This Week's Green Home Special:
Shea butter, the ultimate skin moisturizer and more, now available in eco-friendly packaging, on sale at Greenhome.com!

Imagine a community project farm in the middle of Ghana where hundreds of underprivileged Muslim women in a rural area earn a right livelyhood producing the finest quality shea butter. Then imagine a company in Northern California that partners with them to bring it to market here in the US in the first ever completely compostable packaging. Now imagine that shea butter is a totally sustainable crop that may be the finest conditioner nature provides to us for the skin. Well, you don't have to imagine, because the product is real and available for the first time right here on Greenhome.com.

The source of our shea butter is an IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements' Standards) award-winning farm that works in close cooperation with two local Ghanese women's groups, with programs to educate the children about local agriculture, and offering fair hours and a fair wage to the workers. This farm aims at poverty reduction through the empowerment of women. The farming project involves about 600 women and 5 villages in the center and north of Ghana, covering an area of 1000 hectares.

The women who are part of this wonderful collective gather the fruit of the Karite tree and process it the way it's been processed for hundreds of years. They dry and then roast the seeds of the Karite fruit, which are called nuts, then crush them, and then roll them into balls and put them in troughs with heated clean water. Oil from the nuts rises to surface. They then skim off the oil, separate it from the debris and the nut shell, then sell the cooled and hardened shea butter to their cooperative, which has obtained USDA Organic certification for the butter. When it arrives in Northern CA, Organic Essence carefully places it into the world's first completely biodegradable paper jar.

All the shea butter is delivered to Green Home’s new favorite partner, Organic Essence, in these beautiful hand woven baskets. The making of the baskets supports several dozen more families. The butter has uniquely obtained NOP (part of USDA) certification for Organic.

Shea butter varies tremendously in color, look, smell and quality. The shea butter we are offering here is absolutely the highest quality. Totally hand-made, it has a clean, pure smell and feel. Some people say if it's not stinky it's not the real thing, but that's not true. The whole production of the butter relies on very primitive processes, actually separating the butter naturally and slowly and by hand. Because the whole process is under certification, working with clean water, heavily screening the extracted oil, the result is a highly refined, ultra-luxury product. All the top sellers of shea butter, except the one we've found, are not USDA certified.

Shea butter is truly a magical product. It is an extreme moisturizer. It is used in hospitals and burn centers for burns. It's also well-known as being very effective for stretch marks. It is high in Vitamin A, E & essential fatty acids. Studies have shown that it invigorates capillaries, improving blood flow to the skin. It softens dry calluses, and is actually a mild sunscreen with about a 6 SPF. A lot of people who have eczema and psorisis rely on it to ease their suffering. And people who have multiple chemical sensitivities, who are super-allergic to everything, can often use shea butter with no residual effects (definitely get the unscented one). It also works wonderfully as a massage cream or make-up remover. Also a therapeutic moisturizer for rashes, wrinkles, and scars.

Not only is this butter Fair Trade USDA Certified Organic, but the entire container is biodegradable! The label is printed with soy ink on 100% post-consumer-waste FSC-certified paper and affixed with an organic adhesive and glaze. Simply toss the jar into the compost or plow it under and give it back to the earth. This is one easy way to be good to yourself and your world.

So try a jar of luxurious USDA Certified Organic Shea Butter. It is thick and concentrated for long lasting skin and lip relief from the harsh autumn air and winter chills ahead.

We're offering it in a variety of formulations for the special introductory price of 20% off! Regularly $24.50, this week's price only $19.50.

Available in Unscented Pure Organic Shea Butter, ORGANIC NATURALLY SCENTED Vanilla Orange Shea Cream, Grapefruit Shea Cream, Lavender Shea Cream or Lemongrass Mint Shea Cream.

Greenfully,
The Green Home Team