Returning to Normalcy, or Something Like it…

For anyone who really knows me normal is just not something that has ever defined my life. But for many like me, we find peace in routines that are ever changing. It is now January 2nd 2009 and I am wandering what 2009 has in store for me and those around me. 2008 turned out pretty interesting; full of discovery and surprises — like this blog. What is this blog… well, so far it is a place to post research as it applies to the environment and health especially concentrating on the items we introduce into the lives of little ones. The Lundeby’s Eco Baby blog is also a place for me to post sales, charity events, and other local and environmentally relevant news (such as the Greening the 918 series). And sometimes I find myself with a narrative in my head and I just have to type it out (like now). I was having a conversation the other day in which we discovered that January is an exhale, it is a new beginning, a time to assess where we are, where we have been, and where we are going. So what will 2009 bring? I know I will continue to focus on children’s health and environmental influences and ways to “make the world a better place than I found it” by “being the change I wish to see in the world”. For now I will serve customers, man the store, keep up with the inventory, research, crochet and play with Pandora Radio when I need a break, be amazed by life, think about the impact of my actions, cook and eat nice homemade organic meals, look forward to Elote opening for dinner, play with and care for Jeremy and the animals, care for the house and the yard, care for myself, be grateful that I have a loving family that is so supportive of my journey, love my mom for helping with the store, ride the bus to the store and home once a week, find a good time for the “Master Cleanse”, think about turning 30 and where kids fit into all of this, and blog along the way. What about you?

The Year in Review

This morning I have been contemplating the past year and what a year 2008 turned out to be. This time last year I was all bundled up in Yellowstone National park with Jeremy and my mom and dreaming of snowshoeing. New Years Eve day we departed Grandma’s in Laurel, Montana and drove a couple of hours to Yellowstone. We had plans of taking the snow coach from Mammoth to the Old faithful Snow Lodge, but we arrived at the park early and the roads were clear enough to make it from Mammoth to Cooke City which is the most beautiful drive through the park so we decided to stay the night in Mammoth and make it back to Laurel and spend more time with Grandma. Speaking of Yellowstone and nice drives make sure to take the Bear Tooth Highway from Cooke City to Red Lodge, but you must plan wisely as the Bear Tooth Highway is closed until late spring. Here is a photo taken along the Bear Tooth Highway in August.

This time last year the idea of a store was arising in conversation from time to time, but it was more of a day dream than anything. I was excited about preparing for pregnancy: detoxing my body and the house and growing a list of eco friendly baby gear. I stocked up on glass and stainless containers to replace the plastic we had in the house and have learned to live with less plastic. I still struggle to always bring a container with me when dining out and stopping for tea or coffee. I completely failed to follow the Body Ecology diet for 1 year, actually I don’t think I even technically made it through the first week. I have, however, drastically reduced the gluten I intake and have incorporated Body Ecology - like dishes into my cooking repertoire. We removed the wall to wall carpeting and have bamboo in the living room, stained concrete in the dining room and hallway, and bamboo in one of the bedrooms, the other two bedrooms are painted concrete and will eventually have some bamboo.

We live 4.6 miles form the store and 3.3 miles from Jeremy’s office. I would like to bike to work, but my path down 36th seems a bit treacherous for my uncoordinated biking not to mention my hippie deodorant that does not hold up to vigorous exercise and the lack of a shower at the store. I suppose I could wash up in the sink, but the point is that the goal of biking to work is a little too far off at this point. So for months now I have thought about riding the bus and have decided to make my new year’s resolution to take the bus to work at least one day a week. Tulsa, admittedly, is lacking in the public transportation department, but the more we use it the better it will get so Get On the Bus! Another resolution of mine is to do the Lemonade Master Cleanse again and I plan to blog about my Journey both on the cleanse and the bus.

Well the ecologically responsible living store turned into reality, except that our purchasing budget did not let us get past baby, except for the Earth Weave Carpet and Rugs. The Lundeby’s Eco Baby website is functional and Jeremy is hard at work trying to get the registry basket coded correctly so that store registries can be accessed online. The store is now 9 months old and I am finally getting the hang of riding the retail roller-coaster (I think). A few months ago I was not sure that I was going to make it and thankfully mom came to the rescue. For a moment I felt as though I had completely lost my freedom and that I was being suffocated by the store. I was exhausted by the time I got home and started to resent the store for taking all my time and energy. Since then I have come to the realization that freedom is a state of mind and have gotten back to focusing on the positive; consequentially I have much more energy and am able to take care of the store and the house and enjoy life. My new perspective also includes me viewing myself as an employee of Lundeby’s Eco Baby rather than combining our identities.

