Baby Eco Trends

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Naturepedic has just created a baby crib mattress that meets all flammability standards without the use of fire retardants or flame barriers.  The new crib mattress is called Lullaby Earth & it is made with polyethylene, not polyurethane, it does not catch fire the way untreated polyurethane foam does.  Polyethylene works much like candle wax, restricting fire as opposed to spreading it.  This feature makes flame barriers & flame retardant chemicals unnecessary while still meeting all government flammability requirements.
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Lullaby Earth weighs only seven pounds and costs $149.  Like all Naturepedic baby crib mattresses, it is GreenGuard certified.  It features a firm surface & seamless edges.  It is recyclable, although at the moment facilities may not yet be widely available.   Naturepedic provides a toll free number with each mattress to assist parents in finding local recycling centers.  Look for the addition of Lullaby Earth Baby Crib Mattresses to our collection as soon as it is available.
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There are so many reasons to love Naturepedic mattresses, America’s most trusted brand of organic cotton mattresses.  All of their certified organic cotton baby mattresses & bedding, as well as children’s mattresses & bedding, are made in the USA of materials also made or grown in the USA.  Naturepedic mattresses are 100% free of vinyl (PVC, including phthalates), toxic fire retardants and polyurethane foam, materials typically used in conventional mattresses.
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Given how susceptible newborns are to the harmful effects of synthetic fire retardants and how much time they spend on a mattress, creating a natural, healthy sleep environment is imperative.  Naturepedic mattresses have been tested for chemical emissions and certified by GreenGuard to meet their strict standards for babies & children.  Their baby crib mattresses have a firm flat surface to provide ideal support in accordance with pediatrician and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) firmness recommendations.
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Naturepedic is certified as an organic mattress manufacturer under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). Independent third party inspections, analysis & certification of Naturepedic’s factory are provided by the Oregon Tilth, USA’s largest certifier of organic non-food products.  Naturepedic is the only baby mattresses/pads recommend by Healthy Child Healthy World. Naturepedic mattresses & bedding are also SAFBaby approved.

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Now there is another great reason to love Naturepedic mattresses.  To give newborns a health start, Healthy Child Healthy World is giving free GreenGuard certified Naturepedic baby mattresses/pads to hospitals that have baby nurseries, birthing rooms, NICU, or other related hospital facilities.  For more information, contact Gloria at greenhospitals@healthychild.org
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We’re celebrating Mother’s Day all through the month of May & donating 1% of the month’s sales to We Care Solar.  WCS is a non profit organization started by a pediatrician, Dr. Laura Stachel.  In 2008 she was observing a hospital in Nigeria as part of her work in maternal child health.  The electricity went out and a C-section that was already in progress had to be completed with the aid of flashlights.
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Dr. Stachel noted that in some cases, women were bleeding to death during child birth simply because there were no phones with which to summon a doctor.  Worldwide, maternal mortality accounts for more than half a million deaths a year, nearly all of those deaths occur in underdeveloped countries.

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Dr. Stachel shared her frustration with her husband and together they created a “solar suitcase” she could take on the road with her.  Once back in Nigeria, Statchel’s “solar suitcase” was being used to power LED lights & walkie talkies as well as ultrasound machines.  As the word spread, other hospitals began submitting their requests for the solar energy kits.
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This growing demand and the need to meet it gave rise to WeCareSolar.com.  So far, the “solar suitcase” has helped people in Haiti, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Thailand, Burma, Tibet & India.  We encourage all our friends to join us in making a donation to this very worthy cause.
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BabyEcoTrends.com sells more baby cribs in April than any other month.  So we thought this would be a great time to offer our customers their choice of a free Naturepdic Baby Crib Mattress or $100 off the purchase price of any Indiana Amish 4 in 1 Convertible Baby Crib, our best selling cribs.
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If you choose the free mattress, you can get either the Naturepedic Lightweight Organic Cotton Classic Crib Mattress or the Naturepedic Organic Cotton Classic 150 Traditional Crib Mattress.  Both mattresses are made of 100% certified organic cotton & offer the firm support baby crib mattresses require.  However, the Lightweight Crib Mattress weighs about half as much as the Classic 150 Crib Mattress, which makes changing the sheets a real breeze.
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Whether you opt for the $100 discount or a free crib mattress, either offer makes this a good time to invest in an Indiana Amish Convertible Baby Crib.  At checkout, use the following Promotional Codes:
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Free Naturepedic Baby Crib Mattress Promo Code:  “IACNB”
$100 off the purchase of an Amish Crib Promo Code:  “IAC100B”
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To let us know which Naturepedic crib mattress you’d like, enter your preference in the “Comments” section at checkout or email us at info@BabyEcoTrends.com & we’ll take care of the rest.  Offers expire Sunday April 30, 2011.

