Thanks to our sponsor for making our best business podcast possible.

EcoCart

The average customer lacks access to information that could help them estimate the carbon footprint of the items they purchase, even though 4 out of 5 consumers say climate impact is a factor in who they decide to purchase with. Dane Baker and Peter Twomey recognized this missing information and created EcoCart as a solution.

EcoCart has already empowered over 2,000 brands to embark on their climate-positive journey. Their innovative carbon-offsetting tool seamlessly integrates with ecommerce brand’s checkout pages to calculate carbon emissions, and then enables either merchants or shoppers (or both!) to pay to offset those emissions, based on the brand’s budget. EcoCart firmly believes that companies should reduce carbon emissions in addition to offsetting, and also provides brands with insightful Life Cycle Analysis to further enhance their environmental impact.

Ecocart exists to lower the barrier to entry for ecommerce brands wanting to become more climate-friendly. We here at REV believe hugely in the power of reducing carbon at every step along a brand’s journey and this is a tool that can help with that whilst helping educate consumers at the same time. EcoCart helps companies transparently tell their sustainability story to align with their customers’ values.

Go to ecocart.io to book a demo and if you hop on a call with EcoCart they’ll cover the cost to offset a day’s worth of carbon emissions from your online store if you mention Rêve En Vert! Thank you again to EcoCart for sponsoring our best business podcast.

Merci To Our Sponsors For This Episode!

Toups & Co

With our skin being our largest organ and the gateway right into our body, our skincare products should be made with wholesome, clean and recognizable ingredients.

Toups & Co’s entire skincare and makeup line is 100% natural and uses only organic ingredients like 100% grass-fed tallow, cold-pressed organic olive oil, and organic essential oils. Each product has been formulated to maximize skin-nourishing benefits and your safety. They never use synthetic chemicals, GMOs, toxins, fillers, artificial colors or fragrances.

They are a husband and wife team that believes it’s not good enough for you until it’s good enough for their own family. They also support small, family owned farms who are sustainable, fair trade, transparent and ethical.

Get 10% off your first order with the discount code – ‘REVE+TOUPS10’

Merci To Our Sponsor For This Episode!

The REV team has been mushroom obsessed for a long time and DIRTEA creates mushroom infused wellness products that are thoughtfully formulated for the best result. We are such a busy team and always looking for the healthiest way to keep our energy levels naturally high throughout the day without the usual jitters from too many cups of coffee. We stumbled upon DIRTEA’s Mushroom Coffee and absolutely fell in love! It gives you that perfect energy boost without the dreaded crash, plus it strengthens your immune system, sharpens your focus, and helps you sleep like a dream.

It’s no secret anymore that you can get incredible health benefits by harnessing the power of mushrooms. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have used it for centuries. Did you know every breath we take, we actually inhale mushroom spores? DIRTEA has done rigorous testing and development to provide the purest form of mushroom drinks to support your sleep, focus and overall well being.  Their newest blend that you have to try is their DIRTEA Matcha. If you start your morning with DIRTEA Matcha, you can truly experience all-day calm energy and heightened focus. Not to mention it tastes incredible as well. Serve hot or on ice during the summer months for a refreshing treat.

For a limited time our listeners get an exclusive 10% OFF offer! Just head to dirtea.com and use the code ‘REV10’ to get 10% off your first order.

Merci To Our Sponsors For This Episode!

Meet Obakki, a purpose-led lifestyle brand that has curated the most beautiful and meaningful handcrafted goods for your home. Their artisan partners are more like family as their connection is so personal—their maker’s quality of life and ability to sustain themselves and their communities is Obakki’s top priority. They believe in slow design and knowing the origin of the products they buy and the true impact of their consumption – for the environment and for the sake of the individuals that make the things they buy. From homewares created in partnership with like-minded co-ops to goods sourced from global artisans who share Obakki’s ethos, every product reflects their values of ethical production, transparency, sustainability, and traceability.

Read about their inspirational founder, Treana Peake here.

Use the code ‘REV15’ to get 15% off Obakki!

