Hey Green Junkie,
I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about toxins in cleaning, makeup, beauty products, etc.
There are no shortages of alternatives to some of our favorite products but how do we know if those are safe? How are supposed to be able to trust “green” products when so many regulations allow companies to mask toxic ingredients?
I turned to the expert and leader of the Toxic Chemical Rebellion, who didn’t just coin that cheeky term but also built a company that teaches us about toxic-free products and offers safe and trusted alternatives for our homes.
In this episode I will touch on the following:
- What is the toxic chemical rebellion
- How toxic products are actually a social justice issue
- The difference between the EU and Canada/United States when it comes to environmental safety
- The ins and outs of PVA
- Are laundry strips still a good alternative
- Important ingredients to avoid
If you love this podcast be sure to leave a review and share a screenshot of this episode to your IG stories. Tag @thisisstephaniemoram so I can shout you out and publicly say thanks.
Thanks for listening and being here.
Your green bestie,
Xoxo Stephanie
Hang With Kirsten
Resources
https://elvasallnaturals.com/pages/faq-why-we-say-people-planet-pure
Use the code GREENJUNKIE in the notes section when checking out to receive a free gift! https://elvasallnaturals.com/
Previous Episodes Mentioned
#31. What’s Really Hiding in Your Home with Loni Brown
#54. Greenify Your Self-Care and Bathroom Routine With Lorraine Dallmeier
#56. The Hidden Secrets of the Beauty Industry
Sources:
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/6027
Follow Me on Instagram
Follow Me on TikTok
Follow Me on Linkedin
Follow Me on Twitter
Wanna go the extra green mile? Binge (and download) my complimentary audio series to reduce your waste and learn how to consume less in just five days!
Produced by: Alecia Harris
Music By: Liz Fohle
LISTEN BELOW
TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 62
Stephanie Moram 0:00
Hi Green Junkie, it's Stephanie Moram and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Kirsten Pelchat, the co founder of Elva's all naturals. In 2018. Kirsten and her partner founded Elva's all naturals named after her Nana. Before starting her business, she was a music teacher and a classically trained singer. Following her years working for Greenpeace as a teenager, she developed a passion for protecting nature, and creating natural and low waste products that work. Originally from Quebec her and her partner Ian now live in Milton, Ontario, and have four grown children and a rescue dog named Moxie.
Stephanie Moram 0:40
You can head over to my Instagram and Tiktok @thisisstephanimoram, to follow me. And if you want to reduce waste, and learn how to consume less in just five days, you can binge my complimentary audio series, you can find the link in the description. And don't forget to subscribe to the green junkie podcast on whatever platform you get your podcasts. That way you never miss another green living episode.
Stephanie Moram 1:04
Hello, thank you so much for being here.
Kirsten Pelchat 1:08
Oh, it's my pleasure. I'm really, really excited to be here. Thank you, Stephanie, for having me.
Stephanie Moram 1:15
You're very welcome. So let's jump in. My first question is, why did you start your brand? Why did you start LLS? Like, why did you start? You were a teacher you are and you're a singer? And then you shifted to your brand?
Kirsten Pelchat 1:34
Absolutely. It's such a good question. I mean, there's a long answer, I'm going to try to keep it sort of shorter. I'm going to say that it just really had to do with my partner Ian and I, we have just like such a big love of nature. And I'm gonna say it was around 2017 – 2018 that we just have this frank discussion about what kind of world are we leaving behind for our four kids, and our grandchildren and future generations actually going to be able to enjoy any clean water and green space and healthy forest and land. Like we were just really saddened by piles of waste in our landfills and oceans. And you know, the deadly effects of chemical products on both human health and aquatic life that were being flushed down the drain.