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Thanks to our loyal customers, we have reached our fourth calendar year as an online retailer.  Our website is not set up to record customer feedback but we get emails and letters from our customers letting us know how we’re doing.  So we thought we’d share some of their words with you:
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“Your customer service has been amazing!! Thanks so much! :)”
EM, Alabama
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“Thank you so much! You guys are great!”
SB, Wisconsin
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“Everything is lovely. Thanks so much.”
FR, New York
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“I received the rocking horse yesterday and it absolutely lovely. Thank you so much for making this happen and for your continual concern. I appreciate your help very much… I look forward to calling you again for more rocking horses…. (when I get more Grandchildren!)”
SM, Washington
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“I received the replacement part and it is in good shape. Thanks for letting me know that I do not have to mail the damaged part back and for assisting me in obtaining a replacement part. You have excellent customer service.”
JM, New York
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“Our daughter LOVES her toy oven! We love it! I have to say you are such an amazing company. Your correspondence and customer service went above and beyond! Everything about the oven is great! Thank you so much! We will definitely keep you in mind when ordering products in the future.”
CR, California
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“Thank you so much for the update. I appreciate knowing where the crib is in the process. I am so excited!! Thank you again for keeping us updated.”
TG, Washington
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“Thank you so much! I’m very excited, because we’re waiting for it to arrive to feed our baby solid food for the first time! And thank you for the speedy shipment of the giraffe teether. She loved it right away.”
LH, California
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“Please accept my sincere thanks for the beautiful chairs! They are lovely. Please tell the builder that we are very pleased. Your updates during the process made all the difference in my comfort level. You have great customer service. Our Granddaughter used the chair on Saturday and we all loved it!”
EB, Arizona
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“Thanks so much!  wow that was fast shipping!”
AP, California
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“Thank you for your quick answer. Thank you for your attentive attitude!”
AS, Florida
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“thank you we got the bookcase and it looks great! thanks again for all your help and communication”
KP, California
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“Wow!  Thank you very much!  =)”
LB, Oregon
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“Thank you for all your help. I am really excited- it is by far the prettiest green baby furniture I found. It is really beautiful! Thank you for all your help”
MG, New Hampshire
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“I received my order today.  Everything looks great.  Thank you for sending it so quickly!”
HG, Maine
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“I love your store. Thank you for such fast shipping.”
YR, New Jersey
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“Thank you very much for the superb customer service! I appreciate your quick response.”
KT, Ontario
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“Thank you so much, again, for your help! We really enjoy doing business with you!”
KG, North Carolina
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“Thank you very much! You have been of great help to us.”
RS, Florida
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“Thank you so much! Rarely do you meet with such good customer service and kindness.”
EP, Kentucky
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“Thanks so much for such a quick reply. I certainly didn’t expect a response so soon! Again, thanks for your help today. It’s been a pleasure doing business with Baby Eco Trends.”
EO, New Mexico
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“Thank you so much for all of your help! We loooove it!”
LP, North Carolina
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“Thank you so much. It’s nice to be able to support a US-made eco-friendly crib”
LF, Oregon
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“All I can say is WOW. It is beautiful.  The color of the stain was a little darker and not so much red as I was expecting but this is perfect.  It goes perfectly with the bedding that I picked out and the other colors of the room we are working on.  When he started unwrapping it I even teared up (yes-probably the hormones as I am not a crier) but it was way more than I expected.  We love it.    My husband was totally impressed with the wood and how nicely it the color and finish turned out.  I admit, he was skeptical of an online store for the furniture since we have a lot of Amish around us but we are very happy with the work and especially the wood.  I am going to send you a picture when we get it all put together.  Thank you so much!”
JC, Wisconsin
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“Thank you! We will be sure to shop with Baby Eco Trends again.”
HD, Maryland
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“I just wanted to let you know that everything went smoothly with the delivery yesterday, and we love the dresser.  It is just the look we had been wanting, and the fact that it is made responsibly with eco-friendly materials is wonderful. Again, we could not be more happy with the dresser; it is the perfect size and looks great.  At some point I will try to snap a photo of it for you. Thanks so much for all your help!”
JT, Illinois
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“You won’t believe it – the package came in last evening already. We are totally happy. Thank you! Thanks again for you immense help.”
HS, Florida
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“We love everything.  Thanks so much.  Do you have an email list that you send out info when you get new things in?  If so please include me.  Have a great weekend and thanks for the great customer service.  It’s much appreciated!”
SK, California
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“I just wanted to say thank you for the very fast shipment!  I wasn’t expecting it that quick and I love the samples inside!”
LP, Florida
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“I’ve just got my package and my sister was SUPER excited to get the baby wrap. She loved it. Thank you again very much!!”
YM, Florida
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“Thank you for your quick shipping.  Thank you, also, for your excellent customer service.  I will be sure to mention your website to other expecting mothers I know.”
HW, South Carolina
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“I received the potty chair and it is absolutely perfect.”
CG, Colorado
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We are so happy about becoming Green America certified as it is a reflection of our commitment to environmentally & socially responsible practices.  Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization that has been working to channel the economic strength of consumers, investors & businesses to create socially & environmentally sustainable societies since 1982.
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Green America is a great source for useful information about making smart buying decisions and has compiled a directory of green businesses.  Their list of certified green businesses includes famous names like Earth Mama Angel Baby, Gaiam, Honest Tea, Patagonia, Seventh Generation among others.  But there are countless small green businesses such as Your Home Your World, Green Field Paper Company, Alter Eco, Purple Mountain Organics as well as many more that offer unique green shopping opportunities.
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There are more categories than we can mention here, so you’ll have to visit their site to see the full list that includes businesses offering a wide range of goods & services such as architects, baby products, bed & breakfast, clothing, financial services, gardening supplies, travel agents.
