Go Completely Carbon Neutral with our new Tree Free Paper Products!

Rebel Green’s Tree-free Paper Towels

Our new bamboo-based Tree Free paper products line are just as soft as conventional paper products but will create zero net carbon emissions! We will completely offset the carbon generated from making, shipping and disposing of these bamboo products, by partnering with The Paradigm Project, a social enterprise focused on combating poverty and global warming, to fund clean cook stoves for poor women and their families in rural Kenya. The use of clean cook stoves by these families will result in reductions in carbon emissions that will completely offset the carbon footprint of our bamboo paper products.

Inhaling smoke from the basic act of cooking kills nearly 4.2 million people each year; most of those victims are women and children who contract asthma, lung disease, pneumonia and other life-threating conditions. Using a clean cook stove can reduce smoke, toxic emissions and fuel consumption, making the cooking process substantially healthier and safer for families and the environment.

“By using bamboo instead of trees, we have created a product that puts the environment first, but still offers the quality and softness of traditional paper towels and toilet paper,” said Ali Florsheim, co-founder, Rebel Green. “We are dedicated to providing consumers with convenient, innovative and earth-friendly shopping choices that leave a positive impact on the planet.”

To see how our clean cook stove project is helping poor families and the environment, check out this video.

PMA Fresh Summit Convention + Expo

Visit Rebel Green at the PMA Fresh Summit!

Come visit Rebel Green at Booth #4587!

We are looking forward to seeing you. Please email contact melina@rebelgreen.com or ali@rebelgreen.com to set up a time to see us at the show!

Where: Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Event Description:
With more than 20,000 people participating, Fresh Summit can help you anticipate change, identify emerging trends and profit from new opportunities. Participating in Fresh Summit Gives You a Distinct Advantage. Fresh Summit has something for every segment of the produce and floral supply chain, including:

• Retailers
• Industry Suppliers
• Wholesalers
• Grower-shippers
• Importers/Exporters

More information: http://www.pma.com/

Rebel Green goes to Expo West!

Wow! It’s the end of March, already?!?! It feels like just yesterday we were hopping a plane to sunny California to exhibit at Expo West – the The Natural Products Expo. Every year we come away from the show having met great new people, discovering fantastic products and just taking it all in.

Here’s a little recap of a few of the many great people and products we encountered that we thought you might find interesting, too!

The booth across from ours was a company called Kid Basix. They were a great team of women who had some awesome products. They specialize in safe, non-toxic food and drink wear for kids. They use a lot of stainless steel in place of plastic and the products are shaped for kid-sized hands to handle. The colors they used were really bright and eye catching which we, of course, couldn’t ignore.

Another great company we really connected with is one we may or may not have been obsessed with for about 3 years. Behold, Barney Butter! It’s an almond butter brand out of California. Their product is one of the best we’ve tasted on the market. Their original flavor is great AND they came out with a ton of new flavors much to our delight!

We also stopped by the So Delicious van in the courtyard of the expo center. They make a fabulous coconut milk!  They were there sampling their chocolate coconut milk and their new cococcino latte chilled drink. It was very refreshing and they took our picture giving us a printed copy.  We stopped there every morning on the way into the show and they stocked us up with chocolate-y and coffee goodness, helping us get through out day.

Every year, we marvel at how amazing Expo West is. The energy is awesome and the people are all so nice.  Everyone is genuinely concerned about quality products, sustainability and wellness. Every year leaves us re-energized and excited for the the next!

DIY Natural Easter Egg Dying

After exploring the wonderful world of Turmeric and all of its amazing properties last week, we got stuck on one of its side notes – its use as a natural dye.

So, with Easter quickly hopping around the corner, we thought we’d give natural egg dying a try. We found a helpful, basic guide to naturally dying eggs and which plants and substances produced which colors.

Naturally dying Easter eggs is pretty straightforward with just a little more prep work than the egg dying tablets you plop in vinegar.

We decided to try three colors – Green, Pink and Gold. These options were pretty much determined by what was hanging around the house.

> Green: Fresh Spinach.
> Pink: We were at the bottom of a jar of pickled beets, so we repurposed the juice.
> Gold: Turmeric powder was hanging out in the cupboard.

In addition to the ingredients for whatever color you want to pursue, you’ll need white vinegar and water plus a few basic kitchen tools!

Here’s what we did to dye the eggs:

> Green: We chopped up the spinach a little, covered it with an inch of water, brought it to a boil then reduced to a simmer for 40 minutes. It was then strained and half a cup of the strained spinach water was added to a jar with 3 teaspoons of white vinegar.

> Pink: Our pink natural dye was the easiest. We simply poured one half cup of juice from a jar of pickled beets into a jar with 3 teaspoons of white vinegar. Letting the egg sit in the pickled beet juice for about 10 to 15 minutes produced a nice pink hue.

