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The Green Room: A Small Town Store with a Big Idea
February 24, 2010 by admin
Another inspiring innovation comes to us from Courtenay BC, where eco-conscious entrepreneurs Rebecca Wood and Cortney Upham run The Green Room, the humble city’s first all environmentally-friendly housewares and gift store. With organic bath and body products, non-toxic cleaning products, locally made giftware, reclaimed jewelry, recycled glassware and of course, bamboo towels and baby products, The Green Room certainly covers all bases when it comes to customer convenience and the source for all things green.
Having the chance to speak with Rebecca, it was no surprise to learn that both she and Cortney hopped on the eco-bandwagon early. “We were both starting to change our lifestyles by biking to work etc. in hopes of moving towards a more eco-friendly lifestyle.” What inspired this change? Knowledge. Suddenly becoming aware of the incredible use of pesticides, the chemical production of cotton and other day-to-day products provided a jarring paradigm shift. “We just felt more at ease using earth-friendly and locally made products and especially knowing where things came from.”
Not being a big online shopper but noticing that the only source for eco-friendly purchasing was online, the duo got to work researching how best to meet the needs of the Courtenay community in an environmentally-friendly way. Like any business fighting the good fight, Rebecca and Cortney definitely faced their share of challenges at first. “There are a lot of limitations when you’re looking for products completely eco-friendly produced. Even within bamboo there are often complications with the processing.” Finally, on September 29th 2008, The Green Room opened.
The Green Room has created a very positive response so far, Rebecca tells me. Customers have even suggested or requested green products for the store to carry and the number of returning customers continues to increase. Getting costumers educated and spreading the word is their most important mandate says Rebecca, and it is also an effective means of marketing. “If we can get the customers educated and confident about the product, the trend will hopefully stick in Courtenay.”
Although, even with the positive responses The Green Room still faces challenges unique to its location. Rebecca observes that “people tend not to spend much on shopping in Courtenay. Consumerism or materialism is not an issue, it’s just not the lifestyle.” Moreover, the business faces less traffic due to its location just off the beaten main street path. However, being situated close to a bustling coffee shop, beautiful courtyard and busy market selling local BC products certainly helps The Green Room generate attention.
The Green Room’s story certainly acts as an inspiration to anyone looking to change the world starting with their own backyard. As a model for all small businesses, Rebecca and Cortney’s eco-friendly mandate is admirable not only for the products they offer but the for education they provide their customers.
A FREE event worth the world to attend in Vancouver
February 23, 2010 by admin
Green Glamour, a benefit for Sustainable Living
**Happening this Thursday, Feb. 25!!!**
FREE ADMISSION
HUNDREDS OF $$$DOLLARS in products and services being offered for just loonies and toonies, with all proceeds being donated to the Stanley Park Ecological Society.
This event needs your RSVP! http://shoo-foo.com/en/ february-event-rsvp/
Eco-friendly businesses in your neighbourhood have joined forces to bring you Green Glamour, A benefit event for sustainable living with free admission, pampering services, food, drinks and eco-friendly door prizes! The event hopes to celebrate sustainable living within our beautiful city of Vancouver, right at the heart of an international event like the Olympics.
For just loonies and toonies you are invited to get:
A manicure (By She to Shic),
An acupuncture facial (By SKN),
A massage (by Footprints Healing Arts)
Your makeup done (by Arbonne)
…AND be photographed by a professional photographer (PhotoArt by Simpson)
PLUS!!!
Listen to music by Vancouver soul musician Racquel Villagante and The Autumn Portrait
Drink coffee by Doi Chang
Eat chocolate from Cocoa Nymph
Try samples from Trillium Soaps and Candles
Win a door prizes from:
And more to come!
This event needs your RSVP! http://shoo-foo.com/en/ february-event-rsvp/
*ALL PROCEEDS OF THE EVENT WILL GO TOWARDS THE STANLEY PARK ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY.*
Time and place: The event will take place on February 25 from 7 to 11 p.m. at Jacana Art Gallery which is graciously donating their venue for this ‘green’ evening. Address is 2435 Granville Street, Vancouver BC. View the invite here: http://shoo-foo.com/en/green-glamour/
Thanks to the many generous doners who will be offering their services and resources free of charge to help promote sustainable living in our beautiful city!
