Talking with... Brenda Berg

rom bassinets to highchairs to nursing chairs, Scandinavian Child offers the best of all words: Safety, sustainability, and style. The Cradle had a chance to learn more from founder and president, Brenda Berg.

The Cradle: There seems to be a movement with expectant and new parents wanting more and more eco-friendly products for their babies. Scandinavian Child covers many of the basics for baby, from bassinet to high chair. Describe how your products are “green.”

Brenda Berg: Scandinavian Child has three principles in our Designs Without Compromise philosophy: functionality, safety, and style. We have always considered “green” to be a basic and important safety issue – safe for the child, safe for the family, and safe for the environment.

To start with, whenever possible, our products are made with environmentally friendly resources such as sustainable woods, wool, and cotton. If we use materials that are not natural, we work hard to make them as chemical-free as possible. For example, all cushion foam materials are PBDE-free and our plastic tray covers are BPA-free and Phthalate-free. These are not currently mandated standards; these are standards we set for ourselves years ago.

Also, by design, our products eliminate landfill. Most of our products are multi-functional so you can buy one item in place of many. They are also made to be passed on to others instead of wearing out and becoming waste. I am very proud that we have made these features a high priority – even if it takes a little more effort to explain the value of our products to our audience.

Much of our policy is driven by our customers’ expectations. For example, we have always used standard vinyl pads in our Cariboo Bassinets. Customers told us that they would like more “green” options and so now we are making an all-natural wool/cotton pad available. This new pad will be standard in three bassinet models and optional for our more economical Folding Bassinet. Developing an all-natural pad that meets the safety standards was not easy. First, the bassinet standard states that the pad must be less than 1-inch thick (if you see thicker pads, beware that they do not meet the ASTM Bassinet standard). The pad also has to meet certain fire retardant requirements, which are harder to meet with chemical-free products. This balance between meeting safety standards and staying natural is one that parents should think about – because you don’t want to compromise one for the other, but that might be the case sometimes and it is important to know this.

The Cradle: What are some of the biggest issues that you feel parents need to be concerned about when it comes to buying furniture, toys, and other baby products?

Brenda Berg: Safety, safety, safety. And, consider the source.

First, safety means not only meeting the basic safety standards for the product category, but also looking for products that are more chemical-free and use sustainable or recycled materials. I’m sure you’ve all heard this before. While I know we all want to be more “green," I would caution parents to look carefully. Product packaging and messages can be deceiving. For example, just because a product is made of wood does not mean that the wood is of a sustainable source, and it doesn’t mean that the other components on the product or other practices of the company are earth-friendly.

Second, if being green is really important to you, you may want to dig deep to find out more about a manufacturer’s stand on product safety and the environment. In some cases, manufacturers do not even know that there are safety standards and issues they should be concerned with, so asking them “Are your products safe/green?” is not always good enough. For example, their product might be made of sustainable materials, but they do not even check to see if it meets basic safety requirements, or the other way around.

Also, when I say consider the source, I don’t mean “Avoid China.” I mean, consider the manufacturer and their practices. The fact that a product is made in China does not mean it is less-green or inferior in quality. Since our market demand for greener and higher-quality product has risen dramatically, Chinese factories have worked very hard to meet these demands and still meet our demand for lower price points. You can look to products from manufacturers both large and small to find examples of quality products that are made in China – Bugaboo, Svan, Argington, Petunia Pickle Bottom, Skip Hop, and many more reputable companies.

That said, poor quality and false claims can be found everywhere. If you want to be sure, check with the manufacturer to really understand where they stand on issues that are important to you. For example, even though they make products from wood, are they focusing on sustainable wood and low-formaldehyde processes? Do they have a testing lab, or at least regularly use a third-party lab to check the quality of their products?

There is so much more that can be written here, but that will have to wait for a book format!

The Cradle: Being that it’s made from wool, your Cariboo Puretec blanket is unexpectedly soft (we thought that it might be scratchy – but it’s not at all!). Why do you recommend this blanket over the multitude of choices out there?

Brenda Berg: Shocking, isn’t it? We were surprised too. When I first picked one up in New Zealand, I immediately wrapped it around my bare shoulders and wanted to wear it out of the room. It was so cozy and soft that I didn’t think it could be wool. (I’ll note that it is not as soft as the synthetics that have come to market in the past few years, but it is very soft for a natural fiber, especially for wool.)

The trick is found throughout the Puretec process. I can’t give away all of their secrets, but it starts with their sourcing of the wool from a select group of wool growers (I visited some of their farms and could easily see that they were of the highest-quality). Then they clean the wool with a chemical-free process. Did you know that when people refer to wool allergies, they are actually referring to reactions to the chemicals that used to be part of the cleaning process?

One of the issues that consumers have with wool is that its fibers are very strong, which is great for durability and strength, but not great for the itch factor. The problem is that when the fibers stick up, they can “prick” the skin and feel itchy. The final step to making the Cariboo Puretec Blanket soft is to spin the wool in a (carefully guarded) process that makes the fibers stay flat and, therefore, not prickly!

You may ask, why pay a premium for wool even if it is soft? The list of reasons is very long. For one, it is naturally flame-resistant, naturally bacteria-resistant, and quick-drying. To get all of these properties in another material would require adding chemicals or using synthetic materials. So, if natural materials and all of these other benefits are important to you, wool may be the perfect material for children’s products.

In fact, we love it so much that we are making most of the Cariboo Bassinet pads out of wool. It’s flame-resistant and quick-drying properties make it ideal for use as a bassinet pad, while still meeting the rigorous safety requirements.

The Cradle: Are there any Scandinavian Child products that are personal favorites of yours?

Brenda Berg: That is a tough question – do you have a favorite child?

In fact, so far, my children have tested every product in our collection and we love all of them (or they wouldn’t be in the collection). That said, the one product that makes me giggle every time is the Svan Scooter. You might consider this a frivolous product at $119.95, but it has had a lot of value in our home. It is used every single day by both of our children. It is so easy for our kids to use, and yet when it is not in use, it is like a floating sculpture gliding across our floor. The bent wood is made from Baltic birch, forested under the Forest Stewardship Council, so it is truly sustainable. I love that it is a toy that fosters creativity, balance, and a sense of style!

The Cradle: What are some of Scandinavian Child’s future plans? Anything new that we should keep an eye out for?

Brenda Berg: Wanna know a secret? We have a lot coming down the pipeline!

For more about Scandinavian products and their company, please visit their newly designed website.