If the name Burt Shavitz doesn’t ring a bell, his brand name certainly will. The Burt’s Bees cofounder and namesake has passed away at the age of 80.

“We remember him as a bearded, free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land,” reads a statement taken from the Burt’s Bees website. “Above all, he taught us to never lose sight of our relationship with nature.”

Burt Shavitz began his love affair with bees in the 1930s when an acquaintance gave him everything he needed to keep bees, except the hive. When Burt discovered a swarm of bees on a fencepost after a rainstorm, he proclaimed it an act of God and thus began his career as beekeeper.

What started as a small beeswax candle making venture with goods hocked at craft fairs, eventually turned into a multi-million dollar skincare and beauty company. Shavitz and co-candle creator, Roxanne Quimby, eventually began creating personal care products, which can be found on store shelves far and wide today.

Burt’s name may be on the label, but he missed out on much of the Burt’s Bees fortune. He traded his stake in the company to Quimby in 1999 for a house in Maine worth $130,000. But Shavitz was obviously not bothered by this avoidance of fortune, quoted as saying, “Money is nothing really worth squabbling about. This is what puts people six feet under.”

In his final years, Shavitz enjoyed living on his land and watching the native wildlife, including bees. To chime in with thoughts and condolences use #BurtLivesOn on social media.

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Image of Burt’s Bees by marie b. Flickr.com, cc

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Don’t you just love when a good thing gets even better? If you like Target (and who doesn’t?), you are going to love the expanded Target Subscriptions.

Did you know Target has a subscription service? Well, yes they do. And, as with all things Target, it’s a dandy. Think Amazon, but only the stuff you shop in person on the regular.

The best part of Target’s subscription program is that it includes beauty products. And Targ carries some quality beauty that is also pure and safe. Yep, products free from harmful ingredients, from one of your favorite stores, sent directly to your home, on a regular basis. Definitely a better-your-life trick to add to your beauty resolutions list this year.

We’re all busy. How convenient to get your most used items delivered? The upshot is not just that you will never find yourself out of your special stash, but it will even save you some green.

How does that happen? Aside from the impulse buying you will not be taking part in by frequenting the actual store less often, Target offers some pretty special savings to its subscription members. You’ll get 5% off all orders, free shipping, plus an additional 5% off when you use your REDcard. You pick your items and set the delivery schedule.

Now, let’s get back to shopping those healthy products. Add these to your Target Subscriptions.

Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil // The perfect skin conditioner, pregnant or not. Made with sweet almond and lemon oils, and vitamin E to support and hydrate skin.

Burt’s Bees Lip Balm // These beeswax based balms are smooth, super conditioning, and taste great. Stock up and stash them in desks, drawers, gym bags, purses, backpacks…

SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter infused with Frankincense & Myrrh // Perfect for calming and repairing dry skin. Use on body, hands, and feet for the whole family.

SheaMoisture Lemongrass & Ginger Hand & Body Scrub // Exfoliate, moisturize, and soothe with this invigorating sugar scrub. Use on hands and feet too.

Honest Organic Belly Balm // Formulated for pregnant bellies, but this gentle balm is suitable for anyone. Use to soften and heal skin.

Honest All Natural Hand Sanitizer Gel with Aloe // Keep one in the car and another near sinks to keep hands (little and big) clean and germ free. Mild scent.

Honest Mandarin Foaming Hand Soap // Lightly scented citrus soap that gets hands clean sans the harsh chemicals.

Check out all of our recommendations here: 

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Image of woman receiving delivery via Shutterstock

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The best of EcoSalon’s stories this week.

We adore all our readers, but some of them simply blow us away – like Shannon Galpin, founder of Mountain2Mountain who is  working to empower women in Afghanistan and beyond.

Did you know the remarkable story behind Burt’s Bees – the good and the bad?

If you’ve been watching HBO’s Game of Thrones, you’ll know that Daenerys Targaryen is one tough cookie. In the words of the actress who plays her, Emilia Clarke, “she’s an incredibly strong and powerful woman who doesn’t come into her own until much later on.” (So keep watching!)

Being a foodie is all too often equated with being a snob – and Anna Brones is keen to point out that it’s not all heaps of succulent decadence. Sometimes, simple really is best (as long as it tastes good, of course).

Finally, how many times have you checked Facebook today? Or while you were reading this article? Do you think you have an addiction? If so, try a few of our 20 things to do instead of browsing through your Facebook updates.

The post Friday 5: The Other People Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

A look at what happens when a small, personal care company gets acquired by the big guys.

The story of Burt’s Bees is humble enough. In the 1990s, a woman named Roxanne Quimby met a beekeeper named Burt Shavitz, and together they launched a small line of honey and beeswax products, which they sold at craft fairs in Maine.

