safety of non-food consumer products has concluded that DEP is safe for use in cosmetic products in the present practices of use and concentrations and represents no quantifiable risk for the consumer. The SCCP is the regulatory arm of the European Union comparable to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

GoPlanetEarth realizes there are individuals who may want to advertise a Phthalate-free product. Over the course of the next few months we will be adding a line of Phthalate-free fragrances to enable buyers to make fragrance choices based on their marketing niche and customer base. GoPlanet's current fragrance selections will remain unchanged.

Sources:

http://www.fmafragrance.org/sub_pages/071112truthaboutphthalates.pdf
http://www.cir-safety.org/staff_files/phthalates_summary.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/sccp/documents/out168_en.pdf
http://www.phthalates.org/yourhealth/personal_care.asp

What's the Scoop on Organic Labeling & Marketing

Organic, Organic, Organic

Everywhere we turn there’s some kind of "organic" product being marketed and sold. My local grocery store stocks several aisles of organic product, not to mention a whole fruit and produce section. Organic products are not just limited to food stuff. Lately there has been a myriad of cosmetic and toiletry companies introducing "organic lines". So what does this mean to you, the consumer? What exactly is organic and does it differ from certified organic?

First, it is important to understand that there is no agency or governmental branch that regulates a "Certified Organic" product. Currently the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) works from a Food Industry list that includes food products deemed safe as certified organic raw materials. It’s called the 205.605 list. That works for the food industry, but many of the items on the list are not choices for the toiletry or soap industry. The word "organic" is not properly regulated on personal care products as it is on food products.

By law, you must go through a third party company that has been commissioned by the USDA to certify your product as certified organic. So even if a certified organic lab creates your product, in order to carry the seal, you must involve an independent party to certify your product. It is costly and at this point in time, does not mean any more than following USDA guidelines. This is why you almost never see a product with the actual certified organic seal.

Currently, if your product contains 70% certified organic ingredients, you can legally call it an organic product. This does not mean the product carries a “Certified Organic” seal, it only means that the product contains 70% certified organic ingredients. To carry the Certified Organic seal the product would still need to go through a USDA approved independent for certification approval.

Sadly because of such lax regulation, many personal care products have the word "organic" in their brand name or otherwise on their product label. However, unless these products are USDA certified, the main cleansing ingredients in particular are usually made with conventional not agricultural material, combined with petrochemical compounds.

For now, "organic" means whatever manufacturers say it does and may fall short of the promises implied by the label. There are people working to organize this industry to have agreed upon standards to carry the organic seal, but they do not yet exist, so everybody is working off of the 70% organic standard. This means that 70% of the ingredients in formulas are Certified Organic raw ingredients. Again, this does not mean that the formula is Certified Organic. It does mean that it is an Organic Product.

Presently, as of January 2008, the NSF organization is working to define organic labeling and marketing requirements for organic personal care products. They are working for standards in materials, processes, production criteria and conditions to be met in order for the organic label and marketing claims to appear on products.

NSF is an independent, not-for-profit organization that develops standards that are accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment systems.
You can have a voice in this whole organic debate. Visit the following link and sign the “Coming Clean Petition’ to pressure the Organic Trade Association and USDA’s National Organic Program not to codify or implement extremely weak standards for organic cosmetics
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/action.cfm

You will find additional information about Organic Regulations, product and safety information at:

Organic Trade Association
http://www.ota.com/index.html

Organic Consumers
http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Personal Care Council
http://www.personalcarecouncil.org/

NSF Organization
http://www.nsf.org/

Overpackaging... where do we draw the line?

This week we had a couple of warehouse workers off for Easter break. I decided to help since there was a backlog of incoming stock. YEOW!!

I was appalled at the excessive amount of packaging used by a number of suppliers. One company in particular packaged every item in its own individual (unsealed) poly bag and then used 4 interior boxes to package 12 identical items. Crazy and excessive to say the least. Just cutting down the packing boxes from this one order took considerable time.

I understand that companies want to distinguish one brand from another which is done using cardboard, polystyrene or plastic wrappings. And certainly there’s nothing wrong with reasonable packaging as it's absolutely necessary to protect goods during transit. But as cited above... packing each item in its own poly bag or using excessive interior boxes is over the top.

Rest assured, I will be contacting this manufacturer directly to voice feedback. It's just a small step, but hopefully it will encourage them to take action to reduce the amount packaging they use, especially if I point out that a competitor has a more ‘environmentally friendly’ packaging.

Obviously, we want to ensure that product arrives safe and sound. But, it doesn't have to have all that extra branded packaging. This is where GoPlanetEarth is commited to buying in "bulk" whenever possible. If we can purchase items without cardboard headers or that isn't packaged inside individual bags or boxes, we will. This means less frills for you, but are all those bells & whistles important to the purpose and functionality of the items being purchased? All that branded packaging just gets tossed.

Rest assured GoPlanetEarth will continue to provide you with ingredient labels and any other packaging critical to soap making or safe handling. However, molds and many items from our packaging menu will be void of carboard headers. We'll label when necessary, but don't expect any "fancy smancy "promo packaging.

Well, there you have it... my two-cents on overpackaging. I'm sure glad I had a chance to get out into the warehouse. It was an eye-opener and certainly made me much more aware of some "green" issues I would like our company to address. Every little bit helps.