So here we are at today. It is October 27, 2008 and it is 1:49 pm. A somewhat typical day here at Happy Heinys /Baby Frenzy (our store front).
Many people are shocked when they walk into our store and find out that our products are also made here. We have a wonderful warehouse that also has the perfect boutique room in the front.
Our warehouse is 2 stories and is built out as far as we can build it out. In other words yes we have again outgrown our building. Upstairs we have our cutting table set up in 1 room. We also store about 1/2 of our fabric up there (the rest is in an off-site storage unit). We are able to fork-lift the fabric upstairs through a double door my wonderful contractor husband put in. He also made the perfect fabric storage units that hold 2-3 colors each. This makes it super super easy for us to not only pull and cut but also reorder without ordering too much of one color or worse not enough of another. In this same room we also have: strip cutter which measures and cuts all of the aplix and elastic perfectly for each item. This is how we are able to ensure that each item has the correct amount of stretch on it. Yes it is possible for someone to pick up the wrong size of elastic but this rarely happens. This truly helps with quality control. We also have a pair of electric snap presses in here that are running continuiously as well as a manual foot press.
Once everything is cut, it is then taken into the room next door. Once again my husband was able to build in containers for the cut fabric and supplies to be stored. It is really in this room that the magic happens. These beautiful women who love to sew sit happily and work all day. It is funny because there have been days where we have been filming stuff and they are asked to do specific things. It upsets them to be taken away from their work. They would much prefer to be sewing then on TV or in a magazine any day. I honestly could not ask for a better group of seamstresses.
Our head seamstress has actually been with me since that very first order of several hundred boat print trainers to Japan roughly 6 yrs ago. When the time came that she was about to be laid off from the contract seamstress company I was using, I hired her, there was no way I could lose her. I just could not speak highly enough about this woman. She is not only my head seamstress but she is also a very good friend. I have never had a fear of her trying to steal our business or do harm to us or even worse to leave us. Without her things would run but it would be more stressful for me. I no longer have to worry about anything upstairs she does it all. Plus to top it all off she makes great egg rolls, a favorite of mine when they are truly Asian made, like hers.
Our second in command is just as valuable. Our second in command is the best when it comes to product modifications and sewing in general. So good that everytime the kids come in here they usually leave with something special for them. Since my youngest is a bit of a weird fit, my second in command makes allof her PJ's as well as many other beautiful items. My daughter is definitely spoiled by all the girls upstairs and they enjoy having her up there "helping" out. We have been working on some new ideas that will hopefully be available by the end of the year and it is our second in command who is doing the developing of all the items that need sewing.
We then have the remaining girls, they snap, sew, serge, and repeat all day long. They are an absolutely terrific group of beautiful women. What is even greater to me is that when you look around my company and store you will find people from several different corners of the world. We are all united her for one cause, to diaper one baby at a time in cloth.
After each product is sewn it is brought downstairs and placed on the shelves for packing. The one size are wrapped first with the inserts and belly band and everything else is just put away. A typical day means 5-6 people packing boxes to go out, it is my desire to have shipping happen as soon as possible, in other words I want it all done now. But that being said, when you walk in you will almost always hear laughter coming from the packing room. Talking about what was done over the weekend, what someone said on the radio, the latest celebrity news, the kids, and of cuorse our spouses. You have to be careful though because if you say something you just may be hearing about it for the next week or longer. We truly have a lot of fun here.
During the school breaks you will often find up to 11 kids wandering around the shop as well. None of us have babysitters. And when school is out we have 2 choices everyone stay home or try to go on as normal. We go for the latter. The kids all have their own areas as well as their own playthings. The older kids enjoy helping out and getting paid. They have become expert belly band wrappers as well as excellent packers. My 9 yr old loves to run the store and does so with such knowledge, more than a child of that age ever should have. The younger children often have a large pile of scraps that they use to make not only outfits for themselves but also for their dolls, teddy bears, and parents. It really is a work enviroment that in condusive for anyone who comes here both adults and children, men and women, American and immigrant.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Why use Cloth Diapers?
There are many reasons to choose to use cloth diapers and in my opinion with today's easy style cloth diapers there are very few reasons why one should not use them.
Just a handful of reasons:
Cost of diapers: Americans spend 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers EVERY year. As a cloth diaper manufacturer it was up to us to figure out exactly how much does a disposable diaper cost. So I took myself down to the local costco one day and walked over to the disposable diaper aisle and looked at the per diaper price. I opted to use the standard Huggies in the extra large box size 2 option since this held the most amount of diapers. Each diaper cost was $.25 now I know that a quarter doesn't sound like a lot of money and really it isn't but when you start adding things up it is a lot of money.
