The Conscious Companies

We sat down with the companies joining us for our Conscious Company Collab Sweepstakes to get to know them better. We got the DEETS on who they are, what matters to them, and why they ROCK.

So read on and get excited about the $1,000 WORTH OF PRODUCTS YOU COULD WIN by entering our sweepstakes.

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// Klean Kanteen //

kleankanteen.com | @kleankanteen

1. Tell us about Klean Kanteen.
   At Klean Kanteen, we’re in business for good. And it’s been that way since the start. Our family-owned company introduced a stainless steel, BPA-free, reusable bottle in 2004, because we wanted a safe, nontoxic alternative to plastic water bottles. Today, all the products we make—from bottles, tumblers, and growlers to canisters and pints—are designed to be healthy, durable, affordable solutions that reduce waste and last a lifetime.

2. What makes your products unique?
   Klean creates solutions. We make a wide range of purpose built, reusable products designed to last a lifetime. Every product we make is designed to replace a single-use alternative – if it doesn’t, we don’t make it – period. Our Klean Design philosophy means versatile construction, so you can use the same bottle for morning coffee that you fill with water for the gym. It means double-wall vacuum insulation that keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold for hours (and hours … and hours). And it means products that are made with food-grade materials and are easy to clean, so they’re safe and healthy for you and your family.

3. What makes Klean Kanteen a conscious company?
   We live our mission in big way. From our design philosophy to the products we make, our employees and family, 1% for the Planet giving and community support, Klean is dedicated to using our business as a force for good.

4. What’s new and exciting at Klean Kanteen?
   Thanks to feedback from our fans, we recently introduced the Leakproof Café Cap 2.0 and expanded our line of insulated products to offer more reusable drinkware solutions like the 8oz Insulated Tumbler. All of these products have been extraordinarily well received by our community.

// Newton Running //

newtonrunning.com | @newtonrunning

1. Tell us about Newton Running:
   Newton Running is a Boulder based company that was set out to create a running shoe that was different. We exist to make every stride better.

2. What makes your products unique?
   Our Action/Reaction™ Technology creates a responsive, trampoline-like cushioning system that provides quicker bounce-back and loses less energy than a traditional foam-core running shoe.

3. What makes Newton Running a conscious company?
   We believe strongly in the old adage “To whom much is given, much is required.” We’re proud to sponsor a number of charities including BreastCancer.org, Trickle Up and One World Running. In the last year, we donated more than 6,000 pairs of shoes and more than 1,600 in employee volunteer hours.

4. What’s new and exciting at Newton Running?
   In terms of product, stay tuned for some exciting new innovation to launch in three models in February 2017.

5. Where can customers find you?
   Shop online at newtonrunning.comor use our Store Locator on newtonrunnning.comto find the Specialty Running Store nearest you! Or, in you’re in Boulder, CO, visit our Flagship Store on Pearl Street.

// Vermont Creamery //

vermontcreamery.com | @vermontcreamery

1. Tell us about Vermont Creamery.
   Vermont Creamery was founded over 30 years ago when Bob Reese and Allison Hooper came together to make goat cheese at the request of a local chef. At a time when Americans weren’t eating goat cheese and when most great cheese was imported from Europe, they embarked to build a Creamery. The rest is history. Today, Vermont Creamery is a leading producer of fresh and aged goat cheeses, crème fraiche and cultured butter. Our high quality products are available nationwide in fine retailers like Whole Foods Market, Kroger and Wegmans – in addition to specialty cheese shops. Our cows milk comes from family farms who are members of the St. Albans Co-operative and our goats milk comes from family farms in Vermont and Ontario, Canada. We are proud to support these farming families. In 2012, Vermont Creamery established Ayers Brook Goat Dairy, a demonstration goat farm. Here we are establishing a model of best-in-class goat dairying practices. We hope that Ayers Brook will serve as a catalyst for the creation of additional goat dairies in Vermont and beyond.

2. What makes your products unique?
   We’ve been honing our craft of over 30 years – constantly working to increase the quality and consistency of our cheeses. Having won the most prestigious awards in the American cheese world, we continue to focus on building a business that is better for the world. This means that we not only want to make the best cheeses, but we also want to have the best possible impact we can on our community and environment.

3. What makes Vermont Creamery a conscious company?
   We became a certified B Corporation in 2014 – though we believe the values of B Corp have been present in our DNA since the day we were founded in 1984. As our business grows, we have been working to create the best possible employment for our cheesemakers and farmers. We offer a benefits package that includes health care, maternity/paternity leave and retirement. This year we added a wellness benefit that our employees can apply toward a wellness activity of their choice. At Ayers Brook, we installed the largest single roof mounted solar array in the state. The array, on the roof of the barn, completely powers the farm and offsets electricity used in our cheese making process at the Creamery. The farm is also establishing a model for transitioning out a network of goat dairies to non-GMO feed. Our hope is that one day soon, all our milk suppliers are able to complete this transition.

4. What’s new and exciting at Vermont Creamery?
   We just launched our newest cheese, St. Albans. It is our first 100% cows milk aged cheese and first Non-GMO Project Verified cheese. For this cheese, we worked with the St. Albans Cooperative (our milk supplied) to identify and transition a single farm to Non-GMO feed. The Paul-Lin Dairy provides us with the cows’ milk we use in this cheese. Here, the Stanley family, milks about 30 Jersey cows on a beautiful side hill farm in Northern Vermont. Did we mention the cheese is delicious?!