Whether you’re getting ready for a baby or looking for gifts for a new mom, Milky Oat‘s postpartum service offers amazing and organic nourishment for new moms (and parents!) They currently service the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles. So if you are California based you are in luck. They provide many different options. Their six week plan has you covered for the first 42 days of motherhood and recovery. So you can focus on rest and time with your bundle of joy. They also have botanical ghee and an array of thoughtfully formulated tinctures in their mother’s pantry. These are available nationwide so you can still enjoy their support in any state.

Read more about their service and their founder, Sydney Bliss here.

About Kindred Motorworks

Kindred Motorworks’  electric car conversions blend vintage charm with modern reliability and performance. At their design center on Mare Island in Vallejo, California, they spend a lot of time on each Kindred model. They test and review many design options. These choices affect performance and reliability. At Kindred, they believe EVs offer better reliability and lower maintenance. They also see EVs as more sustainable. As a result, vintage cars can be superior to the originals.

Merci To Our Sponsor For This Episode!

Homecourt

Homecourt was created by Courtney Cox in the belief that the household products we use each day should not only look and smell beautiful, but also should be safe for people, pets, and the planet.

Homecourt works with all Non-toxic formulas with skincare-grade ingredients that are always vegan and cruelty-free. They use sustainable, plant-derived, and upcycled ingredients across their collection. They develop formulas with responsibly sourced raw materials and skincare-grade ingredients that meet strict industry standards for clean beauty. We love their “absolutely not” list of chemicals and ingredients they do not work with that are listed on their site – they are all things we at REV would never work with either!

And when it comes to packaging, everything from their bottles to their boxes are made with 100% post-consumer recycled materials.

Learn more about this amazing line that has everything from hand creams to candles, and has just launched eco-friendly refills to boot on their site –  homecourt.co!

Today I am so excited to bring with you a conversation about eating for body and skin health. Whitney Tingle, is the co-founder of Sakara Life. A service which brings healthy, organic, plant-rich, food right to your front door. She discusses beauty from within, and purpose led business.

I have long been a fan of Sakara. Their huge efforts towards sustainable food production is inspiring. They care deeply about education around nutrition. Preventative approaches to healthcare, and all round well-being of their clients is top of their priority list.

– Cora Hilts, REV CEO

Thank you to our sponsor, Terra Kaffe!

Founded to be a solution for the conscious coffee consumer, Terra Kaffe is a completely capsule-free answer to the pod-coffee crisis and allows you to use waste free, organic beans which I love as you can tailor and brew your own beverage in the comfort of your kitchen. Since 2018, Terra Kaffe has been bringing the spirit of the coffee shop to the homes of sustainability-minded coffee lovers around the US. They are the makers of TK-01, a completely transformative super automatic espresso machine that puts meaningful morning rituals back into focus. Conceived around the best parts of leisurely European coffee culture and design, TK-01 helps elevate the time we spend at home by enabling a more mindful coffee experience. You can learn more at terrakaffe.com/REV

Reve En Vert listeners can get an exclusive $75 off TK-01 for a limited time when they visit terrakaffe.com/REV and use the code REVONAIR at checkout.

About Black Men With Gardens:

Black Men With Gardens is a digital platform founded by Nelson ZêPequéno in 2017 which highlights the powerful stories of Black men connecting to nature through agriculture and art resulting in a community of over 150,000+ supporters.

With a background in entertainment & event tech, Nelson ZêPequéno has always viewed creative production as an avenue for exploration. Honing his creative practice as a production designer, he now works with companies and nonprofits to design, build and install art, activations and events.

Nelson’s current creative practice weaves together art, culture & community as he facilitates workshops, provides a unique perspective on sustainability through public speaking engagements and project management as a creative producer.

Merci To Our Sponsor For This Episode!

Wilder Botanics

Wilder Botanics is inspired by co-founder Rachel Landon’s 20 years of clinical practice as a naturopath and herbalist and her husband Charlie’s deep-rooted curiosity and love of naturally derived formulations. Wilder is unique in intention, using centuries old naturopathic techniques of infusing, macerating, drying, and tincturing, keeping the methods and stories alive for generations. Their products are created from 100% natural, organic and careful wild crafted herbal ingredients. Shop Wilder on Rêve En Vert!

