One person's trash is another person's treasure!

If there's one thing we love at Bummis, it's re-using! I mean, hello - we do make CLOTH DIAPERS. And we definitely do our best to walk the talk in the green department at the Bummis head office - which means re-using everything we can, from paper (using both sides of course) to boxes to fabric. Needless to say, we use a lot of fabric at Bummis - and sometimes, inevitably, we have scraps to get rid of. Our diaper cover scraps are usually pretty puny, since we develop our cutting process to waste very little - and if we have scraps of flannel or terry, we use them to make breastpads that we then donate as freebie handouts for various mom-related community events. But occasionally we do have larger pieces of fabric that we really have no use for. This week, during some early Spring cleaning, we decided to get rid of some leftover hunter green Kokkoon cuts that we no longer needed. And one of the most amusing parts of the scrap-donating endeavor is reading the responses we get to the ad we place on Craigslist - so many people want fabric scraps, and for so many different reasons!

Here are a few of recipients of our scraps, in summary:

• a woman in the countryside who runs Basset Hound Rescue Quebec - she uses the scraps to make pillows and blankets for the puppies at her shelter
• a worker at a women's shelter looking for arts and crafts materials
• a single mom looking for materials to make clothes for her kids
• a painter looking for rags

and one of our personal favorites:

• a guy looking for fabric to stuff the hump of a hunchback costume in his community theatre production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

So - like the title says - one person's trash is another person's treasure! Re-use, re-use, re-use!! And when you can't re-use for your own needs - give it to someone who can!

Bummis ♥'s Microlending!

Back in December, we blogged about the creation of Team Bummis on Kiva, an organization that we are exceptionally proud to be lending funds through. Kiva basically links up individuals or 'teams' who want to lend finances to small scale entrepreneurs all over the world. By partnering with microfinance institutions globally, Kiva's site provides profiles of all sorts of folks who could benefit from access to a small loan- and facilitate the transmission of such loans through paypal. They make it super easy to get involved by allowing loans as low as $25 (makes a great gift!)

So - yesterday we were really excited to be able to re-lend some of our initial loan, since some of the folks whose businesses we had helped finance had paid us back. Our latest set of funds went to Nigeria, Nicaragua, Cambodia and Bolivia, and will be contributing to the entrepreneurial success of a clothing vendor, a cheese maker, a baker, a furniture maker and a dairy farmer.

The concept of micro lending took off largely as a result of Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammad Yunus founding the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh- one of the first microfinance organizations. Microfinance has proven to be a fantastically successful tool for local economic development- and since a large proportion of borrowers are women, the loans work towards gender equality too. The microfinance approach is based on empowerment, and sustainability - most likely why it is so effective!

Check out Kiva's site for more information about microcredit, or to make a loan! We'd love to have you on Team Bummis!

Featured Retailer: EcoBuns

Kellie Rosenberg, owner of EcoBuns, and her family

Back in December, as the holiday season drew near, all of us at Bummis were thinking about what we were going to do to give back to our community. Giving is a big part of what we do here at Bummis, and we know from working with our retailers that many of them are doing amazing things beyond teaching about the benefits of cloth diapers! So we asked our retailers to share with us some of the work they do in their own communities, and we were really amazed by the responses we received! This month's featured retailer is one such store, and we are very honored to be working with them! Bummis has been working with EcoBuns since the fall of 2009, and we look forward to working with them for a long time!

Read on to find out more about EcoBuns and the fantastic work that they do:

EcoBuns is a family owned small business located in the beautiful lakeshore community of Holland MI. If you ask our 4 year-old son he will tell you that EcoBuns is a superhero who's mission is to save the planet one bottom at a time! Our 15 month old is happy to run around in a superhero cape and some fluff! In reality, I am a work at home mom with a degree in education. I run EcoBuns with a determination and mission to get the word out about the benefits of cloth and educate parents on the advances in cloth that have made the diapers easier to use.