Kirsten Pelchat 2:22
So we started to brainstorm about how we could bring about positive change to the very way that people think about how they make a purchase by giving thought to ingredients and packaging. And we just tried to really, we had so many brainstorm sessions over this. And we were like, what if we went against the grain and made products more sustainably from clean ingredients and with sustainable packaging, as in? The idea was like, okay, beep, beep back it up. Let's go back in time, a bit. Like, you know, when my grandparents and my Nana elbow were young things were packaging, glass and metal. And, for example, you know, glass milk jugs were refilled. But now can Yeah, and consumers have been conditioned to expect convenience above all, and products at a certain price point. And it doesn't, you know, regardless of environmental impact, so we just knew that a large amount of consumer education would be needed, because our feeling was that modern society in its very flow, and its infrastructure just feels broken. Like it's consumerism, fast fashion, fast everything, the use and throw mentality, large scale manufacturing. And then, you know, we gave thought to like how products are designed and a big part of how they're designed today is cost. You know, harmful chemicals are cheap, and so much about what about why most products are the way they are in terms of ingredients and packaging is driven by profit. You know, they say, follow the money, if you want to know why things are the way they are about something. Right, and glass and metal packaging are just so much more expensive. And taking back your packaging is more expensive and certified organic and biodynamic ingredients are much more expensive than petrochemicals. So we were aware, you know, when we started that our choice to use really clean and natural ingredients and reusable glass and aluminum packaging would cause the products to be more expensive. And that would need some education. But you know, that was the risk we were willing to take because we felt there really just isn't another way. We don't have an option. We have to fix things, you know,
Stephanie Moram 4:38
Right. So I'm just gonna say the first product that you came out with was the cleaning product, correct?
Kirsten Pelchat 4:44
Right. That's correct. Yeah, that's our flagship product and best seller or one cleaner.
Stephanie Moram 4:54
I just wanted to talk about you had mentioned the concept of the toxic chemical rebellion. I read that also on your site. So why don't you just kind of, you know, talk about that a little bit. What do you mean by that? Because it mean it obviously relates to us starting Elvas all natural, right?
Kirsten Pelchat 5:13
Oh, totally. So it's remote. It's it's basically a term that we coined a few years ago to help define a growing body of consumers and concerned citizens who are pushing back against the use of toxic and traditional industry, chemicals and consumer products. We're a body of people who are raising our voices to oppose the current regulations and not purchase from manufacturers that are allowing chemicals in our products that are scientifically proven to cause harm it. So it isn't just about choosing organic and natural it's also an end about putting an end to buying and selling and making products manufactured on sustainably with toxic ingredients and lobbying for change. So we're not alone in this. I mean, whistleblowers are cropping up everywhere. There's a 2019, CBC documentary by Phyllis Ellis called toxic beauty that I think, absolutely everybody should watch. I watched it with my girls, it made me cry, toxic chemicals in our products. It's just such a social justice issue to the primary consumers of beauty products, or women, and the cheapest products containing the very worst toxic chemicals like things you buy at the dollar store. Those are sadly purchased by the poor. So in 2018, we did a full year of deep dive r&d research. And we learned so much and continued to be shocked, the more we kept reading about studies about the harm that comes from ingredients in our everyday products. And it basically it's like getting them plugged out of the movie, you know, the movie The Matrix, like once you know, you can't unknow so we were really driven to help people wake up to the dangers of chemicals lurking in their products that they don't even know about.
Stephanie Moram 7:11
I think you hit something super like on point is that a lot of people that you know, don't have the means to buy, yes, safer products. are the ones going to the dollar store, or going to the pharmacy and buying bleach because it's cheap or buying whatever, cleaner because it's on sale. And it's yes. And yet the people that have a little bit more disposable income. Yeah, you know, the people that might not have disposable income might still care, they just can't afford it. And then you have people that do have disposable income, and they can't afford it. So they're, they're the ones that get to get the bleach out of their house. Like it just just hit the nail on that one that it's the underprivileged. Yeah, that are the ones that the people that have to use these products, even if they don't want to, it's because there's no alternative for them.
