About Us - The Eco Lips Story

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.

Having larger than average lips, Steve was continually searching for a better lip 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 had built a specialized private label natural body care company focusing 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.

Much of the growth of their business was due to their top sales representative and entrepreneur, Jim King. Working out of his California office, he founded and grew a successful and environmentally friendly promotional products company called Access Eco. He enjoyed the process of building other peoples' brands through promotional products, but something was missing.

Jim had a vision of creating a lip balm brand like no other. He became obsessed with lip balm! Jim looked at every lip care brand currently on the market, buying them, one by one, until he had acquired over 200 different samples. From petroleum-based lip care to natural brands, he packed all of these samples and flew to Iowa to meet with Steve about his dream.

Jim and Steve spent hours mulling over a 10-foot conference table layered with what would soon become their competition in the lip balm industry. The goal was to create a brand image and an organic formula that would take market share from petroleum-based lip balm brands.

Voilà! Eco Lips was born! Jim and Steve swiftly brought the product to market and began raising awareness of the importance of pesticide-free organic products.

Today, Eco Lips organic lip balm is handcrafted in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. With the mission of satisfying the needs of every customer, Eco Lips has been first to market with several innovative organic lip care products and packages. With environmental initiatives in place, a focused marketing and sales strategy, award winning packaging, and a relaxed, yet productive work environment, Eco Lips is making its way around the world, one set of lips at a time.

Why Organic?

NATURAL vs ORGANIC
The term “organic” can only be used on products that are grown and produced without pesticides, and other harmful chemicals. Products that host the USDA Organic Seal are produced under the high standards set forth by the US Dept. of Agriculture. There is no legal definition of what the term “natural” means. Natural foods can include organic foods, but not all natural foods are organic. Look for products with the USDA Organic seal and you’ll be making the right choice for your health and the environment.

It's common sense

WHAT IS ORGANIC?
‘Organic’ refers to how food is produced. Organic food is produced by farmers whose production systems avoid the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock feed additives. Organic farming systems utilize biological methods such as crop rotation, crop residues, animal manures and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and tilth, to supply plant nutrients, and to control weeds, insects and other pests. All organic foods are required to be certified under an organic certification program. Organic farmers place a greater consideration of the impact of the farming system on the wider environment inclusive of wildlife conservation as well as public health.Organic agricultural practices hold great promise toward remedying the negative effects of global warming. Here’s four examples how: Use of farm-yard manure, green manures, and cover cropping methods keep soils nutrient-rich, improve soil structure, restore organic matter (making for quicker nutrient uptake), maintain and/or increases soil fertility, and increase soil moisture retention all of which enables the farming ecosystem to better self-regulate. The complete exclusion of synthetics in the farming operation (herbicide, pesticide, fertilizer, etc.) eliminates high-maintenance soils and crops, and subsequently lowers levels of CO2 and associated GHGs released into the atmosphere, while simultaneously lowering nitrate leaching rates and removing risks of ground and surface water pollution. With respect to usage of non-renewable energy resources, organic methods of agriculture use far less direct and indirect energy sources (fuel, oil and synthetic chemical applications respectively). Combating resource depletion, organic methods increase the biodiversity of flora and fauna, contribute to integrated pest management efforts (natural pest control), as well as shape aesthetic landscape values.

Why Eco Lips?

5 REASONS
TO GO ORGANIC
1. Organic food tastes amazing! Organic food tastes better than conventional because it’s not coated with chemical residues from pesticides and fertilizers. Organic food, which often times is synonymous with local food, optimizes time by allowing food to grow at a natural pace in the garden or field. This coupled with a shorter farm to market distance ratio than means fresher food as well.
2. Organic food is healthy! Organic food on average contains higher Vitamin C (powerful antioxidant) levels as well as higher levels of calcium, magnesium, iron, and chromium. The bioavailability of nutrients in organic foods is at a greater level than that of conventional.
3. Organics are better for the environment! Organic production systems do not allow the use of chemical fertilizers which pollute our rivers and streams. Instead, organic production systems utilize composted manure and leguminous cover crops in rotation with cash crops to naturally feed nitrogen to the soil.
4. Organics support communities! For small farmers, organic agriculture has offered an alternative market where organically grown food commands a fair price. Workers on organic farms have reduced exposure to harsh cancer causing chemicals.
5. Organic products are free of hidden-costs! While the consumer may pay a premium at the check-out counter for organic products as opposed to conventional products, the consumer pays more for what isn’t in the product: the hidden costs of conventional include the millions of dollars tax payers pay each year for chemicals in drinking water due to pesticide practices in conventional farming.

At Eco Lips, we buy food grade ingredients when possible.

Samples are approximately 1/8th Teaspoon size packaged in a mini zip lock baggie or small polycon recyclable jar. Some samples may be smaller. They are designed for one or more uses depending upon the product. They are not made for reselling. They are made for individual use. These are not produced by the manufacturer, but only through Natural Solutions. The size and price were determined by the largest size container the manufacturer has available and evenly proportioned. Please read our policies under Customer Service Desk as not all items are returnable. Every person's skin is unique, and as with all cosmetics we recommend that a person apply a small amount of the product to the inner wrist for 1-2 days before applying elsewhere to ensure comfort and compatibility. We encourage everyone to read the ingredient labels carefully to avoid allergens.