But soon after, Quimby took the reins, buying out Burt’s shares, growing sales, and ultimately selling Burt’s Bees to the Clorox Company for $913 million in 2007. Wait, Clorox as in bleach? Yes, the very same. It sounds like a classic story of the little guy selling out to the big guy. Or is it? This week’s Behind the Label takes a look at the surprising results of corporate acquisitions in the green space.

The Good

From the start, Burt’s Bees has described itself as an “earth friendly, natural, personal care company” that operates in alignment with what it calls The Greater Good™.

The Greater Good™ is the highest ethical choice any of us can make to maximize our overall well-being. That means doing what’s best for you, your family and the environment. At Burt’s Bees, ensuring The Greater Good™ for our consumers, our employees and the world around us is a hard job, but we do it by adhering to a strong set of beliefs that we apply to every choice we make, every day.

In line with this principle, Burt’s Bees produces more than 150 products, most with a honey or beeswax base and all produced with natural ingredients and socially responsible business practices. A sampling of these practices can be found by examining one of Burt’s Bees’ best-selling products, their replenishing lip balm.

Among its clearly outlined beliefs and commitments, Burt’s Bees believes that natural products should be 100 percent natural. Together with the Natural Products Association and other leading Natural Personal Care Companies, Burt’s pioneered The Natural Standard for Personal Care Products, a set of guidelines that helps to define what a “natural” personal care product is and what it is not. Products that fill the bill are branded with a Natural Seal, which indicates that the product has met guidelines related to natural ingredients, safety, animal testing, and packaging. While only half of Burt’s Bees’ existing products qualify as 100 percent natural, the company is open about working toward complicity across the entire product line, and each product’s “percent natural” is clearly indicated on its packaging.

Burt’s Bees also works to ensure safe working conditions in the sourcing of its ingredients, maintain a strong stand against animal testing, and use packaging made with high levels of post consumer recycled materials. The company also pledges at least 10 percent of all burtsbees.com sales revenue to partners through The Burt’s Bees Greater Good Foundation.

The Bad

In 2007, Burt’s Bees was acquired by the Clorox Company for a reported $913 million. The Clorox acquisition allowed the Burt’s Bees brand to expand throughout major retailers across the country, including Walmart, Target, and CVS. The Clorox Company highlights Burt’s Bees as a success story in the media, and the company continues to report Lifestyle Brand sales growth in its fiscal reports.

But that hasn’t stopped environmental groups and conscious consumers from labeling Burt’s Bees as a sell-out and dismissing its products because of negative connotations associated with the Clorox brand. The Clorox Company is one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies in the country, with a large portfolio of brands like 409, Liquid Plumr, Pine-Sol, and Tilex. Not to mention its flagship brand: a bleach product that environmentalists say is harmful to the environment (the company maintains that Clorox bleach is perfectly safe, since bleach essentially comes from and degrades into salt).

What good could possibly result from this acquisition?

The Questionable

As it turns out, there’s more than might meet the eye. In 2006, the Clorox Company identified sustainability as one of four mega-trends that it wanted to pursue in terms of potential business opportunities. Soon after, the company acquired Burt’s Bees, repositioned Brita as a sustainable brand, and launched Green Works, a line of “green” household cleaning products.

When Clorox acquired Burt’s, it was explicit about its desire to learn more about sustainable business practices and become a major player in the green space by introducing sustainable household products, like the Green Works line, into the mainstream. According to GreenBiz.com:

Clorox attributed the success to the company overcoming three common consumer complaints about green products: They don’t work, are hard to find, and cost too much. “The products that are explicitly green we want to get them to same prices as conventional products,” (Clorox CEO Don) Knauss said. “If we could give people a natural option at the same price that they would pay for a conventional cleaner, for example, we think we could explode the category and really make it part of the mainstream.”

This kind of commitment to making sustainable products accessible is pretty incredible. And according to Knauss, the acquisition of Burt’s Bees has inspired Clorox to incorporate more sustainable practices across the board, from setting new goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water use, and waste, to replacing its sales cars with hybrids.

So while Burt’s Bees may have “sold out” by joining the Clorox Company, the deal may have had much more positive consequences across the corporation’s brands than was immediately evident. And while purchasing power is better spent on honey and beeswax products from a vendor at a crafts fair, in a pinch and if your only option is the local Duane Reade, at least a Burt’s Bees purchase will confirm to Clorox that sustainability is a solid investment.

SEE ALSO:

Behind the Label: H&M’s Conscious Collection

Behind the Label: McDonald’s See What We’re Made Of Campaign

Behind the Label: Levi Strauss’ E-Valuate Program

Behind the Label: Chipotle, Food With Integrity

Behind the Label: West Elm Green

Behind the Label: TOMS’ One for One Campaign

Behind the Label: Design Within Reach

Image: Claire

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