Kirsten Pelchat 8:01
Exactly. And this is something that I that that was really pressed home to me. When in 2019, I met with two founding members of the Canadian Coalition for action on toxics. They came to my house for tea, we sat around for hours and just brainstorm. And it really solidified to us that big change was needed. This coalition partners include eco justice cape, which is the Canadian Association of Physicians for the environment, Environmental Defense and the Breast Cancer Action Quebec. Honestly, I just started learning that these chemicals in our products, it's not just a people's health and environmental issue, but like we were saying it's a social justice issue as well. And the regulations in North America are so lacks. And we're so far behind the EU in terms of what we allow in our products in the EU, they ban over 1300 chemicals in Europe, whereas in Canada, we just ban over 500 and in the states just over 300. So just think of it this way, there's 10s of products on our shelves here, that just wouldn't be allowed for sale over there for health and environmental safety concerns. And what's unfair is that consumers sadly are conditioned to trust that hey, if it's on the shelf for sale, let's be safe when that just isn't the case. It's a huge issue. So that's why we formulate to EU standards because we are not in agreement with what's still allowed here in North America. And a lot of people have this idea that natural products don't work as well as as toxic chemicals. So you know that was all of this was a problem to solve when we were making our formulas. Our goal was to create a brand that people could trust when shopping for their household and personal care essentials and and just know that will be safe and also very effective.
Stephanie Moram 9:58
And I like you started with cleaning products because I feel like yeah, you know, you could have started with makeup. But right. Everyone wears makeup. A lot of women wear makeup, but not all women wear makeup. Correct. But everyone is. Maybe not everyone's cleaning their house, but most people are cleaning their house. So by formulating a cleaning product, I feel like that's like, for me, I you might not agree. But for me, when somebody asked me what is the first thing I need should switch out of my house, I always say cleaning product because everyone's cleaning their house. So if that's all you can afford right now is to make one change. I always cleaning product because people are you're spraying it in your house or washing your floor to your counters, your kids or pets are there. So it's so great that you've created this like product that is like sustainably packaged but also killing the EU standards and saying screw you, Canada. Yeah, we're gonna make something even better.
Kirsten Pelchat 10:57
Oh, yeah. And honestly, I have absolutely started with a cleaning product, if there is a swap I think it's easiest to make that one. The reason is, most of the worst chemicals and they're in their greatest concentrations, a lot of them are in cleaning products specifically. And it's not, you know, it wouldn't be so terrible if it was just like, oh, today, you're just going to encounter this chemical, your body could probably flush that out. But the issue is bio accumulation. So we're using these products on a daily basis, and they are building up in our bodies and our organs. It's it's bad. And also, you know, what's the effect of when it gets flushed down the drain? I mean, you're cleaning out your shower, and then you're rinsing out that scrubbing bubble, whatever, you know, and what happens then to those chemicals? Well, it's not good, the environmental impact is not good. Which is why that was a huge concern, too is what is the impact the full lifecycle like, you know, how is it affecting the human being? How is it affecting your personal ecosystem? And then when it goes down the drain? What is it doing to our natural ecosystems in the environment?
Stephanie Moram 12:10
And I think you made a good point about the bio accumulation, I think people often forget that a lot of products have the same or similar similar ingredients. And there might be a little bit in each product. But like you said, That's right, time and every day. So exactly. If you're putting makeup on cleaning your house, washing your face, brushing your teeth, putting hairspray in your hair, washing your hair, putting conditioner and shampoo in your hair, putting nail polish on your fingers and toes using soap on your body. If you're using products that might not be as clean or as safe. Yeah, it's gonna accumulate in your body for sure. Yes, exactly. Exactly. has a bigger impact. So speaking of ingredients, because this is yeah, interesting ingredient for me. What is PVA, and I know we had this very small conversation and you're like, PVH should not be in products. And I was like, Oh, crap, I need to go look it up. Like I love reading ingredients, but I'm not an expert. I avoid as much as I can. And sometimes I'm like, Oh, it sounds okay. Like, right. And it says it's an eco friendly product. So it must be okay. So let's talk about PVA and why you believe that it should be avoided.
