Recently named New Business of the Year, Mother Earth Baby, is a busy and expanding business. They began online in 2009 and had a retail location in a Syracuse health food store. In 2011, owner Lisa Emmons and her husband Nathan decided to open a store in their hometown of Oswego, NY. Since then, the business has moved to 70 W. Bridge Street, where they can expand to meet the growing needs of the community.
“We are developing into a full-service baby shop,” said owner, Lisa Emmons. Their newly expanded store not only offers natural baby products but also safe products and toys for children, items for children and parents on the go, strollers, car seats, and baby bathtubs.
“We’re here to build community relationships and provide support,” said Emmons. She stated that people come in asking for advice and information about breast-feeding, baby health, and natural health options on a regular basis.
For the owners and employees of Mother Earth Baby, education is one of their top concerns. Not only does the store offer a cloth diaper service and a cloth diaper cleaning service, they also educate the community about the many benefits of using cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers.
One of the biggest reasons Emmons is an advocate for cloth diapering is sustainability and how much money it saves parents. Every baby goes through about 6,000 diapers before they are potty-trained. Each of those diapers goes into a landfill. If you multiply that by how many babies are born each year and you could have landfills that are full of nothing but diapers. While a disposable diaper lasts about 2 hours, cloth diapers can be used and re-used for up to 6 years. They not only help save parents money, but help to cut down on waste as well.
An equally important reason why the Emmons’ continue to expose people to cloth diapers as an option is the health benefits they have for babies. Many parents struggle to find a disposable diaper that doesn’t give their children diaper rash. Emmons stated that the reason that diaper rash is such a problem is that the chemicals used in disposable diapers to help absorb react with the skin of infants and toddlers. These chemicals also get into the developing lungs of infants and can cause upper-respiratory infections and other breathing problems.
Being a part of the community has been “thoroughly enjoyable” for Lisa Emmons as she loves to interact with her customers and other community members. Mother Earth Baby has a weekly booth at the Oswego Farmer’s Market (Thursday evenings 4:30-8:30) where they feature different products such as sun protection and products for parents who are on the go and are more than happy to speak with the public about using natural products.
Congrats Mother Earth Baby, we appreciate everything you do for the community of Oswego!