Please forward this message to those who would like to hear about this event!
Shoo-Foo releases special ‘Vancouver’ souvenir bamboo gym towels
February 10, 2010 by admin
Vancouver Souvenir Bamboo Towels by Shoo-Foo
The towels are a great addition to retailers already carrying the Shoo-Foo brand of products as a special order to accommodate the influx of tourists that will be in the country during February. Wholesale orders can be made immediately, come in groups of four and each roll is still wrapped with the signature Shoo-Foo ribbon, keeping the product eco-friendly and free of excess packaging – one of the operating principles of Shoo-Foo. Singles can be purchased at retail price through the Shoo-Foo e-boutique at www.shoo-foo.com.
Vancouver towel souvenirs are expected to be popular not only during the Olympics, but all year round in the internationally-minded city of Vancouver, which receives about 8 million visitors each year.
Wholesalers click here to order Vancouver souvenir bamboo gym towels.
New Organic Bamboo Linens Launched as Eco-Friendly and Health-Conscious Choice for Consumers
January 20, 2010 by admin
For immediate release, Dec. 10, 2009
For a true ecologist, caring for the planet is a job that goes to bed with you. That’s where Shoo-Foo’s new organic bamboo sheets come in handy.
The new line of bed linens was launched recently as a response to customer pleas who have, until now, have been enjoying the Canadian brand’s high quality, super absorbent, cashmere-soft towels made from bamboo viscose – a new and emerging product for the eco-friendly consumer.
“We have been asked by so many of our clients over the last year. People like the softness of our bamboo towels on their skin and the next question was: do you have bed linens?” says Shoo-Foo founder, Dany Filion.
The new bed sheets come with all the known benefits of bamboo fibers, being made 100 per cent from naturally antibacterial and hypoallergenic materials that are eco-friendly. Not only that, the sheets are breathable, which makes them fitting with any temperature, especially for those who suffer from thermal problems, such as hot or cold flashes.
“With these bamboo sheets, your body doesn’t need to fight to maintain its body temperature. This ‘fight’ is usually at the origin of feeling hot. When you suffocate under a fabric which doesn’t breath well – silk for example – your body starts to sweat, then the sweat on your body makes you feel cold,” explains Filion.
Filion adds the product will also appeal to those who suffer from sensitive skin, since the “biological nature of bamboo keeps germs and fungus away, so bamboo linens stay fresh longer. For people with sensitive skin, it’s a must because it’s a bacteria-free environment.”
The fabric also possesses a luxurious feel, with a 300 thread count and “a very sober design”, coming in a violet-gray colour (called “wild rice”), with ivory accents that could suit any room design, whether classic or contemporary.
The linens currently come in queen sizes, with twin and other colours becoming available in the fall. Orders and gift registries can be made online at www.shoo-foo.com, or for the in-store experience, the following retailers are already carrying stock, with more to come soon:
Organix on Granville Island
Noyma in Montreal
Dream with me in Nanaimo
The linens, which are a new product to the Canadian market, will also be featured for the first time at the EPIC convention in Vancouver, as well as the fall Alberta Gift Show and the August Montreal Gift Show.
About Shoo-Foo:
Shoo-Foo was born in 2006 when owner Dany Filion learned that cotton and textile production was causing major harm to the planet. Bamboo on the other hand is organic, free of pesticides, naturally antibacterial and sourced from one of earth’s most sustainable and naturally renewable plants. It is also four times more absorbent than cotton, which makes it great for towels. Thus, a bamboo towel line was launched, followed by a collection of bamboo baby products in 2008, and now, in late 2009, bamboo bed linens.
Shoo-Foo’s products are ethically manufactured in China close to bamboo forest and transported by ocean freight to Canada to ensure the smallest ecological footprint possible. Packaging of products is no more than a cotton ribbon that displays the Shoo-Foo logo, while boxes are reused for shipping and warehouse space is shared for even more sustainable responsibility.
