We’re happy to see that Satu Ruotsalainen, one of our Nature Babycare Ambassadors and her twins are so pleased with their Nature Babycare diapers! The twins are now 1,5 years old and are talking away with their proud parents. When they aren't chattering away, they are busy playing and keeping busy

Read on to hear what Satu has to say!

 “Haikeana toteamme tyttöjen kasvaneen isoiksi, vauvavaihe on jo takanapäin ja tytöt ovat reippaita 1,5-vuotiaita neitien alkuja. Samalla kun olemme innoissamme sisustaneet uutta kotia, opetelleet puhumaan ja syömään uusia ruokia, kompostoineet vaippoja pihan perälle ja keränneet valtavasti omenoita pihamme puista, olemme ylpeinä olleet esimerkkeinä muille lapsiperheille, niille, jotka vielä etsivät sitä omaa tapaa olla mukana luonnonsuojelussa. Housuvaipat ovat olleet parasta meidän vanhempien elämässä, sillä ne eivät ole päästäneet yhtään kertaa pissaa läpi yön aikana. Olemme kaikki nukkuneet äärimmäisen hyvin. Näiden kuvien myötä terveisiä koko perheeltä Vääksystä!”

- Satu Ruotsalainen - 

Thanks Satu, and we’re so glad to have you as a Nature Babycare Ambassador. We're also happy to hear that you're doing so many different things to make a difference for the environment. We know it's the little things that really add up so we appreciate all you do.

If you’re interested in becoming an Ambassador yourself, sign up by clicking on Nature Babycare -lähettiläät and don’t forget to become a fan of Nature Babycare on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter.
 

We’ve had some interesting weather here in Stockholm this week. We woke up on Wednesday to a snow storm. In the middle of October. I don’t think any of us here in the office were ready for that. Luckily, the snow didn’t stick around long and by Wednesday afternoon it was bright and sunny again. Today we have rain.

All this crazy autumn weather got us thinking though, as much as we’d like for the summer sun to stay around, winter is just around the corner.

Even though the calendar says it is only October, Mother Nature doesn’t seem to care, and we have had some cold temperatures. When it gets cold outside, it’s incredibly important to keep your child warm. Here in Sweden it is often said that there is no such thing as poor weather, only poor clothing. There is something to be said for that. We know; we’re just a few hours away from the Arctic Circle.

Keeping your child warm starts, very simply, with dressing them properly. Dress your child in multiple, thin layers. This can start with a layer of long underwear under a shirt, add a sweater and finally a coat and your child will have a good layered approach to braving the elements. By layering you will be able to watch your child’s temperature so that they don’t get too cold. Or too hot for that matter.

Remember, your child just won’t be able to handle the cold as well as your average adult, so a good rule to live by is to add one extra layer of clothing than you would wear yourself. You’ll always be able to take that layer off if need be.

Enjoy the waning days of autumn and be sure to stay warm!

Allow us to gloat for just a second, because Nature Babycare was just awarded EcoBabyWorld’s Green Award for Outstanding Product 2009 for our Pull on Pants! We can’t tell you how proud we are.

EcoBabyWorld does not allow submissions for this award, but instead goes out and chooses the products from companies which they deem to be “creating safe and eco-friendly baby products.” The people behind EcoBabyWorld then test the products to determine which are eligible to be considered an Outstanding Product.

It’s not every day that a small entrepreneurial ecological baby company in Sweden beats out the big guys like Pampers and Huggies. But, come to think of it, while it may not be everyday, those days are coming more and more frequently as of late. And we have only you to thank.

So thank you. Thank you for continuing to support what we do. Thank you for thinking about, and taking care of, the environment. And of course, thank you for putting the health, well being, and future of your baby, first.

Nature Babycare Ambassador Minna Haapkylä has written to us about her experience with Nature Babycare and why she uses our products:

Heippa!

Käytämme Nature Babycare vaippoja ja ne sopivat pojallemme täydellisesti. Joskus tulee ulkomailla ostettua muita vaippoja, ja minusta pojan iho voi muissa vaipoissa huonommin. Aiomme jatkossakin käyttää Nature Babycare –vaippoja. Ne sopivat meille parhaiten ja minulla on parempi omatunto, kun en kerran jaksa käyttää kestovaippoja.

Hyvää loppukesää!
t. Minna Haapkylä

Thanks Minna!
 

Nature Babycare is now on both Facebook and Twitter. We’ve been updating a few times a week now.

On the Nature Babycare Facebook Fan Page and the Nature Babycare Twitter feed you’ll find all kinds of exciting news like:

• A Twitter post about Nature Babycare being awarded the Good Environmental Choice certificate by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation for our ECO Shampoo, Wash, and Bath.
• Environmental tips on ways to green up your bathroom in a sustainable way.
• Childcare news on living a healthy lifestyle.
• Going green when buying a pet.
• Links to green shops where you can buy Nature Babycare products as well as other environmentally friendly stores.

We know that you are informed consumers. Engaged consumers. That’s why we want to make sure that you all know what is going on with Nature Babycare. Especially because rather than spending millions on marketing campaigns like some of the multinationals, we focus on constantly improving our product.

If you’re interested in helping out there are a few easy things you can do:

• Blog about us 
• Follow us on Twitter 
• Become a fan on Facebook 
• Link to us from you website
• Tell your friends and family

And of course, feel free to comment. We read every comment and love hearing from you all!

We know that there has been some confusion about composting Nature Babycare nappies. Hopefully, our post earlier this month, “How to Dispose of Nature Babycare Nappies” cleared up some of those questions. We still suggest that you place the nappies in our Nature Babycare Disposal Bags and dispose of them in the trash bin.