A baby who is from newborn to 3 months should be changed every day AT LEAST 8-10 times per day. Now I know that the disposable diapers add enough chemicals in them to "hold back the hoover damn" but I also know that I would not want to sit on top of a bunch of soggy gel beads for several hours a day. We have had some customers who were under the impression that because a disposable diaper help so much they only needed to change them when the hcild had a bowel movement and right before bed. This equaled 2 diaper changes per day. We do not recommend this way of thinking at all. This leaves the child sitting in urine all day long which can lead to severe diaper rash.
Back to the cost: If you change your babies diaper 10 times a day for the first 3 months you are looking at spending $2.50 per day, $17.50 per week, $75 per month, and for the first 3 months of life you will spend $225. This is onl,y if you are purchasing lower cost diapers or purchasing diapers at a big box store. If you are like most parents and you have to make the quick trip to the grocery store you will spend even more money.
From 3 months on you will need to change your baby 6-8 times a day. For this equation we will simplify and just stick with 7 changes per day. You are looking at spending $1.75 per day, $12.25 per week, and $52.50 for the month.
By the time your child has reached 1 yr old you will have spent at least $697.50. That is just 1 yrs worth of disposable diapers. By the time your baby is 24 months old you will have spent at least: $1327.50 We also have to keep in mind that as our babies get older and move up in size in diapers they begin to cost more per diaper and there are less in each package. But to help us to err on the cheaper side of disposable diapers we will keep the per diaper price at $.25.
Many toddlers will potty learn right around the age of 3. Again we will keep the diaper prices the same even though as they get older not only does the price go up but as they begin the potty learning process you will most likely start to purchase the pull ups which are even more expensive. By the time your toddler is the age of 3 and completely potty learned you will have spent a minimum of $1957.50.
All of this money has gone down the proverbial drain. You have nothing personally to show for it. And unfortunately the community now has 1 ton of diapers added to the landfill that will not decompose for upwards of 500 yrs (see RDA)
So what about Reusable Diapers? Do they REALLY save money? Absolutely YES. Especially the One Size diapers by Happy Heinys. Each One Size diaper costs $18.95 and it comes with the reusable diaper plus 2 reusable absorbant inserts. A parent can easily purchase 12 of these diapers and have them last from birth to potty training, roughly 8-35 lbs, and only spend $227.40. This also doesn't include any additional discounts that may be applied for package pricing. Can you really do it with just 12 diapers, yes you can. Since you are changing baby up to 10 times a day, with 12 diapers you will have to do an extra load of laundry every single evening. Start in before bed and it is done when you wake up the next morning. If you can purchase an extra 6 diapers for $113.70, a total spent of $341.10 you will be able to go even longer in between wash loads. We do not recommend purchasing more than 24 One Size diapers per child. There really is no need.
So right away for just the diapering purchase you have saved yourself a minimum of: $1616.40 for your first child. One of the beautiful things about reusable diapers is that they do last for more than 1 child. Yes you will have to replace some of your diapers but you will not have to purchase a whole new stash of diapers with each child. This makes your savings even greater.
Also, one more large plus is the resale of cloth diapers. Yup you read that right. There are many moms who prefer to purchase used clean items and if your used diapers are still in good shape you can resell them for a min. of 1/2 what you paid for them. So that $341 is now closer to $150 is you take the time to resell them.
OK, I know what about the water and detergent and electricity. I may be saving money in the purchase of these products but my bill is going to go up so it all evens out doesn't it? Well not necessarily so. There is an additional cost for the water and other utilities. This cost, based on San Diego, CA rates equals about $.01 per diaper per load. So if you are washing 12 diapers in a load then you should see no more than a $.12 increase in your bill. For detergent, you do not need to buy a special detergent, the whole washing process will be another tangent later on, but with detergent I personally prefer Tide to every other brand available. My second choice and my #1 natural detergent choice is Country Save. Both of these are priced reasonablly and easily attainable. You will need slightly less than 1/2 scoop per load. That's it.
One interesting piece of information that many parents are unaware of is that it actually takes 2.3 times more water to make and use a disposable diaper than it does to wash a reusable one. (3) That is a huge amount of water if you ask me.
There is always the water debate, especially here in California where Happy Heinys are made. I can't count the number of times I have driven by the dump only to watch them watering the dump down to prevent fires and keep the dust down. This is something done daily as a prevention, a huge waste of water. And with 1 ton of diapers per baby in that dump, with over 4,000,000 babies born each year that is an awful lot of diapers.
In the US alone OVER 27 BILLION diapers are sold and then put into landfills.