Lundeby's Eco Baby

In 2008 we also added two dogs to our family, Oliver and Tea so it is now Jeremy, me, Fatso, Oliver, Tea and Lundeby’s Eco Baby. In my wildest imaginations, I would have never imagined myself sitting in a beautiful organic baby and toddler store that Jeremy and I helped to create, blogging, working on Pandora stations that are store appropriate, sipping tea while two dogs tore up the back yard and Fatso lazed around the house (well I did expect Fatso to still be a lazy rabbit) on December 31st 2008.

Oliver the Dog

Tea the Dog and Fatso the Rabbit

So here is to another year full of surprises, growth, love, friendship and health (both personal and planetary)!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fatso the Rabbit

Happy Holidays! 25% off Winter Organic Clothing at Lundeby’s!

We hope your holiday season is going well and that everyone is able to spend some additional time with their loved ones. We would also like to take part in the season by offering 25% off ALL our scrumptiously soft organic cotton winter clothing in sizes from newborn to size 4t!

The Consumer Product Safety Information Act: Terrible Unintended Consequences

Camden Rose Rattle

I am all for safety and boosting standards and regulations (especially when it comes to products for children) and celebrated the passing of this legislation. However, I failed to read it in its entirety — actually I just stopped at the headlines ( ban phthalates and reduce the amount of allowable lead in products intended for children under 12). It turns out that the way the act is currently written will have a tremendous impact on natural and organic toys and clothing too. It will make it next to impossible for small family owned toy manufacturers here in the US to keep operating and forget your dreams of crafting children’s products at home for resale. The problem lies in the act’s testing procedures which requires the submission of several of each toy (or garment) manufactured and a fee for the testing which runs manufacturers about $4000 for each item. When I first caught wind of this, I wanted to verify the validity so I called some of my US vendors to see what kind of impact this legislation would have on them. Most startling to me was that Camden Rose said that they will have to reduce their product offerings to 1/3 of the current selection to be able to stay in business. Camden Rose is an amazing US toy manufacturer located in Ann Arbor, Michigan that finishes their wooden toys and baby products in organic beeswax… and that’s it. Instead of testing several copies of each product style, the raw materials should be tested and the manufacturer of the paints, finishes, and plastics should be responsible for the testing not the toy companies and crafters making things from the materials or test the raw materials and keep a file of those that pass and those that do not. I also spoke with someone at HealthyToys.org who said that what they are really wanting is an overhaul in the Toxic Substances Control Act that has not been updated since the 1970’s. Upon reviewing the matter further, I can’t say I disagree. On top of it all, Selecta a well made and non-toxic German line, that we carry at Lundeby’s, pulled out of the US market. So we have few days to stick together and put forth some action to try to change the wording of this act. The Handmade Toy Alliance has started a petition click here to sign. And check out the Handmade Toy Alliance website for further information on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act and actions you can take to help. Let’s help save Handmade Toys!

For the Young Women in Your Life

The Eco-Me Body kit is the perfect eco-friendly gift for any woman who loves skin care. The kit contains all the essentials for luxury skincare and you know it is safe because you make it yourself. Since the containers are designed for reuse you reduce the resources needed to manufacture plastic bottles and save some cash. The Eco-Me Body contains Body Blend essential oil mix, body scrub reusable container, body powder reusable container, body tonic reusable container, body oil reusable container, loofah, and a tree embroidered hand towel. The ingredients that you add are common to most pantries: sugar, olive oil, vinegar, and aluminum-free baking powder. So give her a gift that inspires creativity while helping to make the world just a little more sustainable.