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We currently offer a handful of products  made by other Green America certified businesses.  The Tres Tria Organic Cotton Co-Sleeping Pillow, Little Beetles organic prefolds, Holy Lamb Organics bedding (aka, Cozy Buns) & Naturepedic bedding & mattresses are all Green America certified.  Look for our selection of GA certified products to grow as we continue to network with other socially & environmentally conscious businesses.
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There is no shortage of gloomy economic news & tear jerking accounts of personal financial turmoil.  These stories have to be told, but occasionally hearing an upbeat story can be refreshing and inspiring.  Accounts of people finding ways to counter the effects of an economic downturn may be in short supply but they are out there.
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Some people have started businesses directly in response to the foreclosure crisis, some have started money making projects in an attempt to learn about money basics, others found ways to recover from hurricane Katrina & some are working at home doing jobs that would otherwise be outsourced overseas.  These stories feature creative money making ventures (big & small) but they also serve as a reminder that there are non conventional answers to common problems.
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The story of the Cornbread Millionaire had us cheering Beverly Davis on in her attempt to repurchase her foreclosed house.  Earlier this year her house went into foreclosure & she decided to raise money to buy it back at an auction.  She took her grandmother’s cornbread recipe & made a business out of it, one that will hopefully put her back in her home.  I can’t think of a better reason to start a business.
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Mike Lane wanted his daughters Megan & Emma, 10 & 12 respectively, to learn the value of money & the basics of money management.  So the two girls decided to rent out their 106sf tree house for a few months during the summer to seasonal employees working in and around California’s Sequoia National Forest.  Check out their story at Marketplace Money and see the slide show of their tree house.  Who says money doesn’t grow on trees?
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Before hurricane Katrina, Jerome Boykin had plans to go to graduate school but the storm changed all that.  One night after the storm, his father took him to a mall parking lot & showed him a sweeper truck and asked if he would be interested in a lot sweeping business.  With no previous experience, Jerome learned to operated the sweeper truck & is now running a successful business that has provided jobs and helped numerous businesses in 8 parishes in Southeastern Louisiana.  No telling how many people drove past that same parking lot & sweeper truck without seeing what Jerome and his father saw.
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Although not a new small business, there are some customer service call centers that are bringing jobs back to the US.  Calls that were for many years answered overseas are increasingly being taken by Americans working from home.  This new arrangement is good for businesses that are seeing the costs of operating overseas skyrocketing.  It’s also good for Americans that due to illness or family responsibilities prefer to work from home.  One of the best known companies offering such “home sourcing” opportunities is Alpine Access & there are an estimated 60,000 Americans taking customer service calls at home.
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One of this country’s greatest strengths is the abundance of opportunities available to all of us to create our own success stories. We are surrounded by exciting possibilities waiting to be recognized.
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The latest food recall got us thinking about the frequency of food recalls.  This time it’s 220 million eggs, but we all remember recent recalls on tons of ground beef, chicken products, spinach, pre-mixed salads, peanut butter, pet foods….  But did you know that food recalls occur far more often than what makes it to the evening news?
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Did you know that just in this year there have been recalls on canned meatball products, canned soups, frozen chicken nugget products, canned tuna, popular breakfast cereals, potato chips, salami, granola bars, chocolate products, dried dates, tortillas, as well as at least 177 products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) because of “potential salmonella exposure”.  HVP is a flavor enhancer & found in many processed food products and it’s not always easy to find it on the ingredients label.
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Since the 1970′s, the number of inspectors & therefore inspections has decreased drastically while the production & importation have increased.  The Centers for Disease Control records 76 million cases of food borne illness per year!  It seems fair to say that our food safety system is broken & in need of serious repair.
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While we as individuals may not be able to repair our food safety systems, we can (and do every day, even if we don’t realize it) send a message to food manufacturers & suppliers.  Every dollar we spend sends the market a message, a “vote” if you will.  When making purchasing decisions, it’s important to vote for the right products because manufacturers pay attention to our buying habits & position themselves to best compete for our dollars/votes.
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With family farms disappearing at an alarming rate (Farm Aid reports that 330 farmers leave their lands every week), we have inadvertently sent the message that we want more factory farming, where the bottom line is the principal consideration.  Factory farms are highly subsidized & negatively impact our health, the health of our environment as well as the economic health of our communities.  They pollute our waters and create “dead zones” like the one in the Gulf of Mexico which measures 8,543 square miles – the size of New Jersey.  The agribusiness nutrient rich runoff depletes the oxygen in the water & robs sea life of its spawning grounds.
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Fortunately, the popularity of farmer’s markets & eating locally grown foods is growing and an increasing number of consumers are voting for organically grown foods.  As more Americans become aware of the benefits of eating responsibly, we can take control of our communities and support our neighbors.  If the Black Sea (formerly the largest dead zone in the world) can be used as a case study, we know we can reverse the effects of agribusiness in the Gulf of Mexico.
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If you have enough space & time, growing your own garden can be a very rewarding exercise.  Children love to help in the garden & it’s a great way to teach them about growing cycles and the importance of living in harmony with our surroundings.  Some communities allow chicken coups in residential areas and New York city is a great example of roof top farming & bee keeping. If your child’s school doesn’t already have a vegetable or herb garden, you may consider suggesting it and helping create this unique learning opportunity.
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We are lucky to live in a city that has a farmer’s market during our growing season as well as a year round open air market in a neighboring city that makes eating locally/organically & seasonally a bit easier.  We have also seen the opening of a handful of restaurants that feature local/organic or raw foods.  There is also a Community Supported Agriculture group (CSA) in our county.  To find farmer’s markets, organic farmers, local beekeepers, healthy restaurants & CSA’s in your area, visit these sites for more information:
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Local Harvest
The Ethicurean
Food Routes
Heritage Turkey Foundation
Sustainable Table
Backyard Beekeeping
Bee Culture
You Grow Girl
America The Beautiful Fund’s Operation Green Plant
Seed Savers Exchange
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

