“natural, organic and uncompromising baby products”

It’s on the top of every page of our website and it’s at the bottom of everything we do here at Better for Babies. Uncompromising. It isn’t a word we chose lightly nor a responsibility we feel can be ignored. And to us, uncompromising doesn’t mean judging one individual’s actions to be right and another’s to be wrong. It isn’t an an external call one makes, it is deeply internal, personal and intricate.

So, if it’s this personal, why am I blogging about it, right?

Well, I tend to process when I write. And I want you to be a part of that.

Better for Babies is growing increasingly concerned over petroleum consumption. The issue is ever present and so hard to dodge, which is one of the reasons we have always proudly proclaimed our cotton to be 100% polyester free, fair trade and certified organic.

But you see, petroleum isn’t present in polyester alone. It’s also in the fuel used to get that 100% cotton fabric from India to our sewing facility outside Atlanta, Georgia. It’s in the fuel that gets the fabric via train from the knitter to the port, the boat which brings the fabric across the sea and then the truck which delivers it from arrival port to my door. It’s a footprint that seems to be growing in impact as we wrap our heads around the massive destruction resulting from recent oil spills and slow action.

For quite some time now I have been meeting with a domestic fabric producer to discuss our choices for domestically grown and processed cotton. I LOVE that it’s local (165 miles from the finisher to the sewing facility) and carefully crafted by people in a company with whom BFB shares many values. There is no doubt this fabric is high quality, beautifully knitted, carefully dyed and tended to with a watchful, conscious eye. I received yet another sample of this lusciously soft stuff yesterday. I’ve been having so much fun experimenting with it and trying it out, checking its colour fastness, shrinkage, wear and weaknesses.

Here’s the thing: The cotton we’ve been importing from India has long fibers which are conducive to the double shearing which makes that soft, short velour you’ve become accustomed to in Little Beetle diapers and BFG face rounds. Domestic cotton isn’t long enough to be stable as a velour (being double sheared) without the addition of some polyester. Many of you know by now that I’ve said I won’t do polyester … ever (there’s that little word again, uncompromising) ….. but what if that polyester were made entirely from recycled, post consumer waste? And the content was always less than 25% polyester, with the remaining 75+% being that wonderfully plush organic cotton we all love so much?

Does it make sense? Does it add up to less impact, less waste, less consumption and more of a sense that Better for Babies is continuing to do things to make the world softer, cozier and less wasteful?

The Break Down:

(Choosing to incorporate post-consumer waste polyester as a backing in otherwise organic cotton velour)

* recycled polyester is still polyester

* what was 100% natural fiber becomes at least 75% natural fiber

* low polyester content, with the polyester being recycled and fully post-consumer

* local supply means smaller minimums for us thus more choice for colour(s)

* most Little Beetle diapers become NAFTA eligible where previously only our wool and hemp diapers met that criteria

* reduced drying time, another eco-friendly plus

* domestic knitting reduces our carbon footprint by about 8335 miles

* the support of a local businesses creates jobs and a general upswing in consumer confidence and morale

Maybe uncompromising doesn’t have to mean rigid and single sighted. The reality is that we all make choices and what we can’t compromise on is the need to explore options as they impact our present situation. What is currently most pressing may not be the same issue as it was when Better for Babies began 7 years ago. But we can hold fast to a commitment to seek out the best ways to provide products that are better for you, your baby, and the world we share – a world that is complex, oil hungry and struggling to be green.

(Zac, Ella and Gabes in an old photograph taken as we were setting up BFB's sewing facility just off our town's square)

{posted by Leah}