4 Ways to Avoid Greenwashing

Picture this: You’re newly aboard the wellness train. You’ve got your green juice. You’re tossing candles and swapping perfume for essential oils. You’re considering a water filter, and you’re shopping the outside aisles of the grocery store. 

You get home with a new haul of groceries, cleaning products, and personal care products whose labels read like they were God’s gift to all things clean, natural, and held to the highest standard of health and safety on the market. 

Or are they? 

Enter Greenwashing.

Greenwashing, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, can be defined as “[making] people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.”

So basically, it’s the tale as old as time: Sneaky Marketing 101.

Any Madmen fans remember this line? 

"Everybody else's tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strike's is... toasted." - Don Draper, Mad Men

A la Don’s usage of toasted, by slapping words like natural, clean, fresh, pure, etc. onto labels of everything from aluminum foil to Z-bars and everything in between, how does one know what products are really green and safe?

Step 1: Beware the sneaky, subliminal marketing messages.

Branding gurus love using the color green to help you think something is safe and clean. In the same vein, if you see a cozy koala or any other animal for that matter on the label, your brain likely sends a little message saying, “Aw, cute little kangaroo. They must care about animals. This is probably safe!” Same scenario if you see the words pure, environmentally friendly, natural, eco-friendly, green, fresh, preservative-free, non-gmo, and even organic! 

If you see this, don’t just robotically add to cart. Instead….

Step 2: Read the label.

Rule A#1: If you see the word “fragrance” pass that baby to the left, to the left. The word fragrance can be used to mask 1000s -- (1000s!!!) -- of undisclosed chemicals, all in the name of making a scent. We promise, promise once you start side-stepping synthetic fragrances, you will.not.miss.them. For more info on this sneaky ingredient, we recommend watching the documentary Stink!

In addition to fragrance, here are the big ones you definitely want to avoid: 

• Anything ending in “cide” because this signifies pesticides

• Anything anti-bacterial messes up the body’s microbiome and actually harms our immune systems rather than helping them

• For food, be wary of “no sugar added” because this typically means synthetic sugar substitutes have been used

• Essential Oils: make sure they’re organic or wildcrafted

• Anything ending in “ol” or “ene” because these likely mean a petroleum or coal-based original source

• Synthetic preservatives in personal care products such as MIT, BIT, parabens, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, benzalkonium chloride, phenoxyethanol

• Likely a duh, but avoid any dyes in foods as well

We know the list can be overwhelming, so stick with this rule of thumb: The shorter the ingredient list, and the more words you know, the better. 

Step 3: Remember certifications that actually mean something.

The USDA Certified-Organic label is one you can trust whether you’re shopping at Wal-Mart or Whole Foods. If a product simply says “organic” on the label without this certification - this is a red flag.

We also value the Made Safe certification, though this one is definitely hard to come by.

Step 4: Use your tools.

We love the Environmental Working Group (EWG)’s App! You simply enter a food or product brand, and they will give you the safety rating from 0-10. The lower the score, the better.

Use our Trusted Products page for tried and true brands for everything from food/drink to non-toxic living and personal care products!

We know the path to making more mindful product choices can be daunting, and we are more than happy to help guide you. Never hesitate to reach out to us! 

Q&A With R+R Co-founder, Taylor Dukes, MSN-FNP, BC

Today we’re checking in with our R+R Co-founder, Tayor Dukes for all the scoop on her faves from wellness to everyday life. She’s also live on our IG Stories kicking off our #RRtakeover series here.

What does Wellness mean to you?

Healthy from the inside out: body, mind and spirit. You can eat all the healthy food in the world and do all the effective workouts, but if you are not sleeping, focusing on stress relief and truly fulfilled in life- you will not experience true wellness.

George strait says, There’s a difference between living and living well. And living well to me means so much more than just not being sick. I love sleeping well at night, waking up with energy in the morning.

Name three non-negotiables in your life.

Faith. Family. Friends

When it comes to health: Eating well 80% off the time, sleeping at night and using non toxic products

Your fave Instagram accounts to follow?

-Branch Basics

-Mada Leigh

-Dr. Christine Maren

-Mark Hyman

-Parsley Health

Morning routine?