Our family began completely cloth diapering with our second son. I had never considered cloth before he came along but had a friend who helped me start the process. I was shocked at how much easier using cloth diapers was compared to the pins, rubber pants, and toilet dunking that I remember my parents doing. I started trying different types of cloth diapers and found that I felt really great about the decision to go cloth. My husband works in finance and he was bowled over by the huge amount of money we were saving. I was really feeling great about the impact (or lack of) that we were making on the environment. Finally, the most important benefit was to our son. Born prematurely, his health was top on our list of importance. We were happy to make the more natural choice for his sensitive skin. Now that he is older, he is happy with the fun colors and prints of his comfy cozy diapers!

EcoBuns has recently begun working with local charities and organizations such as Lakeshore Teen Moms which is an non-profit organization who is devoted to offering support, encouragement and friendship for young women (ages 12-19), who are pregnant or raising a child. These young mothers meet other young moms who understand what they are going through because they're going through it themselves. The young moms can also choose to be paired with a "mentor mom" who will be there for them, like an experienced big sister, sharing strength and reassurance as they develop good skills for parenting and life.

At teenMoMs Support Group meetings young mothers find emotional support and help with their material needs. Fun activities, discussion groups, and special speakers focus on parenting and life skills, along with other teen-related issues. teenMoMs group talks about managing money, cooking and nutrition, choosing a babysitter, managing stress, building self-esteem, completing school, and much more. We are honored at EcoBuns to have been able to donate this organization a Bummis Infant Diaper Kit as part of a December giveaway. TeenMoms was elated to receive the gift.

EcoBuns offers regular classes in cloth diapering at various West Michigan locations. (please refer to the Class Schedule link located at ecobuns.com) Education and customer support is very important to us. It is our goal to serve in these ways, as we believe that customer support and cloth diapering go hand in hand. Education in cloth diapering can make the experience for mom and baby much more enjoyable.

At EcoBuns we are committed to the success and happiness of our customers. If you are in West Michigan on the lakeshore, stop by and shop we would love to meet you.

Click here to visit EcoBuns' store!

Our UPS guy!

I first saw our UPS guy, Paul when I was swimming with my kids at the town dock on a REALLY hot summer's day. He drove the UPS van up, stripped off his brown and yellow UPS issue socks and UPS shirt and jumped in the river. Got out, climbed back in his truck and was on his way again!

Right up the street from the dock is my Uncle Ev's house. One VERY cold and icy winter's day Paul found my Uncle Ev, who was in his late 80's and had fallen while making his way to the mailbox. Paul picked him up and took him into the house, made sure he was alright and went on his way. What a good neighbor Paul was in this very rural and very poor county in upstate NY.


When we opened our Bummis USA warehouse a few miles from the dock - what a surprise to see that Paul was our UPS guy! And what a UPS guy he was - exemplary. Always chipper, never complaining, happy we were doing so well instead of upset at the number of packages! He had a key to our first warehouse, so that he could pick up and drop off even when we were not there. And when my mother was still alive and lived upstairs, he would call up to her and make sure she was alright.

Paul was happy when we bought a new warehouse and built a real loading dock! Of course he had a key to that warehouse too. Always pleasant and chatty - full of interesting stories - like about the time he zoomed up a driveway in the middle of nowhere (Rossie, NY) at 5 something on a VERY dark winter afternoon and was confronted by a shotgun!

So now Paul is retiring - and we will miss him way too much! He has a nice piece of land not too far from our warehouse and will putter around with maple syrup and honey and vegetables, probably do a lot of bicycling and hopefully some travelling. AND he has just found out that he will become a grandfather! So we had the perfect present for him .....

And the name of the red Easy Fit is...

Yum! It's our favorite, juicy, sweet-tart, anti-oxidant packed jewel-esque fruit! And it's the name inspiration for our brand new Easy Fit color. POMEGRANATE!

Thanks to EVERYONE who took part in this contest! All of you who posted the guess 'pomegranate' before midnight EST will be contacted by Customer Service to organize delivery of your prize once our shipment arrives! (thanks also to those who entered after midnight - but we are only able to honor entries within the stated time frame.) You will be the first in the WORLD to receive an Easy Fit in this flashy color!

The following people did not provide email addresses in your entries - so if your name appears in the list below, please contact info@bummis.com with the subject "Easy Fit Contest." Be sure to mention the name/alias you used when posting your guess.

