Truce

In 1996, Kandie Konomos began a household cleaning company named Herb ‘N Organics Cleaning. As a professional cleaner, however, her skin often reacted to the chemicals in the cleaning products and she developed contact dermatitus. After years of trying different “green” products, research and experience, Kandi began to develop her own safe, natural cleaning products to help with the dermatitus. She soon found that her own products worked just as well—if not better—than commercial cleaning agents. They also relieved her of contact dermatitis. These recipes are still the core of Truce products today. During the same time, Kandie’s friend Diann Peart was finishing her PhD in Ecology and was becoming increasingly aware of the use of toxic chemicals in homes and gardens. The relationship between illnesses and chemical overload was glaringly clear. Cases of chemical sensitivies were on the rise, as were endocrine disorders—and they still are. Diann committed herself to educating local communities about these dangers and began working to establishing organic gardens in her neighborhood and on school grounds of Native American Reservations. In 2007, Kandie gave Diann some of her own hand-made cleaning products as a birthday gift. The two realized they shared a vision of the home: a clean, toxin-free space that was safe for everyone in the family—even pets. In April of 2008, Truce (originally Herb ’N Organics) was officially born as they received their first sale at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market.