‘Tis the Season!

It’s the most wonderful shopping time of the year! Join us online and in-store as we celebrate the season. If you are shopping for a new mom, infants or kids, we’ve got you covered! In fact everyone can enjoy our safe and practical items. See our complete list of sale products at SproutSoup.com

 
We haven’t even finished Thanksgiving dinner, but we’re starting the sales now! Load up your cart, and check back often, we’ll be adding items all weekend.

	From the moment I was introduced to Green Toys I loved them. It was a little bit of a culture shock (I think that’s the right thing to call it) to be so enamored with plastic toys when I had spent months and months searching for and reviewing wood toys to add to our line-up. Finding a plastic toy that I liked seemed somehow . . . wrong.
Recycling Truck
Fun recycling truck made from 100% recycled milk jugs.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER
But I forced myself to see beyond the plastic. Honesty the plastic used by Green Toysis in a category of its own, anyway. This is not “cheap plastic crap” that you pick up at the dime store and it breaks the next day. Made from post-consumer milk-jug plastic, one of the safest and cleanest plasitcs (HDPE – High-density polyethelene).Green Toys are also made in the USA, in California to be exact. They’re recycling plastic and creating jobs. What could be better? And another little plug for plastic, while we’re at it. Even though wood seems somehow more “green” and natural, plastic is infinitely recycleable. When (IF!) your kids are done with their toy, it can be recycled into something else. Over and over and over again without losing the integrity of the material. If that’s not green, I don’t know what is!

It’s a time of uncertainty for our country, when many people are out of jobs and we’re unsure how to get them back to work. Green Toys is on the front line, creating jobs and doing good for the environment at the same time.

Here’s the president and co-founder of Green Toys recapping the jobs that are created when you buy a US-made Green Toys product. How can you help but be proud of them, proud to be part of their success, and prod to own one of their toys?

Not a Green Toys owner yet? What’s stopping you? You won’t find a better bang for your buck that helps support US jobs. If only every purchase was so easy. If only we could find more companies and more consumers who are committed to strengthening the US economy by keeping their dollars here.

The wheels on a Green Toys truck are thick and chunky, strong enough to put up with a toddler’s rough play. The truck bodies are strong, with all working parts able to withstand the abuse you know your kids can throw at it!

The Green Toys Tea Set, Dish Set, Chef set and the Cookware and Dining Set (which is a combined set of the Dish and Chef items) were so popular with kids and parents alike that the Green Eats line was launched. Parents were serving kids with the proportionately-sized plates and cups, and why not when they’re dishwasher safe?

Block Set	Sandwich Shop	Stacking Cups	School Bus
CLICK HERE TO ORDER	CLICK HERE TO ORDER	CLICK HERE TO ORDER	CLICK HERE TO ORDER

The quick success of the brand brought many new toys to the lineup. Their “My First Green Toys” are classics aimed at babies and toddlers. The Stacking Cups are a must for every toy box, sandbox and bathtub. The Stacker is a simple stacking toy that babies and toddlers love. New this year are the Sandwich Shop and Pizza Parlor, bringing the success of their kitchen items to new heights. We are also welcoming the Green Toys School Bus for 2011 Holiday (and I’m sure it will be a success).

Green Toys - Keep it Local

As November turns into December, I start to think about how fortunate I am, how fortunate my family is and how blessed I am. Even though we don’t have a lot by many American standards, we have so much when I consider our wonderful extended family, supportive friends and neighbors. It is that full heart that leads me to give back, especially for Christmas.

There are a few ways Sprout Soup will be giving back this month in conjunction with a couple upcoming events.

On Saturday, December 4, ShopClintonville.com presents HolidayVille, an event aimed at shopping local this holiday and giving back to the community. In conjunction with that we will be raising funds and donating items to the Clintonville Resource Center (CRC). You can help us out by making a donation at Sprout Soup on Saturday. Take one of the mittens we have strung by the check-out counter and either purchase the item listed or make a donation in the amount suggested. Here are the recommended options:

• $1 – Donate a Can of Food
• $5 – Donate a Pair of Socks
• $10 – Donate a Toy
• $20 – Donate a Gift Card
• $50 – Donate a Coat

These are just suggestions and an either-or proposition. Either take the mitten and your donation to the CRC or give the corresponding amount as a donation. (And Sprout Soup can take those for you on Saturday, or you can do it yourself.)

As an added incentive Sprout Soup will double your donation if you purchase the donation item at our store, for all but the $1 option (since Sprout Soup doesn’t sell canned food ). So purchase a toy for the CRC at Sprout Soup and Sprout Soup will donate a toy! Double the benefit for our local community resource center.

