Do you know what SPF really means? Did you know that soap must cure for several weeks before using it? We learned these things and more during our recent trip to the Green Beaver facility in Hawkesbury, Ontario!

We had a great time with Alain Ménard the co-founder and CEO of The Green Beaver Company and all the other staff at their production facility. Since our last visit back in 2013 many things have changed for this local company. They have expanded twice (anticipating yet another expansion), updated their packaging to a fresh new design, and launched their reformulated shampoo and deodorant. 

Alain is a wealth of knowledge and has a true passion for educating people about the dangers of toxic personal care products. He shared with us the story of how he and his wife Karen started this business in their basement nearly fifteen years ago. Karen was a biochemist with experience in the pesticide industry and Alain was a microbiologist working for the pharmaceutical industry. After learning about the awful ingredients lurking in shampoos, bubble bath and other similar products, they decided to do something about it! They quit their jobs to begin creating healthier, natural products.

Here are some of the awesome things we saw during the tour! 


The Green Beaver Company may have grown, but they still have a wonderful, modest sized team that does many things by hand. Here is Barbara filling tea tree deodorants (Alain admitted that he is not a big fan of the pungent smelling oil)! 

These are drums of pure, organic essential oils used in all the Green Beaver products. We love that they NEVER use synthetic or artificial fragrances!  

Soap must be cured for several weeks to remove the water content, otherwise the bar would dissolve quickly in the shower. Here is some of GB's lavender soap waiting to be packaged.

We were all fascinated by the large vat that was once used to make Preparation H before Green Beaver gave it a new home and filled it with their castile soap. 

We ended the tour with a light lunch and a lovely presentation from Alain. As a token of our appreciation the Kardish owners, Carey and Rob presented Green Beaver with a very fitting sunflower portrait painted by their mother! 

Want to learn more about Green Beaver? Check out their website at GreenBeaver.com