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While reading the current issue of Mothering magazine, i came across the Equal Exchange Fairly Traded red & white logo that always has a Pavlovian affect on me.  I’m not a chocoholic, but when a chocolate craving hits, not just any chocolate will do.  I have a special place in my heart for the Equal Exchange Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds, made with organic almonds & 55% cacao it makes me very happy.  The write up mentioned that aside from making great chocolate treats, Equal Exchange has a fund raising program that supports small sustainable farms.

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What a great alternative to the usual fund raising fare.  For as long as I can remember, fund raising time meant selling friends & family unhealthy, overpriced, often imported edibles and knick knacks they didn’t want or need.  No longer do parents have to endure the mixed feelings that accompany fundraisers.  While helping schools/organizations raise funds Equal Exchange offers quality organic and fair traded coffee, tea, cocoa, snacks & gifts and gives back to farmers & artisans in Latin America and here in the US.

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Perhaps the best part is the big impact small changes like this have on our children.  What a great way to demonstrate how important each individual’s buying decisions can be; it’s the butterfly effect explained through chocolate – how beautiful!  Equal Exchange is a worker owned cooperative that works with other cooperatives throughout the Americas and is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.

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In 2008 while Dr. Laura Stachel was observing a hospital in Nigeria as part of her work in maternal child health.  The electricity went out and a C-section that was already in progress had to be completed with the aid of flashlights.  In some cases, women were bleeding to death during child birth because there were no phone systems with which to summon a doctor.  Dr. Stachel shared her frustration with her husband and together they created a “solar suitcase” she could take on the road with her.
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Once back in Nigeria, Statchel’s “solar suitcase” was being used to power LED lights & walkie talkies as well as ultrasound machines.  As the word spread, other hospitals began submitting their requests for the solar energy kits.  This growing demand and the need to meet it gave rise to WeCareSolar.com.  So far, the “solar suitcase” has helped people in Nigeria, Tanzania, Mexico, Haiti, Thailand and Burma and will very soon be used in Uganda.
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Each suitcase costs about $1,000 to build, but can mean the difference between life and death for a mother in labor and her baby.  We would like to celebrate this Mother’s Day by donating 1% of our total May sales to WeCareSolar.com and we encourage all our friends to join us in making a donation to this very worthy cause.
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“Motherhood has a very humanizing effect.  Everything gets reduced to essentials”,  Meryl Streep

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