May 24th, 2010

Up first this week, Seconds.

First, a little about Seconds.

Second, a sale on Seconds.

We very often get inquiries about lightly loved diapers, seconds and imperfects. In many ways, it’s fortunate that we get fewer sewing seconds than we get get requests for them. It’s inevitable though that we will have mishaps. And more often than that, we experiment with a colour, a new size, a different sewing method, or train a new seamstress.

As a result we get such fun things as lilac diapers, pink diapers, velour underwear, and really large wet bags.

Limited Edition Lilac Little-to-Big Beetles

Limited Edition Watermelon Little-to-Big Beetles

Little Beetle Organic Wool Wet Bag, Laundry sized!

We also get uniquely sized items and colours we discontinue.

Hemp Little Beetles in closeout colours

Organic Wool Little Beetles, seconds

Hemp Little Beetles in more closeout colours

Here’s your chance to benefit from our journey. Check out our closeouts, seconds and prepackaged deals. There is a lot of variety to choose from and most are just an amazing deal.

FREE shipping on all closeouts and seconds. Plus, this week take 10% off if you use code ‘closeout’.

What about YOU? What do you do with your diapers when your little one out grows them or needs a different style?

Mothering magazine’s Candace Walsh is matching moms in need with moms who have diapers to donate. This is a great way to keep babies in cloth and help a fellow family! http://mothering.com/candacewalsh/mama-on-the-spot/cloth-diaper-matchmaker-for-mamas-in-need.

In my community moms and dads are always passing along diapers that have been outgrown or are no longer being used. It’s not at all uncommon for me to hear about Little Beetles which have graced the bottoms of numerous children around town. Reusing is such a rewarding way to make a difference.

Later this week, a little about the family who makes our Freaky Farms soaps (Until now, it’s just been lanolin soaps. This week, we will launch body bars for us Grownups.)

Cheers,

Leah

  • Share/Bookmark
May 2nd, 2010

Mother Nature is a Smarty Pants

It’s no secret that those of us at Better For Babies (and Better For Grownups) are a little particular when it comes to fabric. We don’t use polyester, PUL is never an option for us, and we don’t make (or sell) anything disposable. Why should we when Mother Nature has provided clever, sustainable and fun options which we feel really, really good about?

Wool: It’s breathable, it can be luxuriously soft (ours is!), it will keep you (and a baby’s bum) cool in summer and warm in winter, and it is waterproof and self-cleaning. What more can you ask for, really?

Wool is certainly growing in popularity as a diaper cover. But did you know it also makes a wonderful moisture and odor-proof bag in which to store your dirties? The Little Beetle organic wool wet bag has long been a steady customer favorite at Better For Babies. And we are giving one away with each order placed in our store between May 3rd and 9th 2010.

Some other uses for our Little Beetle Organic Wool Wet Bag
(assuming you already have one in the nursery and one in the diaper/travel bag)

  • family cloth (hang the bag over a doorknob or from your toilet paper/family cloth dispenser)
  • buy one to use as an eco-friendly laptop sleeve
  • carry home clothes from swim practice or the gym
  • they even make cute lunch bags (and serve double duty as a place mat during the meal

And in case you were wondering, wool care is super easy!

We have already told you that wool covers are fantastic with their breathability, antibacterial properties and natural ability to hold liquid. Indeed, after proper lanolization, they are self-cleaning (as the the urine reacts with the lanolin to form a soap) for a week or two at which point they simply need to be gently hand washed and/or re-lanolized.

Hand wash your wool covers in lukewarm water using a wool safe wash and little agitation. If the wash contains lanolin, let soak for 15 minutes. Lay flat to dry (after rolling in a towel and gently squeezing to remove excess water). Olive oil soap can be used for a simple spot cleaning wash.

It is also nice to use a concentrated lanolin every month or so to provide a fuller lanolization. Simply dissolve the desired amount of lanolin (usually 1 tablespoon) in lukewarm water. And follow the same directions as above.

Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions about the care of your Little Beetle™ organic wool cover. We are happy to help.

More detailed information can be found on our faq.

We offer a selection of locally made wool wash and lanolins to help keep your Little Beetle wool clean and working beautifully.

And don’t be afraid of wool just because Summer time is coming, it’s actually one of the most beneficial times of all to invest in wool for your baby’s gentle skin.
^ Leah
  • Share/Bookmark
April 21st, 2010

Roundishes for Earth Day, for every day.

Have you seen our lush and beautiful Better for GROWNUPs organic cotton face rounds?