Pre-baby or now, ha? No but really, I wish I had a better morning routine. Let’s go with ideal morning routine. It doesn’t happen every morning but this is it:

Wake up, brush my teeth/face and apply my non-toxic products, put peppermint oil on my head, frankincense on my wrists, drink: lemon water, bone broth and black coffee (in that order), spend time journaling and reading Psalms. While my oils are diffusing :)

Evening routine?

Have a glass of wine some nights, take an Epsom Salt bath, read a book, apply all my oils, take magnesium, get to bed.

Travel essentials?

Magnesium, healthy snacks, supplements, oils

Instant energy boost?

Organic, cold-pressed green juice!

Most used condiment?

Does organic olive oil count? I love Kasandrino’s olive oil or organic dijon mustard.

Favorite smoothie recipe?

I don’t make a ton of smoothies at home but anything on the JuiceLand menu! I love recreating their smoothies at home.

How do you take your coffee (or tea)?

Black and always organic

Go-to cocktail?

Kombucha margarita: Kombucha, tequila, lime, fresh mint or basil

3 ingredients/foods you can't live without?

Avocado, cold-pressed juice, vegetable soups

Go-to gift?

A Day of Wellness at R+R or a Spa Day at Milk + Honey.

How do you reset?

I always start my reset the night before with a good night’s sleep. Eating healthy and cutting out refined sugar, gluten and dairy. Getting a massage, fresh air/sunshine and listening to worship music.

When you feel sickness coming on you…

I do all the things! Prioritize sleep, lots of veggie soups, organic, cold-pressed vegetable juices, no alcohol. Supplements- Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Elderberry, Immunity baths, and Homeopathic remedies based off of symptoms. Anything viral- I take Viracid and Oscillinum.

Thank you Taylor! We loved learning more about you and your daily life! Don’t forget to follow along with Taylor today in our #RRTakeover series on Instagram stories.

Is it allergies, a cold, or a virus?

How often do you feel a sickness coming on, and you immediately start to wonder - is this a cold? allergies? a virus?? For obvious reasons, this can be a little panic-inducing presently, so keep this resource close if/when symptoms do start!

As a place of immunity, Restore and Revive strives to do all we can to encourage preventative health, and the immunity packages grouped by age from Daycare to Adults at the bottom of the post are the best way to stay above the wellness line!

Be sure to catch the IGTV video with our co-founder, Taylor Dukes, on what to take, eat, drink and do in each scenario, but for a quick recap, peek below! PS we sell all of the listed supplements at R+R. Call 817.720.6220 to purchase!

What to take for allergies:

D Hist for adults
D Hist, Jr. for kiddos
Diffuse essential oils for breathing and/or congestion such as Raven, Thieves, RC
Saline rinse
Neil Med Sinus Rinse
Nasal Spray - we prefer Silver or XClear
Consider looking into fungal overgrowth as root cause if allergies are recurrent

What to take for a cold:

Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Zinc
Cold Calm
Essential oils for breathing and/or congestion such as Raven, Thieves, RC
Nasal spray - silver or xclear
Drink fluids, clear broths, bone broth

What to take for the flu or any virus:

Viracid
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Oscillinum
Zinc
Rest, drink fluids, eat cooling foods and fruit if you have a fever
Take lukewarm baths with epsom/magnesium salt and iodine

Above all, stay calm, put away the screen, and let your body rest. We heal when we sleep. All of this said, want to know the best way to treat a cold or flu? Boost your immunity so they never even have a chance! Take advantage of the following age-specific packages to keep your body primed to fight anything that comes its way this sick season!

High School + College + Teacher Immunity Package

• Thorne Zinc Picolinate

• Seeking Health Liposomal Vitamin C Plus

• Throne Vitamin D

• Ortho Molecular Probiotic

• Discounted Price $127

Elementary & Middle School Age Immunity Package

• Metagenics Chewable Multivitamin

• Thorne Vitamin D Drops

• Seeking Health Liposomal Vitamin C Plus

• Klaire Labs Children's Chewable Probiotic

• Discounted Price $124

Day-Care Age Immunity Package

• Boiron Briar Rose

• Thorne Vitamin D Drops

• Seeking Health Infant Probiotic

• Discounted Price $63

We have limited quantities of our immunity packages, so please reserve yours by calling 817.720.6220 today! If you’re not local to Fort Worth, you can always shop our Fullscript link for all of these great brands and more!

GIMME ALL THE IMMUNITY

Check out this post on immune boosting IVs + Shots as the pefect addition to any of the regimens listed!