That being said, we recognize the importance of ecologically friendly composting. So, for those of you who have the space in your garden, we’d like to explain how to get started with your very own compost pile. It’s the perfect step for anyone interested in environmentally friendly organic gardening.

First, you need to make some room. The size of your compost pile is up to you, but you usually want to set aside a one meter by one meter area.

To ensure that you get a good pile of compost started, some wire fencing around your composting area is a good idea.

Once you have the area set aside, you’ll need something to compost. There are two different forms of composting material, usually referred to as green material and brown material.

• Green material is just what it sounds like, green material. Things like old fruits and vegetables and even grass after having mowed your lawn. Green material acts as a nitrogen source for your compost pile.

• Brown material is your carbon source. This includes things like dead leaves and even un-dyed cardboards.

Make sure that you have a good mixture of the two different materials. It is important to the decomposition process and a good balance will allow for a better compost pile.

How you mix your compost is up to you. Some people suggest you layer your brown and green materials in the beginning, others suggest you mix them all up from the start. I prefer to mix them from the start.

Now that you’ve got your compost pile started, make sure that you the pile stays damp. Not wet, but damp enough that decomposition can occur. To ensure that decomposition is occurring, turn your compost pile once or twice a month. Once every two weeks usually works well.

Over the course of a few months, you’ll notice that your compost pile is shrinking. This is a good thing. That means it is working. You’ll start to notice a dark rich soil appear which is perfect for your vegetable garden, flowers, or anywhere else around the house.

Because you are most likely adding material to your compost pile, be sure to sift through the soil so that you don’t have any material that has yet to fully decompose.

With that, you’ve created a compost pile which will put you on your way to an organic and environmentally friendly garden.

Good luck and happy green gardening!
 

It has been just about one month since we launched the new Nature Babycare website. And we couldn’t be happier. We’ve received a lot of great response from customers all over the world.

We especially appreciate all of the responses from everyone in Finland!

As we launched our website we wrote to all of our Nature Babycare Ambassadors and Nature Babycare Friends about an exciting competition. Just by leaving a comment, you were entered into a contest for 10 Nature Babycare Gift Boxes.

Each Nature Babycare Gift Box includes great Nature Babycare products! The winners will receive Nature Babycare Eco Sensitive Fragrance Free Awarded Wipes, our ecologically friendly baby wipes, Nature Babycare ECO Sensitive Shampoo, our ecologically friendly baby shampoo, as well as other great products from all of us here at Nature Babycare.

Today, we’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their comments, as well as announce the winners of the Nature Babycare Gift Boxes.

Congratulations to the following Nature Babycare users:
Kaarina
Henna
Kaisa
Riikka
Anniina
peipponen
J&J&J
Sandra
Marika
Eliza

The winners have all been notified by e-mail as well.

Thank you again for taking the time to comment on the new website and letting us know what you think. And of course, thank you for choosing an ecological option in baby care – Nature Babycare.
 

One of the questions frequently asked to our Customer Service is how the nappy should be put to waste after it has been used. We would like to take the opportunity to give some advice about this and give some information about the materials in our nappies.

We love hearing from Nature Babycare users, and Satu Ruotsalainen, is one of those users. She and her twins have been using Nature Babycare diapers for a while now. And we couldn’t be happier.

But enough from us, read on to see what Satu has to say:

Meillä opetellaan juuri puhumaan ja Mila juoksee kovaa kyytiä karkuun Sofiaa, joka ei aivan vielä pysy samaa vauhtia mukana. Yöt menevät edelleen yhdellä Nature Babycare -housuvaipalla ja äidille miellyttävää on ollut se, ettei yhtään vahinkoa ole sattunut. Housuvaippa on todella pitävä ja imukykyinen.

Pienikokoisempi Mila käyttää päiväaikaan tavallista vaippaa ja isompi, jo reilu 11 kiloinen Sofia, housuvaippaa. Koska vaippoja kertyy päivän aikana niin paljon, kerään kaikki ekopussiin ja vien roskiin vasta illalla.

Olemme päässeet jo reilun vuoden ikään iho-ongelmitta, joka on säästänyt myös monilta yöitkuilta. Tytöt nukkuvat muuten todella hyvin, paitsi silloin kun uusi hammas on juuri puhkeamassa. Tytöt ovat opetelleet jo kuukauden ajan potalla istumista, ja onnistumisen elämykset ovat kirvoittaneet raikuvat aplodit. Siskolle on tärkeää taputtaa, kun pissa on tullut pottaan. Koska vaippoja kuitenkin vielä tarvitaan pitkän aikaa, meille on tärkeää, että vaipasta suurin osa on luonnonmateriaalia. Tulevan omakotitalomme pihalla tulee varmasti olemaan komposti, johon saamme vaippapinon isolta osalta maatumaan.

Ja kun lähisukuun on juuri syntymässä lisää vauvoja, haluan jokaisen saavan lahjaksi vuoden Nature Babycare -vaipat. Pitkäaikaisessa käytössä huomaa parhaiten vaipan suotuisan vaikutuksen ihon hyvinvointiin.

- Satu Ruotsalainen -

Nearly 15 years ago, Marlene Sandberg found herself thinking about nappies, and doing so on a regular basis. She was the mother of two boys, a corporate lawyer, and had a burgeoning sense of environmental awareness. As all new parents eventually realize, nappies became an everyday occurrence. 

It was during this period that Marlene came across a newspaper article reporting on the damaging effect that disposable nappies had on the Swedish environment. On average, every Swedish baby was responsible for a half ton of dirty nappies every year. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, it can take hundreds of years for an ordinary disposable nappy to decompose. So the nappies kept piling up, due in part to the material in traditional disposable nappies being predominately oil-derived plastic. While the nappies were out of sight, for Marlene, they were never truly out of mind.