While I don’t often base my purchasing decisions around whether or not products are made from organic or recycled materials, I know there are a whole lot of you out there who will pay a little more for environmentally friendly items and who do shop with Mother Nature top of mind.

For you, I present Elemental Herbs, a company founded by Caroline Duell, who has a background in herbal medicine and wilderness education, and who just happened to grow up a stone’s throw from my home in the Colorado mountains. Today she lives and runs her company on an organic farm on the Central Coast of California. There, she and her Elemental Herbs colleagues drive vehicles that run on bio-diesel (produced with waste oil). Elemental Herbs product packaging is always recyclable and recycled when possible, ingredients are organically grown and/or sustainably sourced, and marketing materials are always printed on post consumer recycled paper.

One Elemental Herbs product that I’ve been using in the past couple weeks is the All Good Goop organic healing balm. Key ingredients are organic calendula, comfrey and lavender, all infused in organic olive oil with pure beeswax, lavender essential oil and Vitamin E. If that’s not all wholesome goodness, I don’t know what is!

It’s called “goop,” but the substance is really closer to a solid lip balm texture, which is good, because I think you use less of it (saving money) than if it were more of a liquid consistency. I’ve used the goop as lip balm at night (when I didn’t care about having SPF on my lips), and I’ve used it to soothe a small burn on my finger (from the hotel coffeemaker of all things) and tiny cuts. It’s also great for smoothing rough heels and raw cuticles.

When I chatted with Caroline at the Outdoor Retailer trade show this summer, she noted that some travelers have rubbed the lavender-scented All Good Goop under their nostrils when they are in a stinky situation, say, on public transportation in a third-world country. Indeed, this is an amazing product for backpackers since it does pull double and triple duty. (Caroline says it makes a great diaper rash ointment, as well, though, thankfully I’m well past the diapering stage of motherhood and pleased I haven’t had the chance to test that type of use firsthand.) The All Good Goop retails for $8.50 for a 1-oz jar.

Another product I’ve had on my lips this week during the daylight hours is All Good Lips SPF 12. Ingredients here are similar to the All Good Goop, but also includes octinoxate and zinc oxide for protection against the sun’s harmful UV rays. (This makes the lip balm “made with organic ingredients,” unlike the certified organic original Elemental Herbs All Good Lips with no SPF.) Also to note: these SPF lip balms are free of oxybenzone, a chemical that the skin absorbs with potentially toxic lasting effects.

I like that the zinc oxide in the lip balm does not turn my lips white. I’m also partial to the original flavor (i.e. no flavor I taste), but you can also get the SPF version of All Good Lips in Sweet Tangerine and Cool Spearmint. This lip balm goes on smooth and keeps my lips moist. Perfect! Lip balms retail for $3.50.

Sample both of these products, along with Herbal Cool (a muscle pain relief spray) and a 1-oz tube of sunscreen in the large Herbal Healing Kit. All the small items are well  under the TSA’s 3-oz requirements, and would make a great gift for an environmentally savvy traveler, as they are packaged in an organic cotton drawstring bag.

Elemental Herbs Camping Organic Healing Set at Backcountry.com