> Yellow: We took a small saucepan, added a heaping tablespoon of turmeric powder and one cup of water, brought it to a boil then simmered it for 15 minutes. We then strained the liquid through a coffee filter and took one half cup of the liquid and added 3 teaspoons of white vinegar in a jelly jar. The egg sat for 10 minutes or so and produced a nice bright yellow.

We let the eggs dry on a rack over a plate then transferred to the fridge!

Here’s how the Easter eggs turned out…

As you can see, the spinach didn’t do much in terms of dying the egg green. Perhaps we had too much water and not enough spinach in our ratio or maybe we didn’t boil it long enough, but either way, not great results.

Both the pickled beet juice and the turmeric produced nice color that we were pleased with, plus, the prep time was much shorter than the spinach.

NOTE! Both the turmeric water and the pickled beet juice will stain! So be careful with your clothes, etc.

The dying preparation and process is definitely a little longer than the tablet dying form, so if you’re attempting this diy natural egg dying with youngsters, it’s probably better for older kids who might have a little more patience with the process.

Other natural dyes you can try include coffee, tea (Red Zinger and others), carrots, blueberries, red onions and quite a few more. For more colors and instructions, check out these instructions.

Talking Turmeric (& Its Many Health Benefits)

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by thedabblist

Wow! What a great week it’s been! We are coming down from our high after exhibiting at The Natural Products Expo in sunny Cali. Wow it was nice to see some nice weather!  We met awesome people and discovered amazing products. I’ll share more about the show later so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I want to talk Turmeric. You know, that bright, golden spice that gives yellow curry its signature color?

Turns out, it’s so much more than just an ingredient in Indian cuisine (and in yellow mustard!). Turmeric actually comes from the ginger family and offers a plethora of health benefits. It’s been used for centuries in Eastern medicine and other cultures for aiding in everything from digestion to healing wounds and a lot in between.

Here are just a few health benefits of incorporating Turmeric into your diet or using it topically…

> Turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory agent, helping to prevent arthritis, asthma, allergies and more.

> It has shown to help reduce the risk of, or slow the progression of some cancers including breast, stomach, intestines and more.

> Natural immunity booster, showing to be more effective than Vitamin C and E in fighting viral infections and colds.

> Turmeric also works wonders for your skin, helping to preserve elasticity, and reduce fine lines and wrinkles as well as treating acne, cuts and more.

Wow! Lots of great benefits, right? And there are many more; some of which you can read about here.

But how does one use Turmeric to take advantage of all of its natural power? Besides using Turmeric as a spice in foods, it can be applied as a paste to the skin for treatments or it can be eaten as a pickle or consumed in tea or as “Turmeric Milk.” Here’s a great recipe on how to pickle Turmeric.

AND aside from all of its wonderfully amazing health benefits and healing properties, Turmeric can also be used as a natural dye for fabric and other fun projects. Check out this diy fabric dying tutorial with Turmeric for fun, sunshine-y fabric projects for spring!

Featured in Clean Eating Magazine

We are so excited and honored to be featured, for the second time, in Clean Eating Magazine’s Clean Choice Awards. In the March 2015 issue, our Fruit & Veggie Clean Wipes were included in the 100 best clean products under the household products category.

We’re in good company among 99 other all-natural foods and other great household items that help keep your home and family green and healthy.

Clean Eating Magazine describes our Fruit & Veggie Clean Wipes as…

“Taking some fruit or veg on the road with nowhere to give it a proper wash? Simply use these wipes to clean your produce then give it a rinse, and you’ve removed all the dirt, waxes and surface chemicals!”

You can peruse the 2015 Clean Choice Award winners here.

Take 5

Since it’s almost March and that means many of you may have given up on your New Year’s Resolutions already, here’s a little reminder to keep them going, and maybe even adding to your “get healthy” goal. No matter if you make it to the gym on a regular basis or not, here’s something that is quick, easy to stick to and can do you a world of good.

Ready for it? Just RELAX.

The kids are terrorizing each other, you’re trying to prepare for an important meeting and you just burned dinner. AH! Deep breath. It’s o.k.

Call it meditation, stress relief or relaxation – do yourself and your health a favor by taking even just 5 minutes every day to relax. Research tells us a little bit of daily relaxation and stress management can help our health in so many ways such as reducing your risk of stroke, memory retention, avoiding catching cold, helps heart health and much more. Especially during high stress moments, even if it’s just taking a few deep breaths, you’ll feel better.

How do you like to relax without all the time in the world? We’ve got a few ideas to take a quick five minutes to relax and restore your stress levels to a slightly more normal level.