And then for two days the following week, on Monday and Tuesday, December 6 and 7, Sprout Soup will partner with the local community to support School For Young Children, the preschool at the UU Church on North High Street. SYC is a staple in our community, I know there are adults who look back fondly on their time at SYC and are thrilled to be able to send their children there as well. Many SYC parents are among our best customers, so this is a chance to get some Christmas shopping done and help your favorite school out in the process.

15% of all profits from Monday and Tuesday will be donated to SYC! Come on in and shop, buy gifts for the parents and kids in your life. When you come in, please let us know that you’re an SYC parent, grandparent or friend!

Start sifting through your diapers and slings–the Sprout Swap is on its way. Find a new home for your gently used baby gear. Accepting items from July 27th until August 13th. Please register your items on-line before bringing them in. Registration can be found at www.sproutsoup.com.
After the swap, which is from August 20 through the 22nd, you can pick up 100% store credit, or 80% cash for all items sold.
The Sprout Swap is also an excellent place to get an excellent deal on diapers and carriers!

Come join Joanie Calem and her puppet friends, for a fun-filled Saturday morning of music and art. We will sing and dance, play instruments and tell stories from 11:00 – 11:30 with Joanie. Come with a T shirt ready to tie-dye following the music and add a little color to your wardrobe. Dyes are provided, as well as extra shirts (for a small fee) if you forget.
Saturday, July 17th, 11-1pm.

In an effort to reduce paper and paperwork, we are trying an online registration for this year’s Sprout Swap! Please help us by entering your information and items online before dropping them off at the store.

1. You will need to fill out the form on this page once.
2. You will need to fill out the Item Registration Form once for every item or package of items you wish to enter in the swap.
3. Drop your items off at Sprout Soup during our normal business hours.

What happens next?
4. Shop the swap! February 19-21 at Sprout Soup.
5. After the swap you get paid! Choose if you would like to receive 100% Sprout Soup Store Credit for the value of the items you sold at the swap. Or you may have 80% in cash, given to you as a check.
6. Items that did not sell and your payment should be ready for pick-up by February 25. All items and credits must be picked up by March 14. Items not picked up will be donated and credits will be forfeited.

Please feel free to contact us with questions! We hope the application process is seamless and we can serve you quickly and efficiently! We are looking forward to another sucessful swap!

We fell in love with the Chico Bag style of reusable bags. The ingenious design makes the bag easy to bring with you, and of course that’s the point! A generously-sized shopping bag made from durable nylon, easily packs into a smaller bag sewn into the inside of the larger bag, and a smartly-placed clip makes it easy to attach to your purse or bag so your Chico Bag is always with you.

We’re taking the great features of the Chico Bag one step further for our Sprout Soup customers. We had Chico Bags create the Sprout Soup Bag, the same great bag, now with the Sprout Soup logo! It comes in three colors: purple, green and mango. Pick one up at the store for $6.95 or order online. But we’re going to sweeten the deal! Not only do you get an awesome, packable, unforgettable reusable shopping bag, but every time you bring it in to Sprout Soup, we’ll give you $1 off!

It’s our way of saying thanks for helping us all kick the single-use bag habit. We love it when our customers bring their own bag to the store. Or if they just tuck their purchases into their purse or diaper bag. We even think it’s great if customers just carry their items out of the store (after paying for them, of course ). But now you have no excuse for forgetting your reusable bag, and you even have an incentive to bring it back to the store. We’ll be thrilled to see our customers walking out with Sprout Soup Chico Bags brimming with Sprout Soup goodies!

And of course you can use your Chico Bags around town, too! Make sure to let everyone know you got it at Sprout Soup!

The fine print. Each Sprout Soup Chico Bag is $6.95 plus tax. In order to redeem your Sprout Soup Bag Club discount, you must make a purchase of at least $10 before sales tax. Each bag owner is entitled to one discount per day. Your Sprout Soup Chico Bag must be present to redeem. Lost bags will not be replaced, sorry! But clip the bag to your purse or diaper bag so you always have it with you! We reserve the right to cancel the Sprout Soup Bag Club at anytime.

It’s a snowy day here in Central Ohio. To the left you see the view from our checkout counter. Needless to say it is a slow day here, and so I finally have some time to write about an important issue. It just so happens that other bloggers around the country have designated today a day to blog about the CPSIA, good timing!

CPSIA is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act passed by Congress in August of 2008 under H.R. 4040. The summary of HR 4040 is as follows:

To establish consumer product safety standards and other safety requirements for children’s products and to reauthorize and modernize the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Sounds good in theory, who doesn’t want better safety standards for our children? But of course it’s not that easy, lets start to unpack what this means, especially for Sprout Soup.

First, the safety standards. What Congress and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was responding to with this law is the large number of recalls that we experienced in 2007. The media was buzzing with reports of lead in toys, most (all?) of which were made in China. In 2007 SproutSoup.com noticed the increased interest in domestically produced and natural wood toys. Parents were definitely tuned into the safety issues with their kids toys.

