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| Generation Green |
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Kicky Pants: Affordable Eco-friendly Luxury
Rebecca Goldschmidt |
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 With the recent explosion of green clothing and household products for adults, many children’s clothing lines have been reevaluating the fabrics they use, considering the effects of chemicals and dyes on young, sensitive skin. Erin Cloke started Kicky Pants, a children’s eco-friendly and design-conscious clothing line, while on bedrest for her pregnancy with her second son. Her first son was a kicker, earning the name Kicky Pants and inspiring the creation of a line dedicated to “celebrating innocence” and the environment. The entire line is based upon “unique, exclusive, eco-friendly fabrics that are comfortable to wear and easy to mix and match.”
With a background in fabrics, Cloke creates simple, playful designs for cotton and bamboo basics for kids. No more digging through drawers for the matching bottoms to your kid’s t-shirt—Kicky Pants are designed to mix and match, so feel free to experiment with color and patterns, creating fun combinations. Big, bright, polka dots matched with sweet brown horses, stripes with florals, or even just basic solid colors, your baby will look and feel great in these earth-friendly outfits. There are also giant plush fruits and a cleverly named Auto Mobile, a mobile that parents can hang in the car to keep the little guys occupied in the back seat.
Besides being absolutely adorable, the clothing and accessories are affordable, with our favorite jailbird black-and-white-striped cotton onesie starting at $24 and basic bamboo t-shirts in various muted colors starting at only $16. Ruffled butt flaps make diaper checks easy, and the bamboo keeps babies dry and odor-free, not to mention the sustainability of the fabric, which keeps mother earth just as happy as mom and dad.
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Angelina and Brad have been spotted with their army of kids wearing Kicky Pants, which follows along with their “save-the-world” mantra. Magazines like Pregnancy and Parents have featured the clothing, as have many blogs and newspapers throughout the country. Styles are available at stores in the US, Canada, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as online at Cloke’s baby boutique, innovative-baby.com. For the fall collection, they will be introducing a few new styles and will be using more fabrics like bamboo-based fleece, corduroy and super-soft velour, which is double sided so your baby can feel the softness too! Sizes for toddlers will also be available, to keep your child looking great as they grow.
Forget about those matchy-matchy outfits and grab some mix it up with Kicky Pants-- they are easy on the earth, the mind, your child, and your wallet!
Angelina and Brad have been spotted with their army of kids wearing Kicky Pants, which follows along with their “save-the-world” mantra.
 
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Plover Organic Bedding
Rebecca Goldschmidt |
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Going green seems to be on all of our minds, from the food that ends up on our tables to the clothes in our closets and the carbon footprint of our daily commutes. But what about the place we spend most of our lives—our beds? Plover Organic, a new organic linen company based out of Portland, Oregon, is helping bring sustainability into the bedroom without sacrificing beauty or style.
Marisa Mercer founded the company with her sister-in-law, Sheila Mulvihill, in 2007 and with the debut of their Spring/Summer 2008 collection, Julia Wilbur joined the team as co-owner. “Once I had my own household,” says Mercer, “I realized that every purchase you make for that house is a vote with your dollars about what matters to you, and what you want for your family.” With the wellbeing of the planet and her family at the top of her list, she and Mulvihill decided to create a line of bedding that would be as attractive as it was eco-friendly. Using the endangered shore-dwelling bird, the plover, as their mascot, Plover Organic was born.
“Once I had my own household,” says Mercer, “I realized that every purchase you make for that house is a vote with your dollars about what matters to you, and what you want for your family.”
The foundation of the product, the cotton itself, is grown organically and comes from “non-genetically engineered seeds grown in soil that is free of pesticides, herbicides or other cytotoxins,” according to their website. Even the dyeing process used to color the fabric is much more sustainable than the conventional dyeing methods (less water, environmentally friendly dyes) and does not compromise colorfastness or saturation.
A special focus on design and aesthetics separates this line from the myriad organic cotton lines sprouting up in wake of the green trend. Plover linens are distinguishable by their amazing colors and patterns, which can be attributed to the extensive work put in to the design and creation of the fabric. Each pattern is created by hand using a woodblock printing technique, which produces unique coloring and variations. The fabric is then sewn and finished by a certified fair-trade manufacturer in India, where the workers benefit from health care, high wages, and housing.
The vivid color palettes and floral, geometric, and Indian-inspired patterns jump out at you from pom-pom trimmed throw pillows, quilts, fringed shams, duvets, sheets and even crib-sets and baby blankets. The linens have caught the eyes of many an editor, earning many print cameos in various magazines like ELLE Décor, Domino, and Vanity Fair, to name a few. Popular design blogs such as Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy have also featured the linens, which are available for purchase online and throughout boutiques in the United States and Canada.
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In the past years it’s become clear that we need to change our ways and help take better care of our Planet, and Plover is helping us make the right, and the prettiest, choices. “You don’t have to do that much digging anymore to learn all the reasons you should buy organic, sustainably made, and locally produced whenever possible,” Mercer insists. “Once you do your research, I don’t think you can go back.”
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