4 Ethical Children's Clothing Companies

Like many people, I was devastated by the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh - over 1,000 people died and many more were injured. I started to question how I might be personally responsible for this disaster. In a global market, our consumption has widespread impacts with no accountability.

Although I am not a "shopper" (meaning, I find little joy in cruising stores and buying things for myself or my home), I do need to buy clothes for my growing children. Of course we rely on used and hand-me-downs when we can, but sometimes new is necessary (and funny story - my oldest has inherited a shopping gene that must have skipped a generation. She loves cruising the mall!)

I love this article by Annie from PhD in Parenting, which argues that a boycott of all clothing from certain parts of the world will do more harm than good. Because really, how do you know that clothing made in countries outside of Bangladesh is any better?

I started to do research on how I could invest in clothing that was ethical - from companies that engaged in transparent communication about where and how the clothing was made. I got a lot of great information from Emily over at The Best of This Life, and I'm highlighting 4 companies that would be a good option for parents who want to become more ethical consumers.

Kids love clothes that make them comfortable!

1) Zutano

Michael and Uli Belenky's first daughter Sofia arrived in 1989. Uli, a designer and art director, and Michael, a professional photographer, saw an opportunity in the children's clothing options available at the time, and went on to create their first line for Zutano. The company is still located in Vermont today, and the clothing is made in a family-owned factory in Macau - the connection between the company and manufacturer is a close one, with both families having raised their own children from newborns to adults together.

2) Peekaboo Beans

We've mentioned this company several times on the blog, and we've had the pleasure of meeting the owner and local sales representative Vicky Bisson. Peekaboo Beans is uniquely Canadian, with a focus on practical clothing that promotes children's play. They're transparent about their manufacturing process (clothing is made in China), and you can even view pictures of where the clothing is made on their website. Again, relations between the company and the manufacturer are close, giving a much better guarantee that standards are being met.

3) Tomat Kids

Tomat's clothing is made from 100% certified organic cotton, and graphics are printed by hand using water-based silk-screened ink. Clothing is manufactured in LA, in a sweat-free shop. "Tomat" is Indonesian for tomato, and captures the fun look of the clothing line.

4) H&M 

Of course, purchasing clothing from the States and having it shipped to Canada may not be your cup of tea. H&M is accessible to us here in Ottawa, and if you shop carefully, you can support their Conscious clothing line which are "good for people, the planet and your wallet." There are several commitments made by the company when it comes to this line, including the adoption of the UN's Human Rights policy. The one drawback is that the clothing is scattered throughout the stores - you have to be careful to read the labels.

Do you have a favourite children's clothing line? 

Winter is in the eye of the beholder

By Angèle Alain

I love winter. I’ve loved it forever. I love the fresh air, the brightness the snow provides, the calmness of the snowfall. I have wonderful childhood memories of running outside at the sight of the first snow, using up all the snow to make that one snowman then coming in, soaking wet, for hot chocolate. 

I’m willing to tolerate the blizzards, the shoveling and the driving to get the wonderful flip sides: the sports, the family time and the health benefits.

I’m aware that not everyone in Ottawa feels this way about winter. My Facebook page is filled with friends who huff and puff all winter about the weather. They genuinely hate it and wish they could live anywhere else. I wish they could too, as Ottawa isn’t the place for the winter faint at heart. But for those who cannot move, wouldn’t life be so much better if they weren’t miserable half the year?

Winter, just like life, is meant to be enjoyed, not endured.

I suggest approaching winter as a positive person approaches life. I don’t like being unhappy. I dislike it so much in fact, I’ll trick myself into being happy if I have to –which is basically what meditation is. No, I don’t meditate but I’m a self-professed, unapologetic opportunist. I use every situation to my advantage, whether it’s visiting a friend who now lives in another country or using the snow for all it’s worth.