Spring of 2008 the CPSC and Congress made their move and introduced the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). No one disagrees that safety measures aren’t needed. Increased regulations and standards can be a good thing when it comes to our children and their health. And this idea is probably what helped the CPSIA move through the house and senate and finally be signed into law in August of 2008. No one wants lead in their child’s toy, and a less talked about chemical pthalates, which are used to make plastics pliable but can easily leach into a child’s bloodstream when the item is mouthed.

What was a surprise, however, is the impact that this law is having on business. Small businesses particularly, but in these uncertain economic times the scope of this Act and the negative side effects are far-reaching. There are two reasons for this. First, the law calls for accelerated implementation. The first portion of the law went into effect in December. This part only required that toys be labeled if they have small parts. But in just a few days another portion of the law takes effect, and this one is not as easy as labeling.

February 10, 2009 is the day the first restriction on lead limits goes into effect. The restriction isn’t the problem. Proving that items are within the allowable limits is where the issue lies. Manufacturers must have each and every product line independently tested. And each lot (production run) must be tested. Every color, in clothing every size, and every new fabric and material must be tested. For companies that make small runs, the cost of testing is overwhelming. For small cottage industries that create one of a kind items, these testing laws are unmanageable.

For Sprout Soup, all of our products must comply. It does not matter if they were made by a local mama or if they were made by a multinational corporation. If they were made in the US or if they were made in Asia, everything must be tested. Some of our European manufacturers have decided to pull out of the US market altogether. This is not because they fear they cannot comply with the laws, it is because they cannot afford more testing to prove that they comply. Much of what we were purchasing from Europe complies with European standards, some have Oko-tex certification, a testing standard that tests for lead as well as other chemicals, but this certification is not currently recognized by the CPSC and the CPSIA.

We have begun collecting Certificates of Conformity for the products that we have. Many of our manufacturers are complying or are working toward complying. On the down-side, there will be marked increases in the price of our products to cover the costs of these tests. We are seeing price increases in the neighborhood of $10 and $20 on some items to cover the testing. We are, and always have been, dedicated to providing safe and natural items for families. While we are 100% confident that we have not sold products that contain lead or pthalates, this confidence is nothing when it comes to the law. We have to be able to prove that our products comply, products without certification are considered banned and hazardous after February 10.

We need changes in the form of amendments to CPSIA! While some might ask that the entire law be repealed, safety in childrens products is important. We just need to review this law to make safety attainable for everyone and keep all the small businesses in America that cater to children up and running.

CPSIA applies to every product made for children 12 and under. At Sprout Soup this means baby carriers, cloth diapers, clothing, accessories, shoes, toys, furniture, feeding supplies and blankets. A good percentage of what we have here in the store. The only items we do not need to certify are items for mom: our nursing clothing, nursing shawls, mom skincare, bags and our reusable water bottles in the larger (adult) sizes.

What Needs to Happen for CPSIA to be Manageable

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is not all bad. And it can be revised to make it manageable for small businesses and cottage industries to continue to operate. Many are calling for recognition of component testing. Some manufacturers of fabric, which would be considered a component in many items, have already begun to test their fabrics to comply with CPSIA. Recognizing that cutting and sewing fabric into clothing or a baby sling doesn’t alter it’s lead levels and allowing manufacturers to use this testing as part of their certification would go a long way. We can also reach out to our European counterparts and recognize some of their safety standards that equate to CPSIA and allow those standards to pass, allowing them to continue to export into the United States.

Items made in the USA, especially those that have components sourced in the USA, have a small likelihood of containing lead. Lead has been outlawed in paints for decades. Revisions to the CPSIA that recognize this and encourage domestic manufacturing could go a long way toward helping our American economy instead of hurting it.

We don’t want to see businesses close down because they cannot afford these new testing regulations. We don’t want to see prices increase dramatically because of the costs of testing. We don’t want to lose good quality brands, we want to be able to provide the same products that we have been providing for the past five years: safe, natural, well-researched and planet-friendly. At Sprout Soup we do the investigation so you don’t have to. We aim to make your choices easy, and we want to be able to continue, but this is something we cannot do without the manufacturers behind us, providing us with these quality products.

The store has been open one week now and so far so good. I am so glad we chose Clintonville. Everyone that we have talked to has been excited that we are there.

The store looks great. Lis has done an excellent job laying everything out. We still need a few more fixtures to display some items but we are pretty close. The mural in the play area is almost done and it looks great – Kudos to Vanessa!

Right now our focus is on getting everything ready for the Grand Opening on Thursday, Oct 23 from 4-7pm. There is still a lot to do. We have gotten a lot of donations for prizes so hopefully lots of people show up.

Overall it has been a great week.