1. Take 5 slow, deep breaths
2. Do a few sun salutations or just hangout in child’s pose
3. Light a candle, close your eyes and be still
4. Make a cup of tea
5. Take a quick walk around the block (when it’s not a polar vortex out there)
…And, here’s a whole host of other ideas and articles on how to relax and de-stress.

Believe me, we know you’re busy, but we also know you love your smart phone as much as we do. Instead of wasting 5 minutes scrolling through your newsfeed, put it down, take a deep breath and enjoy a little relaxation every day. Your mind and body will thank you.

All About Essential Oils

Essential oils, by their name alone, sound, well, essential. But for many, they’re a bit intimidating.

You’re curious about using them so you approach the display at the natural foods store and you’re faced with rows upon rows of pretty little glass bottles full of Tea Tree, Bergamot, Lemongrass, Geranium and many, many more. Where to start? What does what?

Let’s start with the basics.

(cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by ILoveButter. Overlay text added.)

What are essential oils? Contrary to what the name seems to imply (that they’re essential), essential oils are actually the “essence” of a plant. Meaning? They are simply the “oil” of a plant from which it is extracted, leaving an accumulation of its essence, which we experience as a concentration of that plant’s fragrance.

Essential oils are typically extracted from the plant through cold press or distillation using steam along with a few other methods.

How are essential oils used? The oil or concentrate that’s left can then be used to help the mind and body by being applied to the skin (in diluted form) or breathed in through an oil diffuser or both, such as a few drops added to a bath. Another great way to experience essential oils are as a natural fragrance in products like cosmetics, perfumes, cleaning products and more (like our Yoga Mat Spray and Soy Candles).

What oils are used for what? Essential oils have a centuries old tradition of boosting the mind and body. They are used to help your mood, aiding in digestion, relieving earaches, pms and everything in between. Here’s a handy dandy guide of which essential oils are typically used.

Here at Rebel Green, we use essential oils in our Yoga Mat Sprays and all natural soy candles that offer both cleaning and calming properties to help aid you in your yoga practice or just to find a still moment in a hectic day. We use the following essential oils:

• Peppermint and lemon to boost Clarity
• Pink Grapefruit, bergamot and lavender to find Bliss
• Frankincense and pine to encourage Wisdom

We found the following posts and articles to be very helpful resources in learning more about Essential Oils:

• The Definitive Essential Oils Guide (added)
• 21 Things to Know about Essential Oils
• Exploring Aromatherapy
• The Essential Oil Body Map
• What Are Essential Oils?

And to finish things off, we found a fun way to enjoy essential oils. Over at Mommypotamus, you can learn how to make a diffuser bracelet for essential oils. Stylish AND beneficial? IN!

How do you use essential oils? What’s your favorite? Feel free to share on Facebook!

[Obligatory Disclaimer] As with anything you apply to your body or use for health, always do your own research and follow instructions. We have covered the teeny, tiny tip of the ice burg on essential oils. We found a lot of great online resources, and of course, there are plenty of books and literature to help you along, depending on how deep you want to dive in the use of essential oils.

Well, Hello There!

Another blog, you say?! Yep! That’s right. We love to make and create just as much as we love to provide products that make your world cleaner and healthier so we thought, why not create a blog to share the things we’ve discovered?

Here you’ll find all sorts of things from our favorite veggie-du-jour to what yoga pants we’re currently swooning over. And of course, the blog will be chock full of useful news, diy projects, recipes we love, ideas worth spreading and much more. Of course, we’ll have a little fun along the way, too.

We hope you follow along as we explore life, love and the pursuit of cleanliness.

You can also find more inspiration on our Pinterest page. Hold onto your hats, folks!

Teen Choice Awards

The ladies here at Rebel Green had a rare opportunity last week.  We had the pleasure of being selected to participate in the Teen Choice Awards Red Carpet event!  The event took place in Los Angeles and honored young stars and starlettes who have made a name for themselves with their young fans.  All categories were covered including music, movies, television and even the web.

At our booth we had the pleasure of meeting many up and coming young industry players. Among them was a group of talented young ladies from the musical group “Cimorelli”.  They were nominated in the category of ”Choice Web Star”!  Not only are these young ladies talented but incredibly sweet.  They each came home with one our Rebel Green reusable shopping totes that was packed with a number of our goodies.

There were also other fabulous product vendors including a great new company called Pony Bracelets.  Pony Bracelets are a fun new accessory that acts as a bracelet and a hair piece in one.  They were gracious enough to give us a few to take home and sport.The event was covered by one of Huffington Post’s contributing bloggers and Rebel Green got a shout out for our participation.  This was an amazing event that we were so lucky to be a part of!  Keep your eyes open for adventures with the ladies of Rebel Green