Kirsten Pelchat 13:26
Right? So honestly, we had spidey sense over this years ago when we were trying to figure out how to make our laundry detergent. Because we were evaluating the options are we going to make the liquid that's a conscience concentrate, or are we going to think about laundry strips and you know what, we just we couldn't do it because even though we just had the sense that it would be bad like it was we knew it came from plastic. So bottom line is PVA stands for polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol, yeah, it's a plastic so it enters our waterways as a microplastic. PVA is what they use to make laundry strips. It's also that clear film on the outside of dishwasher detergent and laundry pods. So to be crude, I like to say microplastic is what you get if you put your plastic laundry jug in the blender. The problem is though, you know, micro plastic goes down the drain and it goes into our water systems. So this PVA microplastic they've now learned 75% of it does not biodegrade but accumulates in the environment and is causing great harm and this is new research. So I know in June of 2021, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published a study on the effects of PVA in the US and actually it appeared in Forbes magazine shortly thereafter last August. How does PVA behave after watertree and how it affects the environment. The research was shocking and confirmed that PVA was, quote, a threat to the ecosystem. So I'm gonna say it makes me feel sad to talk about this because I think for years, so many people felt hopeful. And we were also well intended about using laundry strips and pause.
Stephanie Moram 15:20
I use laundry strips. That's why as soon as you sent that when you Yeah, only that you're like, Oh, I love to be on your podcast. And I'm like, shit, and then my laundry strips. And I'm like, girl, awesome. Stephanie, are you really using PVA in them?
Kirsten Pelchat 15:37
This is how it goes. Whenever there's new advances with chemicals, it takes years before we really figure out what the full impacts are. And that's the truth, you know, and how could we know until they actually did the study. So it just it's sad because like the strip's seemed like such a great solution and alternative to big plastic laundry jugs, but you know, we didn't feel comfortable because we knew polyvinyl alcohol is a petrochemical origin. It's a plastic so we avoid anything to do with petrochemicals or plastic. The here's the issue manufacturers, even since the research came out, are still claiming that PDA is 100% biodegradable. And while technically it is, that is under very specific conditions, and to be clear, that is not what is happening in reality. So it's a huge problem that is growing. There's an causing tons and tons of microplastic from PVA to now be quickly entering our waterways. It's bio accumulating in the environment and literally choking out aquatic life. So it's a little bit scary.
Stephanie Moram 16:44
And okay, so they're putting the PVA in laundry strips, is it correct? Why is it in laundry chips? And like, why can't it be removed? Is it the like, what is it doing? Is it everything?
Kirsten Pelchat 16:56
It's, you know, what? I wouldn't I don't know the whole process. Right. But I'm assuming that yeah, it's probably it's probably a binding agent of some type. I would assume so. Yeah.
Stephanie Moram 17:10
Yeah. And hopefully, you know, they are a great option laundry shirts. I mean, for the last year, like I discovered them probably about a year ago. And I was like, This is great. Like, I do refill my own jugs, like with lawn yeah, like I door, I refill them. And then when I discovered the laundry chips, and like, this takes up way less space. Water, so I'm not buying water with my laundry. Exactly, exactly. And so I was like, now I'm just getting the actual soap that I need. When you wrote in there, like, oh, no, I don't my laundry straps. But like, when you know better, you do better. Right?
Kirsten Pelchat 17:50
yeah, it's hard. It's hard to get everything right. And to be honest, like, you know, once you're paying attention, you know, it's a journey. It's a process like you, you fix what you can, and you go with the very best information you have at the time, right, because we're always learning so much. And we're not perfect either. But honestly, we're trying, we're trying to stay up on the research, the laundry detergent that we make is super concentrated. So we we've almost eliminated all the waters and fillers so that you get in a little 500 milliliter bottle, you get 50 loads, because it's just two teaspoons of liquids. So it's essentially the same as what you'd get on a laundry stripper to except that we didn't dry it out and put plastic in it, you know, very similar.
