The O factor

There is a theory out there that Oprah has a master plan to control the universe and we're all under her spell. While that may not be exactly true (or very original) when it comes to Oprah and marketing products, she is a mastermind. And she does it so effortlessly! Here in SBC, we assume that if Oprah is going to feature any natural foods/natural beauty care/alternative health product on her show that we will be bombarded with people wanting to buy those products. It happened with Acai berry, it happened with Neti pots. In the old days, whatever was featured in Women's World magazine was the fortune teller for what the new hot product in our industry was. Now it is Oprah and her billion dollar marketing team displaying "alternative" products in a mainstream world. A lot of people groan when Oprah is brought up, but really, she is an excellent ally. She invites those who never venture into natural foods stores to explore the alternative food world. Most recently, along with her new Doctor friend (Goodbye Phil, Hello Oz) Oprah discussed toxins in the body that we get from foods, chemicals, cleaning supplies etc. Neem oil was suggested for a toxic free pesticide and immediately after the show aired there were dozens of people looking for neem oil. Neem oil has many uses besides acting as a safe pesticide in farming. Neem is used in oral care, viral management care and topically for skin issues. People with Psoriasis have seen excellent results in treating inflamed skin with aloe and neem. Most people would never know about these uses without being introduced to them by Oprah in the first place. Oprah works. She's trusted, she's convincing and her message gets out to people.

Here is a list of items that we'd like Oprah to tell the world about. It's our own wish list of products in this industry that don't get enough props:

1. Enzymes! Enzymes! Enzymes!- they aren't just for digestion! Enzyme therapy for auto-immune diseases, chronic illness, allergies and so many more health issues.

2. Biodynamic farming. Rudolph Steiner would be proud.

3. Dr Ohhira's probiotics. best. in. the. world.

4. Fair Trade body care like Allafia and Dr Bronners.

5. Protein: The truth about Soy and why you should eat Hemp

There you go, Oprah. You can take any of these that you want! We love that you are our mainstream ally in this skeptic world.

Recycling Rules!!!!

Earlier this summer when we were talking about having a month of recycling we were trying to estimate what the response would be to the program. "Everyone in this town recycles already (big assumption, but probably a little true) why would we ask people to recycle here?"

We figured out if you lure people with free stuff that they'll bring in their 'trash' and it worked! We guessed that we might get 100-200 vitamin bottles to recycle, enough to make a fifteen pound difference in a landfill. We were happy with that number. Besides, we really just wanted a good Virgo theme for our department for late summer. :) Encouraging others to continue to recycle seemed like a good idea. However, the response was incredible! We received over 500 bottles in a short four weeks during the program. In addition to the vitamin bottles, we received pallet sized piles of #5 plastic (yogurt containers, prescription bottles etc) which were previously unrecyclable in North Carolina. Greenlife has teamed up with Preserve, a company that uses recyclable materials to create new products (razors, toothbrushes, picnic tableware etc) in recycling #5 plastic. The public is able to have a convenient space to drop off their empty containers, Greenlife then sends the containers to Preserve, Preserve reuses the plastic to make sustainable products for the public! Overall, Greenlife had a lot of valuable trash in our "backyard" that ended up in sustainable hands rather than go to a landfill or a floating ocean island of trash. Now as for all of those Sigg bottles...