Seems like a simple idea, right?  A quick and easy replacement for your typical (disposable and potentially chemically-treated) cotton balls and face rounds?  Well, in fact, it’s incredibly tough to serge a circle!

Help us eliminate waste by buying the face “rounds”  our sewing team made when we were just beginning production. The quotation marks are because these ones aren’t quite round; they’re more round-ish. Face “roundishes” are now available for purchase — 35 “roundishes” to be exact — and they’ll come with the same mesh bag that comes with the fully loaded box, just without the box.

Thirty-five face roundishes + one mesh bag = just $13.50 with free shipping!! (Roundishes vary in size and shape. Some are coloured on one side and white on the other like the regular face rounds, while others are white or colours on both sides.)

(If you want the recycled and compostable box and 30 actually round rounds (pictured below), you can purchase the fully-loaded box and use these “face roundishes” as refills! Yep, once you remove the bag, a box will hold up to 75 rounds!)

To celebrate Earth Day, we’re launching the roundishes and we’re offering a GIVEAWAY plus donation to one of our favorite causes, Oxfam and their Field of Organic Cotton initiative!

(As you may already know, our cotton velour fabric is fair-trade, organic cotton made in India.)

Want to win some? You have a total of 4 ways to enter!

  • Comment on our blog telling us your favorite item from our website!
  • “Like” the corresponding post on our Facebook page AND share it with your friends to be entered on FB!
  • Retweet on Twitter to be entered on there!
  • Any purchase you make of roundishes between now and Sunday evening will qualify you for another entry!

Who else wins? In the spirit of world community, we aren’t just giving away a product; we want to give back! The winner of the drawing gets a bag of roundishes AND Oxfam gets a donation in the winner’s name to use in their initiative! Best of all, our planet gets more organic cotton, a little less waste, and hopefully a few more consumers who are wise to concerns of pesticides, waste, and over-production and the benefits of organics!

“Cultivate a field of organic cotton. Imagine a gift that would help cotton farmers reduce costs, protect their health, improve the environment, and earn more. It’s no pipe dream. It’s organic cotton—grown using waste like manure to enrich the soil, rather than expensive pesticides that kill. This gift helps farmers by training them to move to organic growing methods and supports organic growers’ cooperatives.”

The small print: Maximum of 4 entries per person, one of each type. We will randomly generate the winner on Monday, April 26, 2010.

by Lauren & Leah

  • Share/Bookmark
April 20th, 2010

A Culture of Continuous Improvement

Community is very important to us at Better For Babies: as individuals, as families, as a business that thrives within a bustling and unique community.

Part of community is giving, and part is taking. With each of those, there must be an awareness, an attention to the parts and to the whole.

I like to think Better For Babies is run in much the same manner: a culture of continuous improvement with a focus on what each individual has to give, and what they can take away. Along those lines Lauren and I (Leah) have been making an effort to partake of seminars, educational series, luncheons, and such that help us along that path. This isn’t necessarily difficult for either of us given our not-so-slight nerdiness and desire to learn although the social aspects tend to cause heartburn.

Most recent has been a reviving of my lessons on Lean Manufacturing. I will talk more about this in posts to come but let me say that we were both excited and inspired to look at production and processess in a new light. We can minimize waste at all levels to help not only the bottom line but to raise up our employees, to increase quality, generate new ideas and ways of doing what we have always done.

In short, we want to strive to take on a culture of continuous improvement. This makes us happier, more productive and affords us an openness to what you, our customers, have to say.

So tell us, as we journey into lean manufacturing and all that comes with it, what do you want to see improved? What new products will motivate you to keep greening your life? How can we change, add to or subtract from what we already design to make it even better, more appropriate? What are we getting right? Where are we falling short?

Tomorrow we will post an Earth Day special … a new product (or rather, a new spin on a regular), a giveaway and a little education on Organic Cotton. Then I will get back to the super cool topic of Lean Manufacturing.

  • Share/Bookmark
October 3rd, 2009

What do you do with your waste?

We are pretty uptight about waste around here. With any sewing facility, the generation of fabric scraps and seconds is inevitable. What we do with those can make a world of difference. We’ve been weighing our waste lately and making definite efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle!

Reduction and recycling are daily efforts but what I wanted to share today is how we are reusing.