Stephanie Moram 18:38
Well, you have crushed my laundry strip dream.
Kirsten Pelchat 18:44
So sorry. It's so interesting, because we have so many ego people that follow us on social media. And I remember I put out a post about this. And it was a little bit of crickets, you know, like not a lot of people responded, Because I think a lot of people were confused and also didn't know how to react. And I think, you know, it's just kind of a Sometimes I hate, you know, sharing the negative things that come out in these because, you know, we know that those companies are really trying to help and it is so much better than having this big plastic laundry jug. But you know, it's not a perfect solution for sure.
Stephanie Moram 19:21
Right. And there is, you know, I'm we're not saying like if you use laundry strips, you're like, the worst human on the planet. It's not what we're saying. If you choose to use laundry strips, that is your choice. Now you're educated, you know what PVA is, and if you choose tight power to you, like I still have a bunch, I'm not going to stop using them because that's even, they're going to end up in the environment, whether I throw them in the trash or with my wash at this point, right? And I'm gonna lose a lot. So I'm all about empowering people to make their own decisions. So now people know about PVA and, you know, but on the flip side, I'd still rather somebody use PVA than like tied, like not pizzeria Oh, yeah, is laundry strips that contains PVA as like a starting point, then using high or some other crappy stuff, you know. So, yeah, there's drawbacks to like, I feel a lot of stuff that's in the Eco green sustainable. Yes. Always those middle middle companies. Like you said there, they're not intentionally going, we're going to put PVA. No, they think that it's safe. And that's why maybe an alternative will come out.
Kirsten Pelchat 20:32
I'm very hopeful. I'm very hopeful. I mean, it's just going to be a matter in the next few years of them reformulating, for sure. And there's gotta be another way. Sometimes we just have to think outside the box. And so I'm hopeful.
Stephanie Moram 20:46
And now we're all educated on PVA, which is awesome. Like I said, I was not super, super familiar with it, like I saw alcohol must be safe, because I was just skimming it right? And for granted, they're trying to be a sustainable company. They're doing the best that they can.
Stephanie Moram 21:03
You know, this is really, really great information. And it's definitely information that people can take and then make their own decisions after, if it's a product that they want to keep using. And it's an ingredient that they feel is safe.
Kirsten Pelchat 21:22
for sure. Yeah. So there was also a couple of other ingredients that I'd love to talk about really quickly.
Stephanie Moram 21:32
Yeah, I was going to ask you.
Kirsten Pelchat 21:36
Because we're on the topic of ingredients in our in our products. And, I mean, so you know where to start. There's, there's so many ingredients to avoid. But I think most people are starting to be aware of the great offenders like triple sun and bleach and SLS and parabens, phthalates and all that. But what I'd like to bring awareness to today are two types of ingredients that are found still found in a lot of products that are labeled green or eco in particular, and really deserve our attention. And that is number one. Preservatives that are known neurotoxins, and I like I need a minute to try to pronounce these. There's finooxyethanol, and methylizozolina. Oh, there we go. Supercalifragilistic. And then the second one is the F word fragrance. So to us fragrance is a scary word. It's an ingredient term on any label that under and I I'm sure other people have talked on your podcast about it before. But under current trade secret protection laws, fragrance can contain any number of additives from formaldehyde to parabens, and worse, it's it's basically chemical soup, you don't know what you're getting, unless they give you full disclosure, which most don't. And again, the preservatives that are neurotoxins, because it's about the issue of bio accumulation. So we tell people to avoid these at all costs. Again, perhaps in tiny, small amounts, you know, wouldn't harm you. But these are in the products we're using every day. And we are what we absorbed. So, you know, that's our mission, it's to formulate things without these kind of chemicals, because our skin has over 5 million pores. So it's fair to say we're basically walking sponges, which makes it extremely important to consider what you put on your skin and allowed to enter your bloodstream.