Antipodean Home Regenerative Bedding

Antipodean Home is a regenerative organic bedding brand born out of New Zealand. They think a naturally healthy home is the foundation for a healthier, happier life. Antipodean works with regenerative cotton, wool, and other materials that come from climate-positive farms with revitalized soil to help remove and absorb excess carbon from the atmosphere. Their farmers use low-impact, regenerative methods that are free from harmful chemicals and pesticides to enhance the land’s natural functions.

Masaya Accent Chair

Masaya is my new sustainable furniture obsession with their incredible seed to seat ethos. After several years of establishing tree farms on deforested cow pastures, Maderas Sostenibles founded a production facility in Managua to fabricate furniture and wood products that continuously capture carbon in our everyday lives through furniture. Inspired by the artisanal nature of Masaya and the rich culture and nature found in Nicaragua, MasayaCo was born. Every design is handmade from renewable solid wood. We plant hundreds of thousands of trees each year. By annually planting more trees than they harvest, a replenishing cycle is established providing both environmental and economic benefits. So far, their designs have planted over 1.2 million trees. We love their accent chairs for a cozy addition to a sustainable guest room!

Avocado Mattress

This mattress is so incredible that after we received one for our own master bedroom, we knew we had to share the experience with guests in the hope that they might want to discover nontoxic mattresses themselves!

Color Co Blinds

My husband and I are so obsessed with these blinds that we have put them in every room of our house pretty much now! These blinds are all plant based and made from ethically sourced and easily renewable bamboo. They are also incredibly well made and unlike so many blinds can really hold up to usage from guests wanting to get a bit of shade in!

Medley Bed & Side Tables

These ethically built pieces are a dream come true for me – I have always wanted a white boucle bed and one made with all natural materials and sustainably sourced wood is the perfect solution. I would take their whole selection and you can find them here! 

Clare Paint

As with every room in our house, we have been wanting to use only non toxic and green guard certified paint. Clare has been my go to for every occasion with this. This is the perfect beige that still has a hint of warmth which we balanced with white floors. They are a female owned business and have gone through every level of sustainable checks for their paints. It’s a joy to work with them and get this colour on the walls!

Citizenry Rug

We have been adamant about wanting to work with independent brands that honour the makers and craftspeople and The Citizenry is great for that. They are 100% Fair Trade and a member of the WFTO. This rug was made in Mexico and I love that it is made from all natural wool.

Salt Farm Flowers

I truly don’t think you can do anything more lovely for your guests than having fresh flowers in the summer months….I am trying very hard to only have seasonal and local flowers in the house and have been thrilled to find a sustainable flower grower only 20 minutes away from us. So I have been making sure to support them whenever I want to include a beautiful and welcoming bouquet for our guests!

Follow along the day to day journey @corahilts on instagram! 

The average American household uses an incredible amount of unsustainable energy. Residential energy use accounts for roughly 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. In especially affluent suburbs, these emissions can be 15 times higher than nearby neighborhoods. These energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stem from heating, cooling, and powering households, and we are nowhere near decarbonizing fast enough to hit climate goals we need to. Running our electricity sources off of fossil fuels is a huge issue we have as a country, and it’s going to take new, disruptive companies and technologies to make the change.

Jamie and I were adamant that we needed a green energy source to run all of the electric appliances we were going to invest in, but a few meetings with different companies who would install solar panels for us left us reeling at the cost. Whether we put them in our field or on our roof, we were looking at more expense than we could afford. However, for anyone looking in Maine Efficiency Maine does amazing loan options if you would truly like to invest in these!

Enter onto the scene our discovery of Arcadia, a community solar company that was the solution for us and a solution for many other Americans. Two-thirds of Americans can’t take advantage of rooftop solar for various reasons. At Arcadia, they’re building technology to connect you with a local solar farm so you can get all the benefits of solar with none of the hassle.

Their founder, Kiran, grew up in Appalachia, a region heavily impacted by the coal industry. He knew there had to be a better energy solution. In 2014, he started Arcadia to give people an easy way to choose renewable energy. Since he began,  Arcadia has expanded to unlock clean energy for customers in all 50 states.

So how does it work? When the solar farm generates electricity, your community gets clean energy and you get savings on your power bill — up to 10% off your conventional bill and I can attest to our costs having gone down since we joined with Arcadia! The sign up took just a few minutes with no credit checks – it was an amazing experience to be able to make such an impactful change with so little effort.