You probably already know about our patchwork wet bags. These are a great way to use up wool leftovers. And our wonderful seamstresses quite enjoy the opportunity to develop their own colour palette and designs. We were able to mark these down recently in hopes of encouraging more customers to buy items made from reclaimed or recycled materials. (http://betterforbabies.com/diaperaccessories.html)

What you might not know, is how we reclaim velour and turn it into marvelous little organic cotton face rounds. You can find these and more at our new site, www.betterforgrownups.com.

faceroundslaidoutz

  • Share/Bookmark
April 20th, 2009

Celebrating Earth Week (because one day just isn’t enough)

We have fallen head over heels in love with Twitter (and the same with Facebook).  It’s great to see so much energy, change and knowledge passed around with eagerness and sincerity.

So what’s that got to do with Earth Day? Well, we think social media is a great way to make a difference. We will be posting some fun and interesting tidbits on saving energy, consumables, etc. And we want you to share the same. If you join us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter, we will add your name to a raffle. This Friday (April 24, 2009) we will draw two names from the combined lists of FB fans and Twitter followers to each receive a $50 gift certificate at Better For Babies, Inc. and a Sunflower planted in their name at our sewing facility.

* if you are a FB fan and a follower on Twitter, your name will be in twice
* you can get up to two extra entries for recommending someone (provided they tell us who sent them along) for up to four total entries
* in the spirit of community and sharing, you can pass along the gift certificate to someone else if you like

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Better-for-Babies-Inc/41066706506

Twitter: http://twitter.com/betterforbabies

And don’t just follow along, join in and tell us what you are thinking, how you are celebrating the earth & share your ideas for how we can all make the world more comfy, less wasteful and better for babies!

  • Share/Bookmark
March 24th, 2009

‘Running’ a business

Everyone is busy, busy. I know. And I am just the same. But between trips to the hospital to see my mom, designing new products, training seamstresses, hanging out with my hubby, playing with my kids and trying to force feed my family vegan meals, I have been running!

Now, I am not a ‘runner’. I don’t have fancy shoes, cool clothes and no hairbands. But I pop in my earplugs, start up a little playlist I created and run. Not too far …. yet.

But I LOVE it. My head clears, the commotion subsides, I don’t answer the phone, tweet, or email. It’s me, the music and my body. About halfway through, when I have settled in and the quiet begins, a great song comes up (yes, sometimes that happens to be the Brittney Spears my 6 year old purchased on the sly) and suddenly I can run a little more. And it’s then that new ideas seep in. In an instant, I can see a new ad, hear a phrase that just must be written down, envision a new stitch or a curve. I get ideas for blogs, newsletters and ways to thank my employees. I feel like I *can* attend that meeting, schedule another conference call, refresh the website, and work until I get it right.

In a way, it’s like I am training to run my business.

(by the way, feel free to send along recommendations on your favorite running tunes. I know many of you out there are avid runners … Jay for one and I *know* we have similar tastes in music, Nicole ….)

  • Share/Bookmark
March 7th, 2009

Twitter, facebook, a flurry of social networking

Better For Babies employees are now sporting their own iPhones and we are all crazy about twitterfon, twhirl, facebook for iPhone, tweetdeck, tweetie, etc….. we can’t get enough of this rapidly multiplying and fascinating wealth of technology and information flowing in from everywhere.

I’ve inserted a twitter feed in the right hand nav bar of the blog! Read along. Or better yet, join in …

Follow us on twitter:  http://twitter.com/betterforbabies

facebook (still catching up on this one):  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Better-for-Babies-Inc/41066706506

  • Share/Bookmark
November 6th, 2008

Celebrity Baby Blog

I almost forgot to share …. we were recently featured on People Magazine’s Celebrity Baby Blog. A wonderful review of our Tres Tria is here:  http://celebritybabies.typepad.com/reviews/2008/10/tres-tria-three.html

  • Share/Bookmark
October 21st, 2008

Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy

After taking a weekend off to read a truly great novel (thanks Lauren!), I have settled back into reading things a bit more work related.

I have just cracked open “The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist examines the markets, power, and politics of World Trade” (published in 2005) and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.

Knowing first-hand the struggles of choosing domestic production vs. tightly regulated international manufacturing, I cannot think of a topic which causes me to lose more sleep. The choices I make in my business have a profound impact on others – and I want to do the right thing. Of course therein lies the challenge …. what is the right thing? And will a course of action that is right today, be the right choice tomorrow? (With companies skirting established labor markets to their own benefit and to the detrement of those obliging, certainity on this front isn’t as obvious as it seems).

As I said, I have only started the book this past weekend but in my excitement, wanted to toss the topic out. I will let you know what I learn and if you have read it, tell me what you think!

  • Share/Bookmark