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Going Green for Good

April 13, 2021 5 min read

Leading up to Earth Day on April 22, we are joining one of our retailers at Bowfish Kids and making April sustainability month! LoveBubby is proud to align with Bowfish Kids to reduce our footprint, starting with what we’re purchasing and how we’re disposing of these items.

Bowfish Kids sustainability social responsibility

Opening its first Ocean City, New Jersey store in 2013, Bowfish Kids has expanded from its brick and mortar location to a studio dedicated to interactive family events, and a successful online business dedicated to offering sustainable items for kids.

As part of our new friendship, I recently interviewed Bowfish Kids about their business and commitment to sustainability in their everyday decisions, including their sustainability goals and complete disclosure to their progress. And during our conversation, I learned a few things about how we can be a part of the solution through our own decisions.

We can't wait to learn more about what you are doing to become a more sustainable business. What are the 3 biggest changes in how you are approaching sustainability for 2021 and beyond?

I think the first significant change is the one I'm making within me, by holding myself responsible. I've found it beneficial since many of the things I've started doing at home can translate to things at Bowfish. Like replacing all plastic products/supplies with an eco-friendly option whenever possible. One easy change is to replace plastic trash bags with compostable trash bags. When I'm grocery shopping, I am more conscious about what I am buying and am actively opting for glass/paper options, if available. Also, I'm diligent about remembering to bring my own bag and water bottle with me wherever I go to avoid wasting single-use plastics. It’s an effort that our entire team has been pitching in with and it's inspiring to see how it catches on with others.

The second change is what I like to call "sweating the small stuff." Basically, it means reevaluating all our supplies, practices, and processes, and identifying the small stuff we can quickly change. What are the immediate, actionable things that we can do in-house that are steps toward a more sustainable way of living? Some of those small things that we've identified are as simple as really recycling paper. For example, we re-use ALL standard pieces of paper, primarily found in our mail/shipments. We utilize and recycle all of it and exclusively use "scrap paper" -- as we call it -- in our in-house printers used in our office.

The third change is a commitment to saying "No" -- full stop to new partnerships, brands, products, vendors, or suppliers that don't have goals toward achieving sustainability within their roadmaps. In addition, we're also looking to utilize the relationships we currently have with vendors and brands and find innovative ways to move forward together ... kind of like what we're doing together :)

Love Bubby save my world kids childrens clothes shirts

Have you seen our new arrivals? Just in time for Earth Day and to bring awareness to our mission to save the world, this design is an important message that our littles can wear this month and every day! Click here to shop more.

As we have approached our goals at Love Bubby, we have noticed that change can be hard. As you create these goals at Bowfish, what has been the hardest part of bringing these things to life?

For sure, the most challenging part has been not getting overwhelmed. When I first began looking into making Bowfish more sustainable, I was paralyzed thinking about all that I needed to change. It's easy to get caught up on the big, systemic problems of waste and carbon emissions in our society — but you have to start by focusing on what you can change today. I began implementing simple steps like those I previously talked about and shifted our focus toward planning for the future. Setting goals and measurable milestones have been the most challenging part for me. However, once we nailed it down, it's easier to have a path to follow. All of these changes represent a commitment to our customers —and in turn, we know that they will be more committed to us.

What has been the consumer response to some of the changes you are making at Bowfish?

We receive a lot of emails and messages via social media from supportive parents who talk about how we've inspired them to change things in their lives and their children's lives. Most of these messages are from young parents who may have the same feelings about the environment and sustainability but may not have had a way to amplify those feelings and their voices. Becoming a part of the Bowfish family has in a way given them a platform, and confidence, to express those feelings about the environment and sustainability. For example, in September of 2019, we held a Fridays For Future event — we made t-shirts for parents and kids, many of who then marched down to the local city hall to show their support for Greta Thunberg and the Sunrise Movement.

When we think about walking to the local city hall to fight for our future, we think about the little babes we're fighting for. That's why we designed the Little Activist ... start them young! Click here for the Little Activist short sleeve tee and click here for the Little Activist Bodysuit.

We can only imagine how many brands you have at Bowfish and how many stories you tell a day to your customers. How are you streamlining these stories with this focus on sustainability?

We only feature brands that have clear, legitimate sustainability goals on our social media channels. We are also implementing a sustainability marketing agreement with all of our vendors that requires them to meet specific sustainability criteria in order to be featured on our homepage, in emails, or any form of advertising. While I think we do an excellent job of promoting our sustainability mission online, I will admit that we could do better in our face-to face interactions on the shop floor. We've just been so busy building this behind the scenes. I am, however, installing a new check-out counter that I custom built to feature, along with some products, a poster outlining all the steps we are taking to become a sustainable business.

What motivates you to achieve your sustainability goals?

That's an easy one — the kids. I mean, every day I'm surrounded by the next generation, so I feel directly responsible for a piece of their future. I think a lot about how the toys and other plastic products made for these children will be around, in some form, in the environment long into the future, when they're all grown up and have kids of their own. That just doesn't seem right to me. And that motivates me to make some kind of difference, no matter how small.

Bowfish Kids 30 day challenge social green sustainability

Like Bowfish Kids, we think our future is pretty important as we build products for the next generation. We are proud to share our own Love Bubby commitments this month and will share more soon about how we are committed to delivering social good practices that make a difference in this world.

In the meantime, join Bowfish Kids during the month of April to a 30-day challenge by posting something every day that helps bring awareness of what, why, and how to be sustainable.

Jaime, Founder & Designer @ Love Bubby

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Going Green for Good

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