congratulations - it's a baby ... and a kid!

We’re just tickled pink (and blue, and green, and orange!) to announce our new methodbaby + methodkids products to the world.  You may have seen these making their birthday-suit debut on store shelves over the last month or so, or you may have seen them on the Oprah® Earth Day show or the Ellen Mother’s Day show.  In fact, on the Ellen show the full set of baby products was given out to a lucky audience full of expectant mommies.  With all this great press, our cute little otters are going to need their own agents soon!  (Did we mention that we’ve also been recognized for our adorable – and functional – packaging?)

As any mom or dad knows, babies and kids have plenty of parts, and it’s our mission to keep them all squeaky clean.  That’s why we developed a full set of products devoted to creating soft, cuddly, great smelling tiny ones while also taking the utmost care with their delicate skin.  methodbaby + methodkids are made from 95%+ naturally derived ingredients, with no parabens, phthalates, SLS or SLES.  They also offer tears-free formulas without numbing agents.

You can check out the whole line on our web site:

baby hair + body wash
baby body lotion
baby diaper cream
baby bubbly bath
kids 3-in-1 shampoo
kids body wash

And now for the best part: As a special online bonus, if you purchase all four baby products (baby hair + body wash, baby body lotion, baby diaper cream, and baby bubbly bath – hint, they’re the ones in the white bottles) online at methodhome.com between now and June 30, you’ll receive a 20% discount!  It makes a perfect gift for your little one or for expectant parents-to-be.  Just add the four baby products to your cart and enter promo code “advocatebaby” (without the quotation marks) at checkout to receive your discount.

Our online promotion ended on June 30, but our baby products still make a great gift for your little one or other parents you know!  Getting babies and kids squeaky clean has never been so easy – or so much fun!

Comments

[LisaAW]

baby stuff looks great - but come on guys you already make biodegradable wipes for the house and not for the baby bums...would be great in refillable travel packs. Also hand sanitizer wipes to wipe our hands and to wipe the grocery cart handle - with the bonus of knowing that they are biodegradable and not going to dry out our hands!

[Tonyia Cone]

I wish you offered a fragrance free version of the baby products, but I'm excited about this line.

Also, please come visit Austin!

[Mary V]

I really like that you've come out with children's products. I do wonder why there is alcohol in them - especially lotion. Few companies produce body products without it. This seems strange to me.

[Paul]

20% off!

What a savings1

[SkylarKD]

I agree, fragrance-free and alcohol-free baby products would be a great addition! So many babies have sensitive skin (mine included!).

[SkylarKD]

...by the way, I hope these will be available in Canada. I have trouble finding some of your products!

[Kimberly]

Do you know if the diaper rash cream is safe for use with cloth diapers???

[sarah homeijer]

Hey there, Kimberly... there is no reason why our Diaper Cream cannot be used along with cloth diapers; in fact, I would recommend it as a way to create a barrier to moisture build-up.

Hope that helps! And let me know if you have any other questions!

Sarah

[ljun]

Can these products be used on adults? Are there any cons to doing so? Most importantly, the shampoo ....

[Melisa]

I had just found out I was expecting a baby when your sample package arrived in the mail. It was such a wonderful coincidence it brought tears to my eyes. This is something I will always treasure, and remember every time I go through the baby's book! Thank you so much for the wonderful gift, and the opportunity to purchase these products again and again.

[Felicia]

@ ljun If you like, you can use the baby shampoo on adults. It doesn’t contain SLS (like the majority of adult shampoos), and the shampoo itself is very, very gentle. The product will be milder than what you would normally expect, but it is fine to use it on both your baby and yourself.

@Melisa That's so sweet of you to say and congratulations! We wish you continued happiness with your bundle of joy.

Feel free email us at info@methodhome.com with more questions.

Felicia

[CHRIS]

How do you justify "being green" when you have the plastic bottles manufactured all the way over in China and transported back to the US?

[sarah homeijer]

Hey there, Chris, thanks for your question!

As far as overseas manufacturing goes, method believes strongly in our culture of sustainability and seeks partners that share this vision and allow us to grow our positive environmental and social footprints.

We work with suppliers, partners and manufacturers in 7 countries and have set criteria for selecting which ones to work with, where they are located, and what practices must be met everywhere we work.

The decision to work with any of these partners is not taken lightly, whether they are located in the US, in China, in Mexico or in Germany. Our vision is to work with partners that allow us to maintain best practices on environmental practice and social justice, while benefiting from each partner’s particular strengths – be it their specific technical proficiencies, access to unique materials, expertise in domains we are entering, ability to deliver value on innovative products – and often a compelling mix of these factors.

Achieving this vision can be a challenge. Many people have legitimate concerns about human rights and environmental practices in some of the countries in which we have partners. China particularly has attracted great scrutiny over its record of human rights violations, notable episodes of lax product health standards, and a lack of appropriate environmental regulation. Our efforts are focused on these concerns and ensuring we can avoid them.

What we’re doing:

We have designed a process to ensure that our work in the various parts of the world strives to meet our vision of sustainable production.
First and foremost, we believe in working with partners that understand our vision and have the flexibility to adapt to our frequently unconventional requests. Our process of identifying partners involves dialogue on their labor standards, environmental audits of their manufacturing processes, tracing the source of materials used in the process, and rigorous investigation of quality standards.

We evaluate the regions in which we produce goods, and are performing an environmental mapping of our supply chain where we seek to locate our production according to environmental sensitivities. For example, a more water intensive process would not be located in an area of constrained water supplies.

When we find the right partners, we work with them to improve on the priority criteria in our vendor sustainability program. We see these relationships as the key avenue to improving the environmental and social practices in all of the areas of our business, and focus our efforts accordingly. For example, we have mapped out the pulping process for the bamboo fiber we are using in our new O-Mop boxes, and have found a supplier for the bamboo that specifies the region and plantations from which the bamboo comes, allowing us to ensure that it isn’t contributing to deforestation or other negative environmental implications. We have written into our contracts that we are permitted unannounced visits to the production facilities, and can use these visits to perform internal audits to ensure that the agreed-upon labor standards and environmental standards are met.

By working with key partners to improve their environmental and social practices, we ensure that our production processes move to meet our vision for sustainable production, and crucially, also show these partners the business advantage in being able to incorporate environmental and social best practices, ultimately making them more attractive partners for other companies seeking that their production capacity moves to more sustainable means.

[CHRIS]

Hello Sarah,
thank you for the quick and elaborate answer. Wow, you took the challenge of my question and I think you took it very well. You guys seem to really take it serious and not only talk about it. However, as a mom of a 10month old girl I try to do what's best for her. And unfortunately the bad aftertaste of "manufactured in China" remains despite all certificates and audits. In the end a product has to be sold to make money (I am sure your otter will sell only by being so cute)and not to make the world a better place. So I hope you understand my concerns.