Gaiam

Gaiam Goals

Gaiam’s goal is to become the go to company for all things green. Yes, they offer a selection of products, but they also recommend products made by other companies. Their hope is that they will become the premier company, not only for products, but to provide green recommendations as well.

If you want to know how Gaiam views itself, all you have to do is view their website. They make a couple of claims abut themselves. First of all, they say that they are a “Conscious Commerce” company. The second thing they claim is that they are a “lifestyle company.”

Are they really these things? The truth is this is about your perspective.

Gaiam spends a great deal of time talking about spirituality and communing with the earth. Even if this isn’t your cup of tea, they do have a wide variety of eco-friendly products for you to choose from.

Gaiam Products

Gaiam sells a lot of products. Fortunately, they make it easy to find what you are looking for by setting things up into categories. From these categories, they have a series of sub categories as well.

Here are the list of the categories and the sub categories:

Bed & Bath

            Sheets

            Quilts & Throws

            Bedding Basics

            Towels & Bath

            Accessories

            Shower Filters

Home

            Furniture & Décor

            Household Supplies

            Air Quality, Heating & Cooling

            Water Filters

            Laundry & Storage

            Home Appliance

            Outdoor

            Pest Control

Clothing

            Outfits

            Casual Clothing

            Yoga & Fitness Wear

            Sleep

            Intimates

            Accessories

Yoga

            Yoga Mats

            Yoga Props & Accessories

            Yoga DVDs

            Yoga Instructors

Fitness

            Fitness Gear

            Fitness DVDs

            Meditation & Energy

            Practice

            Fitness Instructors

Health & Beauty

            Pain Relief & Back Care

            Detox & Weight Loss

            Body Care

            Therapies

            Stress Relief

            Inner Balance

DVDs

            Yoga DVDs

            Fitness DVDs

            Wellness DVDs

            Personal Development

            Sustainability

            Explorations

Fair Trade

            Home Décor

            Spa

            Bags & Totes

            Jewelry & Scarves

            Clothing

In the Bed & Bath section, you will find that the products in category are organically made. This means the cotton used to make the bedding, or clothing is grown organically. In addition, Gaiam uses organic flannel and silk.

When you see items such as furniture, you will find that Gaiam mostly sells products that are recycled or are made from easily replenished materials. In cases where they don’t say what the furniture is made of, you will find that they are providing other benefits.

For example, the rattan medication chair is designed to help you set correctly during meditation. The Balance Ball Chair System no only provides a place where you can learn to re adjust your posture but it acts as a workout chair as well.

One of the areas that are a cause for concern for most people who are environmentally conscious is the use of pest control. The pest control products sold on the Gaiam website are all natural.

Of course, the other area of concern is that many of these types of products don’t work. For many people it is a matter of trial and error to find organic pest control products that work. Other people find that none of them work as far as they are concerned.

A category that you might find particularly appealing is the Fair Trade category. This is neat because this category represents items that Gaiam has found while searching through artisan fairs. There is a focus on native art in this category as well as hand made items.

Surprisingly, Gaiam does not sell supplements. Instead, in their Health & Beauty section you will find exercise programs, back supports, massagers and so on that are meant to aid you in helping heal your body.

Gaiam Product Cost

The most common complaint that people have about going green is that it is expensive, and Gaiam’s website shows just how true this statement is. A single organic towel, for example, costs $48. Need a yoga outfit? It will cost you $99. Even something as basic as a tank top costs $50.

Probably the most affordable area of the website is the section where they sell their DVDs. These range in price from $15 for a single DVD to $70 for a three DVD set, with most of the prices falling in the $20 range.

The cost of these products speaks volumes about the need for you to shop around! For example, a $43 towel on Gaiam’s website can be found for as low as $20 elsewhere.

In addition, there are comparable products from other companies that you will want to consider as well. This is especially true if you are as budget conscious as you are green.

Gaiam Shipping and Returns

Gaiam shipping is much the same as you will find from other similar stores. Rather than charging by weight, they charge by how much you spend in the store, which is a bit of a rip off because a $200 piece of jewelry will cost you $20 to ship via standard mail.

If you spend more than $250, your shipping will be 9% of your total order for standard US mail. FedEx Ground is 9% + $5 and FedEx 2 Day is 9% + $9.

Gaiam uses what they call green packaging. They reuse old shipping boxes to ship their items. When they run out of used boxes, they switch to recycled boxes. In addition, they use 100% natural biodegradable packing peanuts.

One of the most impressive things about Gaiam isn’t that their products are eco-friendly, It’s that they have an unconditional guarantee for all of their products, something you don’t find often.

Gaiam also doesn’t charge for shipping when you return a product for an exchange, even if they aren’t at fault for the problem that you are having with your product.

If you return an item but don’t exchange it and the product isn’t faulty, then Gaiam does charge you a shipping fee. You might get around this by shipping the item back yourself. You may find the post office shipping fees are lower than Gaiam’s.

If you purchase a Gaiam product somewhere other than their website, you cannot send it to them for a refund. You will have to take it back to the retailer that you bought it from. If that retailer has a no return policy, then you will be out of luck. To comparison shop for Gaiam products, use the supplement finder now!