While it's not jute sack, you can't go much further off the status- and brand-obsessed baby industrial complex grid than hemp. And not just any hemp, but the Louis Vuitton of hemp (sorry, old habits die hard), organic vegan hemp products, handmade by collectives of environmentally conscious, work-at-home moms who are paid fair wages.
Baby Hemp has a small line of simple, affordable clothes--including a cool-looking long-sleeve bodysuit and a frill-free t-shirt dress--made of hemp/organic cotton jersey. But their real breakthrough is HempersĘ, hemp diapers. If you're contemplating the self-serve cloth diaper route, know that "Parents having been using HempersĘ hemp diapers for 6 years now and are passing each hemp diaper down from one child to the next." The earth and I thank you.
Meanwhile, the hottest must-have shoes of the season are these organic vegan hemp sneakers from KidBean.com. They're "sweatshop-free, chemical-free, cruelty-free, leather-free," and the soles are made from recycled tires. And baby, they look marvelous. Seriously.
And I thought so before I noticed that their available colors are almost identical (6 out of 8) to the Bugaboo (7 if you count the green Gecko).
Baby Hemp, makers of the original HempersĘ hemp diapers [babyhemp.com]
Awesome organic hemp sneakers from KidBean.com, reg. $28.50, check for special pre-order pricing before the June delivery [kidbean.com]
