Kanga Care Cares: Part 5 of 5 Kanga Care Ethical Manufacturing Practices

Now that the US Patent Office has officially recognized our internal double gussets, we wanted to celebrate with you all! We asked some of our favorite bloggers to help us tell our story in five parts. Thanks to all of you who have been a part of Kanga Care's story! Together, we've prevented millions of disposable diapers from clogging up landfills for the next dozen generations, saved families significant money and kept thousands of babies comfy and cute in Kanga Care cloth diapers!

Kanga Care Ethical Manufacturing Practices

If you know me, you know that I am a huge supporter of small business, a lover of all things entrepreneurial and an uber optimist. The sky is not the limit, there are no limits and every little business seeking success should go for it. I've seen cloth diapers inspire tons of people to create their own business in one way or another, in fact, I dare you to say you haven't at some point considered a cloth diaper related business yourself. Because our industry is always so full of tiny businesses just getting their start it is often easy to forget that even the big guys are still small companies. These "big" guys like Kanga Care appear bigger than they really are and are sometimes looked at like the Wal-Marts of the cloth diaper industry, but in my opinion certainly shouldn't be treated as such. Would you turn your back on your favorite itty bitty wahm if she suddenly skyrocketed to success?

I believe (remember my uber optimism) that companies big and small all have room to succeed. I see no shortage of babies to cloth diaper in the near future and Kanga Care is not hell-bent on putting the next cloth diaper wahm phenom out of business, but they do stand behind their belief in ethical overseas manufacturing. Companies like Kanga Care have achieved a level of success that has allowed them to seek out manufacturers for their products that believe in the ethical treatment and fair compensation of their employees. This is where being "big" pays off. Kanga Care doesn't just expect you to take their word for it, nor do they simply take their manufacturer's word for it. Kanga Care's CEO, Julie Ekstrom, has been able to personally travel to her manufacturing facilities in China, meet the employees, inspect their work environment, equipment and ensure that the products made to provide your baby comfort are not being sewn by underpaid, uncomfortable mothers, daughters, sisters, brothers, etc. who are merely out of sight out of mind and a world away.

Some things I just learned about Kanga-Care's manufacturer that I think are super cool: It's employee owned- which is extremely unusual in China. They have an art studio for the employees to hang out in, use during breaks or after work and they host an in-house t-shirt design contest each month. They have built eight preschools in their city and many of their own children go to these schools. What's really important, though, is that they never ever pay by the piece- which is key since this is how sweatshops work. Kanga Care's manufacturer normally only makes organic garments but agreed to work with them because of the eco-friendly nature of cloth diapers. It's nice to know that Kanga Care's diapers and accessories are not being made in a factory that also houses harmful chemicals! Julie was pleased to see that it's a bright, clean, safe, happy place to work and she really gets the impression their team is like a family.

Ultimately I hope this post will remind you that even the "largest" of cloth diaper manufacturers was small at one time. You get to choose who you support in this industry but it's important to remember that while bigger isn't always better, it does sometimes come with benefits, like the satisfaction of knowing the diapers you're using on your baby are ethically made.

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