// SW Basics //

swbasicsofbk.com | @swbasicsofbk

1. Tell us about SW Basics:
   At S.W. Basics, we make our products using only whole, high-potency ingredients. For us, less isn’t just more; less is everything. We found that if we stick with only absolutely essential ingredients and don’t add a bunch of extra stuff, we don’t need to put a hundred things into our products. Using fewer ingredients means more potent skincare. We don’t water them down with cheap synthetics or exotic fillers. It also means that our products are more likely to be safe even on the most sensitive skin. That’s why everything we sell only has 5 ingredients or less!

2. What makes your products unique?
   Fewer ingredients mean less chance for irritation, which is why S.W. Basics products are great for sensitive skin. Fewer ingredients also mean the products achieve a higher potency. We only use only whole, natural ingredients, with no cheap fillers, exotic botanicals, or para-sulfate-whatchamacallits.

3. What makes SW Basics a conscious company? We take the sourcing of our ingredients very seriously. That’s why we support sustainable agriculture by buying only from organic, fair trade, or small-farm sources. We also never, ever test on animals—we’re certified cruelty-free by PETA. We want our products to be as healthy for our communities and our planet as they are for our customers!

5. What’s new and exciting at SW Basics?
   We recently hired our tenth employee! That’s a big benchmark for us since we were a team of three just two years ago. We also have tons of new products coming out over the next year, and we can’t wait for everyone to try them!
6. Where can customers find you?
   You can find us online at www.swbasics.com. We are also available in select boutiques as well as Target and Pharmaca stores nationwide.

// Purely Elizabeth //

purelyelizabeth.com | @purely_elizabeth

1. Tell us about Purely Elizabeth: A key reason for starting Purely Elizabeth was that I recognized a gap in the market for healthy gluten-free foods. At the time, 99 percent of the gluten-free products on the market were loaded with refined sugar, as well as with refined flours like potato starch and white rice flour. I liked to joke that the gluten-free world of the 2000s, was like the fat-free craze of the 1990s. The products on the market may have been “gluten-free,” but they were far from healthy, and still, people gobbled them up. And like the fat-free craze of the 1990s, when people consumed large quantities of low-fat and no-fat foods not realizing they were packed with sugar, calories, and little nutrition, people wondered why they didn’t feel so good, why they weren’t keeping the weight off, and in some cases, why they were developing diabetes. The situation was a mess.

But I realized that I had an opportunity to do something better to help people live healthier lives by creating good-for-you packaged foods that still taste delicious. My philosophy is to take familiar and well-loved foods and prepare them using the most nutrient-rich ingredients, which leaves you feeling more energized, healthy, and radiant

2. What makes your products unique? We are all about ingredients here at Purely Elizabeth and seek to utilize the most innovative, nutrient-dense ingredients out there. For instance, we use coconut sugar as a sweetener in our granola instead of refined sugar. Coconut sugar is nutrient-rich, low-glycemic sweetener with a delicious caramel flavor. Our coconut sugar is harvested from native Indonesian palm tree populations (not slashed and burned forests where palm trees have been planted for industry). Local farmers climb the palm trees and collect the sap by hand, leaving the tree intact and allowing it to continue living and producing more flowers and more sap for future harvesting.

We also use ancient grains and superfood seeds like quinoa, chia, amaranth and hemp in all of our products so that you can get the most nutrient-rich bang for your buck. Not to mention, all of our products are certified gluten-free, vegan, non-gmo and organic.

3. What makes Purely Elizabeth a conscious company? We are a B Corp Certified Company and are honored to have joined such admirable companies like Patagonia, Ben & Jerrys and Klean Kanteen who use business as a force for good! By volunteering to meet higher standards of transparency, accountability, and performance we agreed to adhere to a triple bottom line of caring for our community, our workers and our environment. We believe that surrounding ourselves with like-minded companies that are passionate about solving social and environmental problems will help us grow while allowing us to stay true to our core values.

Furthermore, as a member of 1% Percent for The Planet, we donate 1% of sales to non-profit organizations striving to preserve the health of our planet and provide for future generations. This has included organizations such as Slow Food USA, Wellness in Schools, the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, Charity: Water and our newest partner, Rodale Institute.

And most importantly, we strive to create the cleanest, most nutrient-rich products so that consumers have the option of truly good-for-them ready to eat breakfast foods.

4. What’s new and exciting at PE? Lots of fun things are happening at Purely! We recently released two new product lines: the first Probiotic Granola on the market and a line of Grain-Free Granola. These products are innovative and exciting and really expand the whole concept of “healthy granola.” The Probiotic line is our Ancient Grain Granola with added GanedenBC30 – a patented vegan strain of probiotics, proven to survive the baking process. Two servings a day helps support a healthy immune and digestive system.

The Grain-Free line is a blend of rich cashews, dried coconut flakes and superfood seeds, combining with cashew butter and coconut oil for irresistible clusters—free of the oats + grains. These granolas—lightly sweetened with coconut sugar—contain 5g of sugar or less per serving!

It’s exciting to experiment with new ingredients and concepts, and we cannot wait to continue to innovate and grow.

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// Sweepstakes goes till 11/10 so be sure to enter to win! Kanteens, Running Shoes, Cheese, Beauty Products + Granola– that basically covers everything you need in life…