In connecting home to local solar farms helps increase demand for clean energy which will increase the amount of clean energy within a power grid. We have been able to plan for the big changes like heat pumps, a car charger and an electric water heater knowing they would be running off of electricity that was coming from a more sustainable source than solely fossil fuels. It’s been an incredibly positive experience to enroll in community solar at a time when there is such negative news about the climate crisis. 

None of these investments have been cheap, but we chose to prioritize our heating and car over other renovations in the house and I cannot encourage new home owners to consider doing the same enough. We are in the midst of a climate crisis that is being felt more and more each days – droughts, heat waves, forest fires and food scarcity are all now realities and if you are in a position to look at your own lifestyle and make impacts that are so important then I do feel it’s our responsibility to do so. 

Please join me in signing up for Arcadia with a special link to give you $10 off your first electricity bill here! 

Follow along the day to day journey @corahilts on instagram! 

I have long been committed to eco-friendly cleaning brands and making sure that my husband and I were keeping chemicals out of our home. As I learned more about what was in conventional cleaning products I felt that we needed to be making sure that what we were using was as natural as possible for various reasons.

The average household contains about 62 toxic chemicals, say environmental experts. We’re exposed to them routinely — from the phthalates in synthetic fragrances to the noxious fumes in oven cleaners. Ingredients in common household products have been linked to asthma, cancer, reproductive disorders, hormone disruption and neurotoxicity.

There are also numerous “all-purpose” cleaning products on the market. These products usually contain detergents, grease-cutting agents, solvents and/or disinfectants. The specific chemicals in these ingredients include ammonia, ethylene glycol monobutyl acetate, sodium hypochlorite and/or trisodium phosphate. Depending on the ingredients used, all-purpose cleaners can irritate the skin, eyes, nose and throat. They can be highly poisonous to both humans and animals if swallowed. And if we look beyond human health, none of these ingredients are good for the environment or our waterways, and oftentimes have been manufactured by chemical companies I would rather not support as well!

Whilst I have been finding quite a few clean and plant based cleaning products I have loved using, when it came to sustainability there were a lot of issues with packaging and accountability that kept them from being perfect in my eyes. Nothing seemed to tick every box. So when Holly who had founded byMATTER reached out to us it was a dream partnership to get to feature an incredible cleaning brand that was carbon negative and with fully recyclable packaging. It felt like a line we could really fully get behind.

When the products arrived at our house in Maine, I was thrilled with how beautiful they looked and smelled. After three years of research and development, the brand is truly formed around both science and design to provide incredible results within all purpose cleaning and prolonging the life of our clothing before they need to be laundered. 

byMATTER is powered by plant-based surfactants and active probiotics.Their  fast-working solution includes carefully selected probiotics that work at a molecular level to outcompete and eventually eliminate odour-causing bacteria. Their products are 100% non-toxic and safe and made with 100% natural origin fragrance. You can truly smell the lavender and eucalyptus included within the bottles, and my husband even asked what I had been spraying on his sweaters as he loved it so much (cleaning is not normally something that excites him!). 

Their packaging uses mainly glass and aluminum because both have much higher actual recycling rates than plastic and can be infinitely recycled. They are using solar energy in production, and manufacturing with ECOCERT-approved ingredients. They offset their end-to-end CO2 emissions using certified CO2 offsetting projects, and have already protected 278,600 square meters of rainforest in the Madre de Dios region in Peru. On top of all of this, they are also a 1% For the Planet member.

At a time when all of us can really do with eliminating as many toxins as possible from our lifestyle, this minimal brand is providing maximum results in this arena. It has truly been a joy to add the another day freshener to our laundry room, and anything that prevents me from having to do less washing and use less energy and resources is something I will always advocate for as a wider solution to human consumption. The cleaner has truly been effective within our kitchen, and again almost works as a natural diffuser in leaving a beautiful if subtle scent behind. 

I am thrilled to have byMATTER as our first cleaning brand here on Rêve En Vert, and would encourage you all to explore the line further HERE! 

Follow along the day to day journey @corahilts on instagram!