leurville: A company with a conscience and designer sensibility. Co-founder Steve Granville talks to The Cradle about his eco-friendly creations, including his PVC-free totes and diaper bags made from recycled plastic bottles.  They're making a difference... one bag at a time!

The Cradle: What came first: The baby or the bag?

Steve: The baby, then the bag… then another baby… and lots more bags! We joke that when we became parents, we entered a parallel universe of bad brands: Lots of products you needed, nothing you wanted. So, we thought we’d try building a business around products people wanted.

The Cradle: Describe the Fleurville philosophy in three words.

Steve: Design. Durability. Earth-conscious.

The Cradle: You and your wife, Catherine, are the leaders behind Fleurville. How do you balance your work life and your personal life?

Steve: We’ve had to work at becoming really good at communicating our needs – both at home and at the office. We try to keep work time and family time separate as much as possible. No board meetings before bed.

The Cradle: Is your background in fashion or design?

Steve: My background is in branding, while Catherine’s is in philosophy and herbalism.

The Cradle: What inspired you to go the eco-friendly route with your company?

Steve: The environment has always been important to us personally, so it was natural to want to incorporate it into our company. Once we looked around at our industry, we realized that it is full of toxic efforts and practices. We realized that we could help to change the industry simply by leading the way in educating on earth-conscious efforts in the kid’s sector – such as the benefits of buying a bag without PVC. It takes time and effort to educate and evangelize. To actually find "greener" processes is difficult and expensive. That said, Fleurville believes people want greener products and will love our brand for its leadership position.

The Cradle: Tell us about Green-LAM and Re-Run.

Steve: Green-LAM was designed in an effort to find an alternative to PVC. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is a great waterproofing agent. However, it has a number of environmental drawbacks for the people who produce it, as well the consumers who buy it. Further, PVC’s main byproduct is illegal in the European Union where we sell our products. We developed Green-LAM as our fabric treatment, instead of PVC. It has great moisture repellency, durability, and UV protection.

The reason Fleurville developed Re-Run was to do two things. First, it gives consumers a nylon-like fabric in a range of styles that are different from the Green-LAM materials. Second, we are still increasing our commitment to "green" products by producing a fabric from recycled plastic bottles. We have been aware for a couple of years of the impact of plastic containers on our environment and finally found a company that could produce fabric for us.

Basically, about 85% of the 5 billion plastic bottles consumed in the US every year go into landfill. We are taking some of these bottles and cutting them up, melting them down into thread and weaving that thread into what is now known as our Re-Run fabric. Each bag we can proudly say keeps between 3 and 10 plastic bottles out of landfill.

The Cradle: Which of your products gets the greatest response? And which are your personal favorites?

Steve: The Sling Tote has been a favorite with the market for a couple of years. It is a very versatile bag with many great features. Our Calla High Chair has also gotten a great response. Launching this spring, the Calla has already garnered a lot of press. My personal favorite right now is our Re-Run MicroPod. It is a super comfortable unisex style that organizes all of my little things and keeps them out of my pockets!

Steve: Fleurville will continue pioneering eco-conscious efforts in hip parenting and children’s gear. Our goal is to continue building our brand with more gear and collaborations, such as the Calla chair with Yves Behar.

We also want to enjoy our kids and the really great life we have built for ourselves in the San Francisco Bay area.