Sustainable baby clothing rental: How to make sustainable choices as a parent
This week we have collaborated with Lullaloop, a baby & toddler clothing rental service to talk about how we can make sustainable choices as a parent starting with looking at the mass amount of baby clothing we have to buy for our little ones. We speak to founder and mum of 3 Jodie Teare about her successful start up Lullaloop.
What was the inspiration to start Lullaloop?
When I had my first little girl, I was astounded by how quickly babies outgrew their clothes, how little gifts were worn (if at all) and what a pain it was to organise and store 7 sizes of clothes in just the first two years. I also had no appetite to use my time to sell the clothes for so little, especially when I returned to work. I couldn’t believe how inefficient and wasteful clothing babies was then when I had my second, another girl, but born in a different season, I couldn’t use the majority of the clothes I had stored! At the same time, I kept hearing parents everywhere moan about how quickly their babies outgrew their clothes and it became apparent I wasn’t alone and that there was a demand for a more affordable, stylish, and less wasteful approach to clothe our babies.
I became obsessed with this problem, after surveying and talking to hundreds of Mums I had consistent feedback, which mirrored my own feelings, parents wanted to be sustainable when clothing their babies, but they felt the options currently available meant they had to sacrifice style and/or affordability, they also found sorting the clothes themselves overwhelming.
What is the environmental impact of clothing our children?
When I researched the environmental impact I was also astounded; according to environmental charity, Hubbub, an estimated 183m outgrown children’s clothes are sitting in the back of UK wardrobes. I learnt that if we can increase the lifetime of clothes and more efficiently share the clothes between families it could have a massive positive impact on the environment. If an outfit is worn 50 times instead of 5, it reduces its carbon footprint by 400% (‘Forbes: Making Climate Change Fashionable – The Garment Industry takes on Global Warming’). Lullaloop is able to increase the lifetime of our garments because we reuse items by sustainably cleaning them between homes and once the item can no longer be reused, we repair or recycle.
How does it work and how will it benefit parents?
Customers choose how much they would like to rent, through our ‘Stylers’, where they can decide how much they would like to rent from our own clothing collection. They also decide if they’d like us to style their wardrobe, to create the most versatile wardrobe – our ‘Pre-Styled’ subscription or if they’d like the flexibility to pick the pieces that make up their wardrobe, the ‘Customisable’ subscription.
Once they have their wardrobe, they enjoy it, worry-free! There are no charges for stains or accidental damages, and they pay to rent their wardrobe monthly with no commitments.
Once customers are ready for a new size, styles or there is a season change, they simply switch their wardrobe, for no additional cost!
The benefits are taken from our ethos; Style, Sustain and Save.
Style - unique and high-quality clothes, which are designed as a capsule collection, allowing parents to maximise the number of outfits from their baby’s wardrobe. Our clothes are 100% organic cotton or cotton, meaning they are breathable, excellent quality and kind to baby’s skin (and the planet).
Sustain - reduce the carbon impact of dressing your child by 60-75%. We reuse, repair, and recycle all the clothes. Our clothes are also biodegradable and the majority of the collection is made with organic cotton, which is much kinder to the planet.
Save – time, money, and space. Save at least £200 per size, compared to buying this quality of clothes. Save time and space sorting and storing 7 sizes in just 2 years.