Toxic Toys Still on the Shelves

The 2008 HeatlyToys.org report from the Ecology Center was released yesterday and while there has been progress many toys still contain chemicals of concern. Most disappointing to me is that no one escaped without a product or two falling into the medium or high category. I am, however, especially pleased to see that they have antimony on the radar.  Antimony is a catalyst for polyester and #1 plastic. There have been studies that show antimony to leach in to water, but the focus has not yet gone to polyester toys which are chewed and sucked on by infants. Antimony is a known to cause eye, skin, and lung irritation, lung disease, heart problems, diarrhea, liver and kidney damage, and fertility problems; the verdict is still out as to whether it is a carcinogen or if it causes birth defects. The Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ASTDR).

And to complicate things even further is the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act which is a much needed upgrade; however, it does not start to go into effect until February 2009. So many products that will not meet the more stringent standards will be on the shelves through this holiday season. Additionally, it bans several phthalates from use in products for children under 12 but there are many products that are not intended for children under 12 but to which they are exposed. Even more crazy is that that phthalates are not required to be listed in the ingredients and are often in the ubiquitous “fragrance” listed on everything from air freshener to shampoo to face powder to laundry detergent. The most common places in which you will find phthalates are air fresheners, perfume, skin care products, cosmetics, dryer sheets, and anything that lists “fragrance”.

We will make sure to keep you informed so that you can make safe purchases for your children. Below you will find some additional resources to keep you more connected.

Trouble in Toyland 23rd Annual Report

Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database

Consumer Product Safety Commission Recall Email Sign Up

All I Want for the Holidays is a Greener World

And the best way to green the world is to start teaching sustainable practices early on. Teaching by example is the best way, but tools (and toys) can help. Which is why we LOVE the oh so educational and engaging Idbids. The storybook is great in an of itself and not only does it talk the talk, but it walks the walk by being printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks. Then there is the organic cotton plush toy handcrafted under fair trade working conditions in Egypt and dyed with natural organic dyes which allows your child to play interactively with the characters in the book. The field guide further involves your children by encouraging them to practice caring for the Earth with activities like “coloring on both sides of the page to double the masterpiece”. Once the fieldguide is complete, log on to the IDbids website to print out their personalized certificate of completion. Additionally the kit comes with a darling organic cotton backpack to store books and or treasures. All of this for $39.99 makes Idbids a wonderful gift that is truly educational and promotes a cleaner, healthier future.

Check out Idbids Awards!

• 2008 Creative Child’s Magazine Preferred Choice Award
• Dr. Toy 10 Best Socially-Responsible Childrens Products for 2008
• Dr. Toy 100 best Children’s Products for 2008
• 2008 National Parenting Publications Honors Awards (NAPPA)

Mention this blog and receive 25% off of your Idbids Starter Kit at Lundeby’s Eco Baby

Emergency Infant Services

This time of year is especially hard on families with young children. It is wonderful to sponsor a family overseas, but let us not turn our back on those in need of help in our own community. Sure donating a cow or a goat to them might not be as helpful as it is to those in rural areas, but there are items you can donate that will help. Those who suffer the most during troubled times are often infants and young children which is why we have joined forces with Emergency Infant Services. We will be collecting gently used clothing (through size 7) and unopened baby food and formula for the familes receiving help through Emergency Infant Services (which is up 75% from this time last year). Additionally, for this week only save 15% off luxuriously soft organic cotton baby and toddler clothing, organic and natural toys, organic bedding, and accessories when you bring in a donation for Emergency Infant Services.

Scout Organics

Scout Organics Protect Long Sleeve Tee

Scout Organics are the perfect play clothes for kids as they are super cute, wash up nicely and get softer and softer with each wash ensuring that your little one will be able to wiggle and squirm in comfort. Organic cotton baby clothes are so soft and pure we don’t know why anyone would want to put anything else next to their baby’s skin. Scout Organics are produced in a Fairtrade Certified factory in India; organic cotton, ethical manufacturing, durability, and a mother daughter team that have a wondefully unique vision for baby clothes what more could a baby want?

Taking time for Gratitude

With the opening of the store and our involvement in the Tulsa Entrepreneurial Spirit Award my attention has primarily gone to the business and getting it on stable footing. There have been so many lessons so far and I am looking forward to learning even more in the future. I can’t believe that it has been 8 months since we opened our doors and that we are getting ready to go through the Holiday Season. It is such a good time to take a step back and truly appreciate our customers for helping us make it to this point as well as the support of family and friends who have helped me to maintain some level of sanity. Thank you all so much and have a HAPPY HAPPY Thanksgiving!