Clear Conscience Blog | J.R. Watkins Naturals

Believe it or not, summer is just around the corner, which means people will be gearing up for summer travel. How can you make your travel more green?

1.    If you’re making a long trip, check to see if there’s a train or bus going to the same destination. With the rising gas prices, it may be better for the environment and your pocketbook to take public transportation.

2.    Try using one of JR Watkins Natural Travel Kits, which will take up less space in your bag. JR Watkins offers a wide array of travel kits from the Life’s a Beach Kit to the Lotion Devotion Kit.

3.    Take a water bottle with you instead of buying a new plastic water bottle every time you need your thirst quenched.

Hopefully these tips will help you go green during your summertime trips – safe travels everyone!

What are your eco-friendly travel tips?  Share your ideas with the other readers in the comments!

Welcome to our fifth blog post that goes behind the scenes with Watkins product experts. This week’s question is:

What steps has JR Watkins taken to make product packaging more eco-friendly?

Amy Opseth, Associate Product Manager – Apothecary:

Our packaging is easily recyclable, and we urge our customers to recycle wherever facilities exist. We also use soy-based ink in our labels, sleeves and hang tags. There are also internal practices in place, such as gravity-fed filling processes to cut back on energy use. For our travel kits, we have recently transitioned to a PEVA material in place of our former vinyl bags, as the PEVA material is more environmentally friendly. We will soon be offering larger 16-ounce sizes in the hair care category to provide more uses per bottle. We are constantly looking for eco-friendly alternatives.

What are some ways you recycle your JR Watkins products’ bottles and packaging? Let us know in the comments!

We love Earth Day! But how did it get started? After witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif., a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, started Earth Day.

Now, Earth Day Network works with 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. There are more than 1 billion Earth Day participants every year, which makes it the largest civic observance in the world.

Here are some ideas for how you and your family can celebrate Earth Day:

• Care2 came out with a list of the ten best movies to watch for Earth Day, including: March of the Penguins, An Inconvenient Truth, FernGully, Dances with Wolves and Wall-E.

• Now that it finally feels like spring, use JR Watkins All Purpose Cleaner to do some spring-cleaning. In fact, we have a special Earth Day offer that’s good until 6 pm CST today: Buy the Aloe & Green Tea Dish Soap and receive the Grapefruit All Purpose Cleaner at a special price ($1 US/$1.50 Canada). Use promo code EDTWIT11 at checkout.

• Cook a special Earth Day meal. Try one of these raw food recipes from the We Like it Raw Blog. You can even decorate the table with recycled decorations made by you and your friends and family.

Do you have any special Earth Day plans? 

Welcome to our fourth blog post that goes behind the scenes with Watkins product experts. This week’s question is:

What makes a product “all natural”? Are there special eco-friendly processes for extracting ingredients?

Jessica Looman, Associate Product Manager: 

Good question! The word ‘natural’ is not regulated in the marketplace, making it difficult for consumers to identify truly natural products. We follow the Natural Products Association (NPA) guidelines as close as we can while maintaining efficacy of the product. “All Natural” means that the ingredients are not harmful to the environment. Some extraction processes can release Hexane, a known toxin, which can cause nervous system failure with long-term exposure. On many of our personal care and home care items, you will find the seal of the Natural Products Association. This seal ensures compliance with their standards for natural, as we are required to submit thorough documentation on each ingredient we use and ensures that they do not include ingredients that use the processes that release Hexane.

Why do you choose JR Watkins Natural products? Let us know in the comments!

Everyone loves a delicious Sunday brunch. Try preparing this Raspberry & Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake for your family or friends this Sunday and see what they think.

Cake
2 ½ cups/600 mL flour
3/4 cups/180 mL sugar
1 tsp/5 mL Watkins Cinnamon
1 cup/250 mL (2 sticks) butter, cold
1/2 tsp/2.5 mL Watkins Baking Powder
1/2 tsp/2.5 mL baking soda
1/4 tsp/1.2 mL salt
3/4 cup/180 mL sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp/5 mL Watkins Vanilla Extract

Filling
1 pkg (8 oz/227 g) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup/60 mL sugar
½ tsp Watkins Vanilla Extract
1 egg
1/2 cup/125 mL raspberry preserves

Glaze (optional)
1 ½ cup/375 mL powdered sugar
½ tsp Watkins Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp water

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Remove 1/2 cups/125 mL of crumbs for topping. To remaining crumb mixture add baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, egg and vanilla extract; blend well. Spread batter over bottom of 8 x 8-inch/20 x 20-cm baking pan.

For filling: In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and eggs; blend well. Pour over batter in pan. Carefully spoon preserves evenly over filling. Sprinkle 1 cup of reserved crumbs over preserves. Bake before adding glaze.

Glaze: combine powdered sugar, water and vanilla, drizzle on top of coffee cake.

Bake at 350ºF/180ºC for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Serves 8.

What’s your favorite food to have at brunch?

Welcome to our third blog post that goes behind the scenes with Watkins product experts. This week’s question is:

What is the process of creating a new product?

April Heiring, Product Manager:

There are hundreds of necessary tasks performed by various departments to bring a product to market. It takes a tremendous amount of teamwork to get it out the door. First, we perform a competitive analysis and determine why we feel this product is necessary. Then we pitch the idea to the executive and management teams. If they approve, we set our cost parameters, begin formulation work and source packaging components. Once the formulation and packaging are finalized, we roll costs and determine price points. At that point, a pilot lot is completed, at which the product would be put into stability in its designated packaging. Stability is generally 90 days and is done at a few different temperatures to determine a shelf life. Once stability is complete, we release it for production and sale. A comfortable timeline to develop and bring to market a new item is 10-12 months, barring any major changes throughout the development process.

What’s your favorite JR Watkins product? Let us know in the comments!

While you begin your spring-cleaning, think about some ways you can go green!  Our friends at Yahoo! Green came up with a list 25 wasteful things you can live without. Here are some of them:

1.    Tin foil

2.    Paper towels

3.    Paper plates

4.    Disposable razors

5.    Plastic cups

6.    Non-rechargeable batteries

7.    Disposable tablecloths

8.    Paper billing

Little changes can make a big difference in the long run. Be sure to look at the full list on Yahoo! Green’s website.

What little changes have you made in order to go green? What are you going to do differently this spring to ensure you’re being eco-friendly? Post your ideas on our Facebook wall by the end of April for your chance to win a basket of JR Watkins eco-friendly spring cleaning products!

Welcome to our second blog post that goes behind the scenes with Watkins product experts. This week’s question is:

How do you decide which scent goes with which product?

Jessica Looman, Associate Product Manager:

When a product already exists and JR Watkins is looking to expand the product line with a new fragrance, we often consult sales data, talk to fragrance vendors about the latest up-and-coming fragrances and research trends. The process is very similar for new product launches as well. We choose fragrances based on both data and inspiration. Sometimes customers will call with suggestions and, now that we’re on Facebook and Twitter, customers have the opportunity to share their opinions through polls and suggestions.

Readers, do you have a suggestion for a new JR Watkins scent? Let us know in the comments!

Happy April! Earlier this week our friends at Yahoo! Green shared six fun projects for the spring garden. Here in Minnesota, the temperatures still don’t feel too spring-like, but maybe they do in your neighborhood.

Here are some garden ideas to get you started this spring…

1. Build a Compost Bin
2. Make an Upside-Down Tomato Planter
3. Build a Self-Watering Container

Be sure to check out the other three tips. If you enjoy DIY gardening projects, Care2 has also shared 10 great spring garden projects.

Are you feeling like spring yet? What are some of your favorite DIY gardening projects?