While speaking about the dump debate, disposable diapers make up 50% of household waste when a toddler lives in the home. Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills. Over 92% of all single use diapers will wind up in your local landfill.
Disposable diapers generate 60 times more solid waste and twenty pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for 1 baby each year. (4)
Each year over 300lbs of wood and 50lbs of petroleum feedstocks are used to produce disposable diapers for ONE baby for ONE year.(4)
Health Issues:
FACTS:
In 1955 before disposable diapers were widely sold and used it was estimated that only 7% of babies had diaper rash. By 1991 long after disposables became the diaper of use that number jumped up to 78% of babies. (6)
The most common reason for diaper rash is excessive moisture against the skin (5)
Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper bleaching process. It IS a carcinogenic chemical listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer linked chemicals. In small quantities dioxin can: cause birth defects, immune system suppression, cause skin and liver disease. It is banned in most countries EXCEPT THE USA. (1)
Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin(TBT) a toxic pollutent known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.(2)
Disposable diapers contain Sodium Polyacrylate, a type of super absorbant polymer (SAP), which turns to a gel like substance when wet. This chemical can cause skin irritation and severe allergic reaction including vomiting, staph infections, and fever.
One Final thing to consider, Everyone deserves to wear real clothing made of soft and comfortable materials. Most adults would never ever consider wearing clothing made from paper and plastic, or worse yet wear underwear made from paper or plastic. Don't our babies deserve the same consideration as us adults?
1. Allsopp, Michelle. Achieving Zero Dioxin Sept. 1994 Greenpeace
2.Greenpeace, New Tests confirm TBT poison in Proctor and Gamble Diapers May 15,2000
3. Armstrong, Liz and Adrienne Scott Whitewash Exposing the Health and Enviromental Dangers of Women's Product 1993 HarperCollins
4.Lehrberger C, Mullen and CV Jones 1991 Diapers Enviromental Impacts report to NADS
5.Boiko 1997 Diapers and Diaper Rashes Feb 1997 Dermatology Nursing
6.Weiner, F 1979 The relationship of diapers to diaper rashes in the one month old infant The Journal of Pediatrics 95:422-424
Just a handful of reasons:
- Cost of diapers
- The Environment
- The Health of our Children
Cost of diapers: Americans spend 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers EVERY year. As a cloth diaper manufacturer it was up to us to figure out exactly how much does a disposable diaper cost. So I took myself down to the local costco one day and walked over to the disposable diaper aisle and looked at the per diaper price. I opted to use the standard Huggies in the extra large box size 2 option since this held the most amount of diapers. Each diaper cost was $.25 now I know that a quarter doesn't sound like a lot of money and really it isn't but when you start adding things up it is a lot of money.
A baby who is from newborn to 3 months should be changed every day AT LEAST 8-10 times per day. Now I know that the disposable diapers add enough chemicals in them to "hold back the hoover damn" but I also know that I would not want to sit on top of a bunch of soggy gel beads for several hours a day. We have had some customers who were under the impression that because a disposable diaper help so much they only needed to change them when the hcild had a bowel movement and right before bed. This equaled 2 diaper changes per day. We do not recommend this way of thinking at all. This leaves the child sitting in urine all day long which can lead to severe diaper rash.
Back to the cost: If you change your babies diaper 10 times a day for the first 3 months you are looking at spending $2.50 per day, $17.50 per week, $75 per month, and for the first 3 months of life you will spend $225. This is onl,y if you are purchasing lower cost diapers or purchasing diapers at a big box store. If you are like most parents and you have to make the quick trip to the grocery store you will spend even more money.
From 3 months on you will need to change your baby 6-8 times a day. For this equation we will simplify and just stick with 7 changes per day. You are looking at spending $1.75 per day, $12.25 per week, and $52.50 for the month.
By the time your child has reached 1 yr old you will have spent at least $697.50. That is just 1 yrs worth of disposable diapers. By the time your baby is 24 months old you will have spent at least: $1327.50 We also have to keep in mind that as our babies get older and move up in size in diapers they begin to cost more per diaper and there are less in each package. But to help us to err on the cheaper side of disposable diapers we will keep the per diaper price at $.25.
Many toddlers will potty learn right around the age of 3. Again we will keep the diaper prices the same even though as they get older not only does the price go up but as they begin the potty learning process you will most likely start to purchase the pull ups which are even more expensive. By the time your toddler is the age of 3 and completely potty learned you will have spent a minimum of $1957.50.