Our children learn from us, so if you are thinking of trying to enjoy winter instead of enduring it for the sake of your children, you’ll need a plan. Our trick is to do one of the five “S” activities every weekend, usually on Sundays. We don’t go out for full days every time either because we are genuinely lazy people; even thirty minutes of something makes all the difference. The “S” activities are as follows: 

1)    Snowshoeing
2)    Sledding
3)    Skating
4)    Cross country skiing
5)    Snowboarding or downhill skiing

Of course, we didn’t go out snowboarding when my daughter was two years old and I still don’t myself. We let her play in the snow while we shovelled (I guess shovelling could be the sixth S), we sled down our snowbanks or made snow angels and snow forts.

Getting started

Even adults need snow pants, boots and snow gloves. It is worth the investment. It’s hard to hate winter when you aren’t cold anymore

Snowshoeing

I call this the beginner winter sport. Snowshoes are easily found at second hand sporting equipment stores and used items websites. You can also borrow them from friends. Even when we don’t want to go anywhere, we can always go down to the park and walk around fresh snow with snowshoes on. We did that a lot when my daughter was smaller. I used to wear them to walk the dog before the plow went down our street. Nowadays, we drive a few kilometers to the river and share the trails with cross country skiers. On more ambitious days, we go to one of the many wooded trail in our area. Finally, when we rent or go to friend’s cottages, we always bring the snowshoes.

Sledding

There is no need to go to the crowded giant hill to have a little fun sledding. As I said previously, we used to sled down our snowbanks on our bum. Finding a small hill near our house was our next plan. In my neighbourhood, there’s one at a park at the end of the road and one by the snowshoe trails near the river. Tiny hills are wonderful because it isn’t a hassle to walk back up the hill. Winter has hassles built in, why create more? I admit we don’t sled much anymore that my child turned into a tween. But we still have plenty to do.

Skating

We put skates on our daughter’s feet for the first time at age three and it was quite a sight. I also had to bribe her with a Beaver TaiI. We didn’t go very far down the Canal - in fact, we mostly stayed around the Beaver Tail hut where the fire places are. She’s been skating ever since. Before then, we put her in a plastic sled we tied a rope to and pulled her down the ice. My husband, however, who grew up in St. Catharines, complains his feet hurt when he skates. So I don’t bring him to the Canal anymore because he doesn’t enjoy it. Instead, we discovered the Rideau Hall Skating Rink with its easy parking, heated change hut and old jazz music. But if we can’t get out there, or to the other city outdoor skating rinks (Landsdown Skating Park and Sens Rink of Dreams at City Hall), we head down to of our neighbourhood skating rinks. We walk to the park and skate around in circles for an hour before coming in and sitting by the fire with a hot drink.

Cross country skiing

I admit this is a more ambitious winter sport. We only started this sport two winters ago, when my child was ten years old. We could have started earlier, but we felt we had enough to do. We borrowed equipment from friends to try it, and when my daughter admitted loving it, I bought us used equipment.  We don’t go very often, maybe a few times during the winter, but that’s already three Sundays of winter that goes by fast. We sometimes just go by the river again, and sometimes we explore new trails around in the greenbelt. My husband doesn’t cross-country ski with us; it’s my mother-daughter sport. He has the next sport. 

Snowboarding

My husband loves snowboarding. I don’t. Yet, I was very excited at the idea of my child sharing something exclusively with her father. She tried snowboarding at age four for the first time. My husband went down with her on the kiddy hill while I stood at the bottom encouraging her to get off her bum. That year, she only went twice. The next year, I think she went once, but it was enough to give her a taste for it. In fourth grade, she was part of the ski club at school and last year, she snowboarded in Nagano, Japan. That was one of the only two times she went last year. 

Think about it: if you do three of these activities twice in one winter, that’s six winter weekends that will fly by. That’s more than half the winter! We usually start in January, as the holidays are too busy for anything other than building snowmen and shovelling. In summer, we count those precious weekends, feeling we don’t have enough of the total sixteen. Yet, there are no more weekends of winter. But when we have fun things to do during those weekends, we realise just how quickly they go by, and before you know it, the snow is gone!

To B or not to B

If you could use one word to describe 2015, what would it be? 

My word is Busy. Busy set the stage for my whole year.  And on that stage, I was Busy's puppet, doing shows night after night. It got a little tiring.

