Green Cradle™ is a one-of-a-kind store in Sherman Oaks California, specializing in organic and all natural health & body care, clothing, mattresses, bedding, toys, furniture and a host of other products for children, pregnancy, and the whole family. Our other specialties are research and sharing the scientific information we’ve collected concerning the health benefits of truly 'green' products. Our goal is to offer families products that not only say ORGANIC or ALL NATURAL on their labels, but actually contain no chemicals, no synthetic preservatives, no harmful dyes, no hidden plastics, no toxic fire retardants, no formaldehyde-leaching pressed woods etc., As exposed by Consumer Reports, and most recently the Organic Consumers Association, many, if not most of the products claiming to be "organic" actually contain but a token few organic ingredients mixed with conventional chemicals, including petroleum based ones, that have been found to be contaminated with known carcinogens. We believe in offering only genuine organic and natural products, and making it easy for people to make good choices.
Why Go Green?
Sometimes "going green" may seem like an overwhelming task. Why bother, you might ask? Though most people presume that the reasons are environmental, the first reason is simply a matter of health. Tests have revealed an astounding load of chemicals in even young children's blood. (CNN 2005). The reality is that these chemicals only increase overtime as we all age, storing themselves in fat and organs. Thus, for example, Parabens, a popular preservative in cosmetic and personal care products have been found inside of breast tumors. (Darbre, et al., "Concentrations of Parabens in Human Breast Tumours.” Journal of Applied Toxicology 24 (2004)). Researchers have found nearly 300 industrial chemicals in umbilical chord blood, including 180 known carcinogens (EWG 2005), and even breast milk has been found to be filled with toxins, including dioxins, dibenzofurans, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), PCBs and heavy metals. (Landrigan et al., Chemical Contaminants in Breast Milk, Environmental Health Practices (2002)). Tests on adults reveal a grim picture of chemical accumulation inside us all.
Sometimes we hear adults say that they were raised with chemicals and turned out fine. The reality is that chemical exposure has only increased since our own childhood and, more accurately, the statistics show that we are all less than fine. Autism, ADHD, childhood cancers like Leukemia and Brain Cancer, Birth Defects, SIDS, fertility problems and other serious diseases have all grown at staggering rates in the last thirty years. Children under 5 now represent the fastest growing group of asthmatics in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. There are literally millions of children with Asthma in this country now! Interestingly enough, also according to the EPA, the pollution inside of our homes is up to ten times worse than in the most toxic outdoor environment. In fact, the EPA confirms that most exposure to toxic chemicals occurs inside of our very own households, and, thus, from the very products that we turn to and trust on a daily basis.
Do Small Changes Matter?
Tests conducted by the Environmental Working Group have revealed that family members share the same type of toxic chemicals in their body, even when they don't live together. You can tell a stranger apart from a family member by doing a chemical analysis on the toxins in their blood. Why would this be true? Perhaps because we are all a product of learned behavior -- we see the products our family members use, and we copy those habits, as will our children after us. This means that the changes we implement today can create a significant impact throughout generations of our family. So yes, if we take the time to remove even one chemical from the products we bring into our home, we might perhaps spare our children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren a chemical body burden.
Our Story
Greencradle was born out of necessity. After health issues arose within our own family, we began to seriously research the health effects associated with the chemicals in children's products. What did we learn? Children's mattresses, their baby shampoos and lotions, baby bottles and sippy cups, baby laundry detergent, sweet looking toys, cleaning products, bedding and adorable clothes, even the expensive cribs and other children's furnishing selected with much love, were actually loaded with toxic chemicals, including formaldehyde, which published studies had linked again and again with serious diseases. We felt overwhelmed by this information. How was it possible to change everything in our lives all at once?
Hardcore chemicals don't exist in nature. Our bodies don't understand them. Indeed, the chemicals that we all live with have been conclusively linked to allergies, and worse yet to cancer, developmental problems, reproductive and hormonal disorders, asthma, and other serious health concerns. For example, we were absolutely shocked to learn that the 'non-toxic' mattresses bought from brand-name baby store's had been sprayed with roach killer. In fact, when we dug further we learned that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission had documented that a small child absorbed a nightly dose of antimony (a heavy metal on California's Prop 65 List of Chemicals Known to the State to Cause Cancer), boric acid (roach killer), PBDES (linked with developmental problems of the brain), etc just from sleeping on a conventional mattress. These chemicals are sprayed or impregnated into all our mattress as fire retardants, but for as long as our children use these mattresses, these chemicals absorb through their skin, are inhaled, and orally ingested. We, as parents, fill our lives and nurseries with costly and beautiful things labeled "non-toxic", "gentle", "pure", "sensitive" "hypo-allergenic" and "safe for newborns," only to find out that these are in fact outright lies. No one is really regulating these products.
We made changes to our lives, with our family as motivation. We've since found that family (and especially children) is exactly the motivation that drives many people who once had no interest in environmental issues to spontaneously turn green. For us, being green is as much a matter of family health as it is in the downstream effects to the environment. We've seen the results in our own family, and we now see it again and again in the success stories of our customers at Greencradle. There is great satisfaction in taking back your environment, your family's environment, even as we are simultaneously tackling the issues of the world. Yes, it would be nice if the world we lived in was as safe as the one our elders had been raised in. But the reality is that things have changed. Whether or not we might want to admit it, the world we now inhabit is filled with toxic chemicals -- and that world is immediately inside our homes. Whether you merely believe in the precautionary principle, or like us, have experienced your own issues with the chemicals, we think it makes good sense to reduce your exposure to unknowns. No, of course, you will never reduce your exposure to zero, but less is always more.
You Can't Green the World In One Day.
Going Green is not an everything or nothing proposition. It's not reasonable to ask anyone to throw out everything in their home and start anew, and that is not what we are asking. Our recommendation is to do as much as you can. Every change matters. If you are ready to only take small steps and see the benefits, we think that makes sense too. You can always decide to take that next step tomorrow. We at Greencradle want to make it easy for you to make green and healthy choices by doing the research for you. Every product that comes into our store, or onto our website, is scrutinized to no end. We research every ingredient, every component, every manufacturing step. Everything we carry must meet genuine organic standards, like that set by federal law. We ask the questions that some manufacturers have never been asked -- who certifies this as being organic, how are the ingredients extracted, what type of plastic is the packaging made from. We do not take our responsibility lightly. Why? Because we want to grow a different world for our children, and you are part of that world. As one of the biggest supporters of the green and eco-friendly movement Green Cradle was recently named by Daily News as one of the best organic home & baby store in Los Angeles.
GREENCRADLE
What a nice way to green the world.