Stephanie Moram 23:38
Yeah. And I think, you know, when it comes to reading labels, like say cleaning products and stuff, like I think just the average consumer, you know, like, I think back to you know, 13 years ago, when I when I started this journey was really about reading labels. I was looking for deodorant, and I bought like, I don't know how many deodorants came home research, some that brought back the ones I didn't want anymore. But I think as consumers, you know, like you said, at the very beginning, almost like full circle is that when we see something on the shelf, we assume that it's safe, because right, the companies have our best interest and government would have our best interest when we know that's not the truth. And so, yes, I think you know, people are okay, fragrances bad. So when I look at my ingredients, when I look at my products, I'm gonna avoid fragrance. But then there's kind of other ingredients that perhaps can be avoided. And so I think it's overwhelming for the average person it is what do I need to avoid? So it's like, yeah, got frequency look up parabens, they look up. I don't know. Yeah. What other ingredients and they they're not there. So they think it's safe. So I think it's just the, you know, to educate people and also, yes, who want to learn more at the same time because it's so overwhelming. It's so overwhelming.
Kirsten Pelchat 24:57
It is and I think one of the things that It always irks me is when you see on a product 99% natural ingredients, you know? And you think, Oh, that's great, because I mean, if I was in school, and I got 99% Hey, that's amazing, you know, you know, 99%, but like, think of it like a pint of poison. Like, if I hand you over a one liter mason jar of water. But wait, first, I'm just going to add two teaspoons 10 milliliters 1% of that of a poison are inserted. Would you want to drink that? Or put that on your body? No. Right? Neither, you know. So and that's what people are, I think. I don't know. It's so marketing. And there's just so much that's, that really makes us upset as why we started our company, right? It's just because we just feel that consumers need more information. We feel that manufacturers should not be using chemicals that are linked to harm. We just feel regulations in Canada need to be changed in the United States need to be changed. There's just so much that needs to happen here. But at the end of the day, I think it's overwhelming. But, you know, the hope is, the more you get back to just natural ingredients, like really natural unadulterated, you know, plant based ingredients. The closer you are to those kinds of things like, like, we were talking earlier, but water and vinegar, you don't like that safe, you know, vinegar. It's natural. You know, it's it happens when fruit ferments. I'm making some apple cider vinegar today. You know, so I think that's really what I encourage all people to do is just to try to, to get away from chemicals that are that are manmade, and a petrochemical origin and of questionable safety is the issue.
Stephanie Moram 26:55
Yeah right. This has been great information. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming on. And specifically talking about PVA because I definitely learned something today. So thanks for being on and I really appreciate it.
Kirsten Pelchat 27:11
Oh, my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
Stephanie Moram 27:15
You're very welcome. So please share this episode with your friends, coworkers, Mom, Dad, uncle, cousin, whoever you can think of, maybe even your chiropractor. if you so choose to stay connected with me on Instagram and tick tock at this Stephanie moram. And don't forget to subscribe to the green junkie podcast on your favorite platform. And you can also download my complimentary audio series. And before we sign off Kirsten I'd love for you just to share where people can find you on social media.
Kirsten Pelchat 27:48
Yeah, okay, for sure. So, you can obviously visit our website, Elvasnaturals.com. We're on Facebook, we're on Twitter, we're on Instagram, Elvas dot all naturals. And you ever want to reach us anytime, reach out by email at info@elvasallnaturals.com. And as a side note, we have a free gift for any green junkie listeners just mentioned the green junkie in the notes section of your cart on your first order and we'll send you a free gift with your first purchase. And you can also get 10% off your first order when you sign up for our newsletter.
Stephanie Moram 28:34
Awesome and I will have everything in in the description below with the links to Kristen's social media as well as how to get to the website if you would like to purchase anything. So again, thank you for being here. Like everything's in the description below. Thank you for listening, and I'll see you next Tuesday Green Junkie
Leave a Reply