But I'll let you in on a secret - despite the exhaustion and stress, I think I'm secretly addicted to being busy. This addiction goes way back to high school, when I wanted to join every activity and club that was offered. It led to burnout, but didn't seem to slow down my desire for constant distraction. The internet took off in the late 90s, leading to more time on the computer. In university I was like an activity yo-yo, declaring my love of WRITING or MUSIC or ART or DATING, only to abandon these "hobbies" after a whirlwind affair (ok fine, dating is not really a hobby, but it could be, right??)

In my twenties, at the suggestion of my yoga teacher, I signed up for the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program. I had tried meditation several times, only to fall asleep or give up in frustration. This was different, though - backed by an experienced teacher and supported by a large group of wonderful people, I buckled down and just did it. 45 minutes of silent meditation every day, whether I liked it or not. I went on to try my first silent meditation retreat, and didn't speak a word for four days. The breakthrough came on that retreat, when my mind finally settled down long enough to take a good, deep breath. Oh, I thought.  This is what people mean when they talk about peace.

Although I carried on with meditation when I could, over time, Busy chipped away at my resolve to live a slower life. Ten years later and I'm still battling my addiction to Busy, fueled by life with two kids and the financial burden of mortgage and debt. It's easy to give in to Busy when you need to pay the bills. So what if I have three jobs, I thought, at least we're getting by.

But of course, I wasn't getting by - I was missing my kids, my husband and a predictable schedule. I was missing life without a knot of stress in my stomach. I was missing baking in the kitchen on Sunday afternoons, and EXERCISE!

By the end of 2015 I realized that life could not go on the way I was living it, and that I needed to get back to the other "B" - Balance. I closed up shop on my Birth Doula business, and just this past week, my professional membership expired. My domain name will also expire early this year. I'm still teaching prenatal classes, but it's a set schedule of one weekend per month - on-call hours are a thing of the past. And of course, there's my full-time job as a researcher, which is quite busy and rewarding. 

The thing about Balance is that is takes time to master. There is no highway to peace, and I don't expect my life to be magically different in 2016. But the first step to overcoming any addiction is admitting to the problem - letting my love of Busy show itself, and at the same time, refusing to be its puppet. 

I will practice saying No to activities or events that don't serve a specific purpose in my life.

I will practice being present with my children for the time I DO get to spend time with them, letting go of the guilt I feel for the time I don't spend with them.

I will practice putting my Busy energy into helping others - in 2016 I will be matched with a family of refugees, providing three hours of support to them per week, to help them settle here in Canada. I'm excited about this one, because I can also involve my kids in activities with THEIR kids.

I will practice doing things I love, not for the money, but because it makes me happy.

I will practice patience - with myself, with others, and with life in general. Rome wasn't built in a day, and it will take some time to find this Balance thing I seek. As a wise friend recently said: "...it's growth, and growth is good. But it hurts sometimes, like yoga."

Which reminds me...I also need to be doing yoga ;)

What are you going to B in 2016?

Looking Back: Our Most Popular Posts from 2015

By Misty

What a year it's been for Kids in the Capital! In January we launched a brand new website, and we love the new look! We also received many great articles from our contributors over these past twelve months, and we're looking back on 15 of our most popular posts. Is there one that we missed? Send us an email and let us know what YOU loved reading this year: kidsinthecapital@gmail.com.

15) Reinventing Goldfish Crackers - back when I had more time (time?? What's that?), I tried out a much healthier version of Goldfish crackers and they were a huge hit!

14) Choosing the right camp for your child: there's a lot of time that working parents need to fill when their child is off school (or maybe you just want your child to experience camp). This post has some great tips from a past camp director!

13) Save money using Flipp: who doesn't love to save money? Cheryl tells us how to use the Flipp app to price match and save hundreds of dollars each year.

12) Worth a Visit: Almonte - we started 2015 with a new series "Worth a Visit." (Side note: I failed in keeping up with the weekly posts, but I'm looking to re-launch a monthly series in 2016!) Amy wrote this post for us, and it went a teeny bit viral. Those Almontonians love their town!

11) 5 Tips for Being an Anglophone in a Francophone System: I may speak French, but I'm certainly not bilingual. Some tips 'n tricks for sending your child to French school.