All of this money has gone down the proverbial drain. You have nothing personally to show for it. And unfortunately the community now has 1 ton of diapers added to the landfill that will not decompose for upwards of 500 yrs (see RDA)
So what about Reusable Diapers? Do they REALLY save money? Absolutely YES. Especially the One Size diapers by Happy Heinys. Each One Size diaper costs $18.95 and it comes with the reusable diaper plus 2 reusable absorbant inserts. A parent can easily purchase 12 of these diapers and have them last from birth to potty training, roughly 8-35 lbs, and only spend $227.40. This also doesn't include any additional discounts that may be applied for package pricing. Can you really do it with just 12 diapers, yes you can. Since you are changing baby up to 10 times a day, with 12 diapers you will have to do an extra load of laundry every single evening. Start in before bed and it is done when you wake up the next morning. If you can purchase an extra 6 diapers for $113.70, a total spent of $341.10 you will be able to go even longer in between wash loads. We do not recommend purchasing more than 24 One Size diapers per child. There really is no need.
So right away for just the diapering purchase you have saved yourself a minimum of: $1616.40 for your first child. One of the beautiful things about reusable diapers is that they do last for more than 1 child. Yes you will have to replace some of your diapers but you will not have to purchase a whole new stash of diapers with each child. This makes your savings even greater.
Also, one more large plus is the resale of cloth diapers. Yup you read that right. There are many moms who prefer to purchase used clean items and if your used diapers are still in good shape you can resell them for a min. of 1/2 what you paid for them. So that $341 is now closer to $150 is you take the time to resell them.
OK, I know what about the water and detergent and electricity. I may be saving money in the purchase of these products but my bill is going to go up so it all evens out doesn't it? Well not necessarily so. There is an additional cost for the water and other utilities. This cost, based on San Diego, CA rates equals about $.01 per diaper per load. So if you are washing 12 diapers in a load then you should see no more than a $.12 increase in your bill. For detergent, you do not need to buy a special detergent, the whole washing process will be another tangent later on, but with detergent I personally prefer Tide to every other brand available. My second choice and my #1 natural detergent choice is Country Save. Both of these are priced reasonablly and easily attainable. You will need slightly less than 1/2 scoop per load. That's it.
One interesting piece of information that many parents are unaware of is that it actually takes 2.3 times more water to make and use a disposable diaper than it does to wash a reusable one. (3) That is a huge amount of water if you ask me.
There is always the water debate, especially here in California where Happy Heinys are made. I can't count the number of times I have driven by the dump only to watch them watering the dump down to prevent fires and keep the dust down. This is something done daily as a prevention, a huge waste of water. And with 1 ton of diapers per baby in that dump, with over 4,000,000 babies born each year that is an awful lot of diapers.
In the US alone OVER 27 BILLION diapers are sold and then put into landfills.
While speaking about the dump debate, disposable diapers make up 50% of household waste when a toddler lives in the home. Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills. Over 92% of all single use diapers will wind up in your local landfill.
Disposable diapers generate 60 times more solid waste and twenty pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for 1 baby each year. (4)
Each year over 300lbs of wood and 50lbs of petroleum feedstocks are used to produce disposable diapers for ONE baby for ONE year.(4)
Health Issues:
FACTS:
In 1955 before disposable diapers were widely sold and used it was estimated that only 7% of babies had diaper rash. By 1991 long after disposables became the diaper of use that number jumped up to 78% of babies. (6)
The most common reason for diaper rash is excessive moisture against the skin (5)
Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper bleaching process. It IS a carcinogenic chemical listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer linked chemicals. In small quantities dioxin can: cause birth defects, immune system suppression, cause skin and liver disease. It is banned in most countries EXCEPT THE USA. (1)
Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin(TBT) a toxic pollutent known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.(2)
Disposable diapers contain Sodium Polyacrylate, a type of super absorbant polymer (SAP), which turns to a gel like substance when wet. This chemical can cause skin irritation and severe allergic reaction including vomiting, staph infections, and fever.
One Final thing to consider, Everyone deserves to wear real clothing made of soft and comfortable materials. Most adults would never ever consider wearing clothing made from paper and plastic, or worse yet wear underwear made from paper or plastic. Don't our babies deserve the same consideration as us adults?
1. Allsopp, Michelle. Achieving Zero Dioxin Sept. 1994 Greenpeace
2.Greenpeace, New Tests confirm TBT poison in Proctor and Gamble Diapers May 15,2000
3. Armstrong, Liz and Adrienne Scott Whitewash Exposing the Health and Enviromental Dangers of Women's Product 1993 HarperCollins
4.Lehrberger C, Mullen and CV Jones 1991 Diapers Enviromental Impacts report to NADS
5.Boiko 1997 Diapers and Diaper Rashes Feb 1997 Dermatology Nursing
6.Weiner, F 1979 The relationship of diapers to diaper rashes in the one month old infant The Journal of Pediatrics 95:422-424
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