Moms team up for 'green' business

Quality for a good cause Lauren Baker has always considered herself "green," and after her daughter was born that interest took on a whole new meaning.Baker says she started thinking more about what it means to be environmentally aware, and that meant figuring out how to teach her daughter what's important, how to find organic products, how to support the community. So she started looking for things made by smaller companies, things that weren't necessarily available in all the big stores, "things that were really 'green,'" she says.Baker recruited best friend Amy Losoya, and the two moms started contacting smaller companies and trying out their products. And that's how Green Mama was born, summer 2007, by two moms in St. Petersburg, Fla. Baker's husband, Will, came up with the name. The site - green-mama.com - officially launched early this year."We wanted to offer stuff that had good qualities, like being organic or made by a cool mama," Baker writes on her Web site. "So my husband came up with the name, our daughter was the inspiration, and my best friend, Amy, helps run things as well as chase after her own two girls."What does 'being green' really mean? Being green is more than just recycling newspapers or eating organic food, Baker says."Being green is about supporting small businesses, supporting companies with a social conscious. To buy locally or buy fair trade," she says.On her Web site, she explains: "Green living to us is about making the right choice for our community. ... We know that being green is super hip right now and that's great, but let's make green not just the new black but also a new way to live and a new way to inspire."Where do you get your products? Baker says one of her biggest challenges was finding places that truly practice "green," not ones that just use that term as a ploy to get business. She and Losoya work mostly with small businesses, or with larger ones if they are environmentally friendly and practice fair trade. That means no mass productions, Baker says. The jewelry is handmade. And many of the vendors give back to their own communities.Why shop at Green Mama? "We're two moms and we have great products," Baker says. "No catch - just quality products made by great people."What you'll find The Web site divides products in three categories: "green mama," "green baby" and "things we love." The papas aren't forgotten entirely; there's a small selection of items - our favorite, a $14 bottle opener made from recycled bike chain - for them under the green mama category. Here are some other products we like: For moms Diaper bags that look more like handbags ($54-$150), body scrubs and creams ($14.95-$22), baby pouches ($56) and more.For babies Cute shoes ($36), velvet blankets ($70), stuffed cuddly eggplants and other fruits and vegetables. ($6).Ester Venouziou can be reached at evenouziou(at)sptimes.com.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)