10) Mother-Daughter Journals: Donna wrote about this fantastic idea for connecting with your daughter(s).

9) I let my kid go to the park by herself...and then I wrote about it! Most readers were very positive, although many thought that 5 (the age of my daughter last summer) was too young. She's now 6, and already asking when she can start to walk to school by herself!

8) Don't tell my daughter to cover up! I write a lot about raising daughters, and the issue of dress codes is a controversial one.

7) Walter Baker Park: we got a lot of views on this post by Tracy. A park with an adult workout zone!!

6) Do you suffer from Mommy Disease? This post resonated with a lot of our readers - we're clearly all suffering from something :) I'm planning on writing a follow-up post in 2016, as health-wise, I'm doing a lot better!

5) Buy Nothing Ottawa: the act of giving and receiving, with no strings attached, is a heartwarming thing. Andrea gave us a great list of all the buy nothing groups here in Ottawa.

4) One thing you can do to save your sanity: this one was written for all the moms out there - can you guess what the "one thing" is?

3) Mommy Needs a Drink: the idea for this post had been "brewing" for a while before I wrote it. Do we live in a culture that makes light of problem drinking?

2) Holiday Gift Guide: Lara and I searched far and wide (well, not really...we patronize a lot of these businesses ourselves!) for great holiday gift ideas. All of these businesses are local to Ottawa or Canadian.

1) The Holidays in Ottawa: 25 things to do under $25 - clearly the winner and #1 on our blog this year, with over 20,000 hits!! 

Our readers love posts about things to do in Ottawa, as well as personal opinion pieces and parenting tips. We plan to bring you much more in 2016, and a big thank you for taking the time to visit and comment! What else do you want to read? Leave a comment and let us know!

Winter activities in Ottawa: Feeding the Birds at Mer Bleue

While Misty is dreaming up ways to make things feel a bit more winter-y I'm all for embracing the warmer temperatures and doing some of the outdoor things I usually avoid because I don't like being cold. 

This weekend I thought we would enjoy the lovely weather and get outside and we headed to Mer Bleue Boardwalk to see if we could find some chickadees to feed. Mer Bleue is a few minutes down Anderson Road from the 417 so it's a short drive from a lot of the city.

What to feed the birds

I'm no great expert on this but we stopped at bulk barn and for $2 or so of the wild bird seed I got enough seed that we could visit at least 5 more times without running out. Someone else who recently went to feed the birds said the birds seemed to love black sunflower seeds even more (and you can get that at bird shops). I stopped for coffee for myself on the way and asked for three small empty cups for the kids so they could each have something to carry a reasonable amount of seeds in on their own.

Where to find the birds

I've only done this a couple of times but here's what I've found to be key (please leave a comment if you have other/better ideas :).... listen for the chickadee dee dee noises... they tend to be close to treed areas, and then put some seeds in your flat hand and wait to see if they show up.

It's not very scientific, we found the birds in quite a few different places around the boardwalk, including in the tree right next to where we parked in the main parking lot. In fact, the most photos I got that I love were taken within 10 feet of my van!

I learned something pretty quickly with my three though. While the birds will land in a completely flat hand that isn't moving, the sensation of having a bird land on your hand is kind of strange and the kids didn't love it so much. My daughter dealt with it best. The boys each tried it once and then wouldn't try it again.

So what do you do instead?

Birdseed on the head! The birds happily landed on all three kids' hats within a few minutes of me putting some seed there.

Birdseed on hat works well. Beware the six year olds who will take off their hat and dump the seed directly into their hair.

Enjoy the Boardwalk

The Mer Bleue Boardwalk is a nice 1.2 km walk that is completely flat. The three kids (9, 6 and 6) made it the whole way without anyone trying to convince me to carry them or having to be left behind (at least not for long). It's beautiful, there's a self-directed tour if you're interested and if you're lucky your kids will pose for a few pictures for you.

If you're more of a winter person than I am, you can go and check this out once there's snow on the ground too!

There are so many great activities in Ottawa, leave us a comment and let us know where you like to go out and enjoy nature with the kids.