Contact info:
To arrange an interview or for more information, please contact:
Dany Filion, President & Founder
604.783.4806, dany@shoo-foo.com
To become a retailer or to purchase products, please visit:
www.shoo-foo.com
Ecologist grows bamboo business with planet-saving towels
January 20, 2010 by admin
When coffee accidentally spills on a hundred-something year old wooden table (worth thousands), owner of Shoo-Foo Eco Linens, Dany Filion dashes to her display towels and comes to the rescue with the absorbent power of bamboo fibers. In seconds the pressing of her towels against the wood dry up moisture and leave no trace behind.
“This should be a commercial! Where’s our camera?” She jokes, while the rest of the room stares tensely, wondering if the precious antique will survive. “There, now let’s sit down and please, have some cookies” are her proceeding words.
After sitting in an ancient, ornately decorated chair, the atmosphere calms down and one can’t help but think, ‘THIS, is sooooo cool.’
Filion started Shoo-Foo when a light bulb went on in her head back in 2006. She was reading about developments in bamboo usage for creating textiles. The same article revealed that cotton production, with the many chemicals used to treat the plant, was heavily damaging the environment. Bamboo on the other hand was organic, free of pesticides, naturally antibacterial and sourced from one of earth’s most sustainable plants. It was also four times more absorbent than cotton. Go figure – why not make towels out of it?
At that point, the Quebec born, ecologist-trained entrepreneur who spent more than 10 years living in China made a firm decision that she would be part of the bamboo textile movement.
“This project (Shoo-Foo) brings all my professional experience together…ecology, Chinese culture and business venture; you’ve got them all into the Shoo-Foo project. That makes me feel at home, this impression of being at the right place at the right time,” she describes.
From then on, it was action upon action. The bamboo convert registered her business name and began forming alliances with suppliers in China. At the time, no other Canadian company was doing the same.
Filion was a well-seasoned business woman ready for more adventure. Having built two retail companies – one selling antique furniture and the other an art gallery still in existence – Shoo-Foo was going to be a fresh slice of pie; it was born wholesale.
“I had been looking for a fun wholesale business to do for a little while. Being otherwise in the art business, a very volatile business, I was looking for something else…which can bring – at a business angle – a little more financial stability,” she recalls.
For spreading eco love, it made a lot of sense. Today production is still onsite, near bamboo forest in China, thus cutting down transport pollution. Large quantities are made at a time, which Filion calls “less energivore.” When complete, orders are sent by boat directly to their final retail destinations, leaving as few footprints on the earth as possible.
Filion cherry-picked the manufacturers she would work with in China. The deal was rolled out upfront: security and health of workers, the environment, ethics and quality control were not to be compromised.
“We…make sure we always share the same values.”
Filion hates packaging. If it weren’t said in words, it would be in action. Boxes are reused and towels aren’t wrapped in anything but a cloth ribbon displaying the Shoo-Foo logo. Office and warehouse space is shared.
In 2007, Shoo-Foo launched a Web site and set out to attend tradeshows across the country, giving it true Canadian reach. Retailers loved it and signed on. Then attention was, and still is being, brought to end users at shows such as EPIC.
“Bamboo is still very new on the market and very few people know about it, so we…generate direct experience for the consumers.”
And that she does:
“Most People love the softness and absorbency of bamboo fabric. The only concern I heard up to now is, once we convert yourself to bamboo linens, you don’t know what to do with all the other linens you have in your closet!”
In Fall, 2008, Shoo-Foo launched a baby line and now is moving into bed linens. Filion says sales are rising and popularity is growing weekly. The goal is that the Shoo-Foo brand will become a main reference to quality bamboo linens on the market.
“We want to offer a good quality alternative to cotton in the realm of home linens…that would help diminishing the need for growing cotton, which is a very damageable culture for the environment.”
For Filion, love of planet earth has become a means of survival. She hopes her efforts will in turn help earth survive. And so, the quest continues…
“We will constantly look for new ways to support choices for a healthy lifestyle and a low eco-footprint…And we truly love bamboo!”
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