Sustainable Holiday: These FreshPaper Gift Cards Preserve Fresh Produce

Let me preface by stating that FreshPaper gift cards are definitely not for everyone in your life, but if there’s a chef, gardener, farmer, or veggie-junkie in your life, be sure and tack one of these very special gift cards to their door, cubicle, or present.

Let me also start by telling you that FreshPaper gift cards are $19 for a pack of four while a larger, less embellished package of eight regular FreshPaper sheets is only $9. I want to get these details out of the way because for the rest of this post, I’m going to be gushing about what a clever, sustainable, cute, and versatile idea FreshPaper is.

It may just look like a kitschy little card to you, but to me and everyone else who knows the power of FreshPaper understands that this little card is a powerful fountain of youth for your favorite perishable fruits and vegetables, extending their lives to 2-4 times longer. Confused? It’s okay, FreshPaper’s technology is basically alchemy, and alchemy is basically nature magic. Let’s watch me try to explain it.

FreshPaper started out as the brain-bubble of a young, middle-school-aged girl named Kavita Shukla who upon visiting her grandmother in India, accidentally drank the tap water while brushing her teeth, and – thanks to the same aforementioned alchemy – avoided the dreaded digestive issues that almost always follow that mistake. The secret was a “murky, herbal drink” that her grandmother gave her. After she returned to her home in the USA, she spent the next several years conducting experiments in her garage to replicate and study the effects of the health-saving tonic, she discovered it was a mix of herbs that together created an antibacterial, anti-fungal tincture. And how did that gut-magic lead her to FreshPaper?

One day her mother asked her to find a carton of strawberries at the store, but each one she picked up had a fuzzy, moldy layer of decay at the bottom. The lightbulb when off when she thought, “what if I dipped one of these strawberries into my herbal mixture?”

Well guess what.
It worked.

After several more years and experiments, Shukla founded FenuGreen and FreshPaper was born using organic spices and handmade paper sold from a cart at farmers’ markets. Having only her own money to work with, she had no budget for advertising or marketing, and relied solely on word of mouth and individual support from satisfied and mind-blown customers who believe FreshPaper will change the world.

(They’re right.)

Kavita Shukla went on to win the largest design award in the world in 2013, along with over 20 other sustainability and invention awards from Target, MIT, Newsweek, Forbes, and others.

Now, FreshPaper’s motto is “Fresh For All” and is sold in 35 countries across the world, helping people prolong the life of the produce they spend their hard-earned money on. But FreshPaper isn’t just for the bougie crowd at the farmers’ market  – for each FreshPaper purchased from a Whole Foods Market ($4.99), they donate one to a food bank.

Did you know that 25% of the world’s fresh produce is wasted through spoilage? If one FreshPaper can last for an entire month in a crisper drawer, and they come in packs of eight for under $9… Imagine the amount of food waste we could prevent. 

Now take that pleasant thought and extend it to communities with little to no refrigeration, where quality fruits and vegetables are scarce and expensive. A whopping 1.6 billion people live without refrigeration. FenuGreen has a (spendy but worth it) option to purchase a $150 subsidized, bulk pack of FreshPaper for your local farmer, food bank, or community in need. Or, start smaller and give your neighbor one of your eight. I guarantee you’ll start a ripple of change in your neighborhood!

Close your eyes and imagine that feeling of badassery when you hand a food bank supervisor a box of paper that will literally double to quadruple the amount of time they can use fresh produce before it goes bad! You would be a rockstar!

Or, on a more consumer level, we can get back to those FenuGreen FreshPaper FreshCards that started this whole crazy story.

Each card comes with its own envelope in your set of four. They can be written on with the optional edible ink pens, handed to your favorite juice monster, and after they admire and remember when you’re the best, they can throw that card directly into their produce drawer, or under their 100 fresh apples and bananas in their fruit bowl for a heavy extension on their produce investment. It’s a pretty darn good gift by itself.

Deliciously non-denominational options are available with phrases like “Joy to the World” and the incredibly punny “Lettuce Celebrate,” but if you’re rockin’ a Christmas tree in your house this year, you may appreciate the “Berry Merry Christmas” option, too. Right now, they’re offering free shipping on orders from their website, but it’s only for a limited time!

They sent over a little coupon code for 10% off: 10Friend

If you’ve got gift cards, FenuGreen FreshPaper is also available at these stores:

• Whole Foods Market
• Amazon
• Wegman’s
• Stop & Shop

There are several additional stores that carry FenuGreen FreshPaper on an individual, independent basis – check their map for a store near you!