Lisa
ncflanagan
SnowBaby
Michelle
Leah
Brige
Lauratheexplorer
Mrs. Vickie
Thrisha
Nikki
me_pippi
Aias's Mommy
jennytinnin
Jess
Julie
kkhu
mamabee
Kathy and Mark


We were SO happy that so many of you entered this contest, and that we received so many correct guesses! We are super excited to share this new product with you.

I have to say, you all had some pretty amazing & creative suggestions! We LOVED reading them. Next time we're stumped on color names, we know who to ask! Our customers rock!



Take care & happy diapering!

Introducing the Easy Fit! And a fun way to WIN one!

The Bummis warehouses are being primed for something VERY exciting, folks!
Our new products by Tots Bots! We are so, so thrilled to bring them to North America. The white Easy Fit will be hitting the shelves of Canadian and US retailers in February - with our 5 signature colors to follow in March. We went for fun, vibrant colors that are both cute and trendy - we think they'll make for a super hot product! Not to mention the fact that the product itSELF is super special!

It's a unique type of one size, one piece diaper. It has a really nifty design feature that sets it apart from most pocket diapers and all in ones - rather than a separate insert, the Easy Fit insert is actually attached to the diaper! Just tuck it under to 'stuff' into the pocket, instantly creating up to six layers of absorption. And the fibers are not just super thirsty, but also super soft - microfiber on the underside, and silky rayon from bamboo against baby's skin.

Also, though the Easy Fit will fit most babies birth to potty (8-35 lbs), the same awesome style of diaper is also available in as a Tini Fit! This is seriously one of the cuter things we have ever seen - it is an adorable, minature diaper that fits babies 6-12 lbs. All the convenience of a pocket diaper and an AIO in a newborn size! Low bulk for tiny bums!

Check out our website for all the juicy details!

So, for now, just to keep us all enthused, we've decided to run our very first EASY FIT contest. And, it involves a little bit of ingenuity, and a little bit of fun. See, we have named our 5 colors after some of our favorite fruits. You'll see on our web page that one of the colors does NOT yet have a fancy name up - we have just called it "red". However, it does, secretly, already have its own fancy name. So, your task is - try to guess what we named it!

Your hints are:
1. It's a fruit
2. It's a reddish fruit
3. It's a little on the creative side, we think.

Everyone who guesses the color name before midnight EST tonight, January 15th will receive one free 'mystery reddish colored' Easy Fit when they arrive in stock!

Rules are: maximum 3 entries per person, and only 1 guess per entry. You can post your guesses as comments below.

Happy guessing!

A very personal holiday story

I did something different this year during the holidays – I adjusted my thinking. I decided that my ONLY focus would be making sure my family had fun together. We have had a few years of rough times together (deaths of beloved family members and an unexpected and painful bend in the road of parenting), so I decided to use the holidays this year to heal.

2 weeks of parties!
 First our anniversary - my husband and I had a date that included gorgeous music in a magical setting. Then we celebrated by throwing a dinner party for our sons. They each came with a treasured memory of growing up and a wish for our family for the future, and Jimmy and I each shared a memory and a wish with them. We ate on our fine china, used our best silverware – and had an amazing time (I wept). It was healing.

Here is a photo from that evening of me and my boys!

Stasi, Ulysses (a reservist in the Black Watch), me and my Nick (the baby)

Then we had a birthday party for my husband Jimmy. Here is a picture of him with our 3 beautiful sons!

Ulysses at ease, Jimmy the guitar hero (he really is!), Nick and Stasi.

Christmas Eve was another fancy dinner (china and silver and ALWAYS cloth napkins) party featuring our boys' all-time favourite meal – tofu pot pie ...

And then our crazy Christmas with Jimmy’s warm, loving, wonderful Greek family and all the girlfriends except Stasi's - who lives in Poland (for now). The girlfriends contribute ...

mmm ...Catherine's mincemeat tarts!

Next came New Year’s Eve with movies all day long (Robin Hood!) and cheese fondue ….followed by not 1 but 2 turkeys with the amazing warm and fun family of Greeks again on New Year’s Day!

Food, fun and concentrating only on happiness - those were the ingredients. It worked! I have a case of cooking fatigue – but my family is even closer and more loving than before …Having fun together and eating well are what your children will treasure and grow on. Don't skimp on fun, food or love - they are the heart of your family's well-being.