1. Please tell us a little bit about your business/site?

Greeno Bambino is an online retail shop offering non-toxic products for kids – everything from toxin-free sippy cups and all-natural shampoos to organic washcloths and zero-emissions toy blocks.
The mass marketplace is littered with unsafe, thoughtless choices, and this is particularly true when it comes to children’s products. We aim to provide parents with a safe haven by carefully scrutinizing each item we carry to ensure that it delivers a proper balance between quality, safety and value.

2. How long have you been in business? How did you get your business started?

We (meaning my wife, Courtney, and I) launched Greeno Bambino in December 2008. It started out innocently enough…
Greeno Bambino is a reflection of my simple concern, as an average parent, with my children’s health. When we had our son Jesse in 2006, I, being a fanatical researcher by nature (some might call it OCD), began to gather information on all the different types of products we would need. I was truly disturbed by what I found. It seemed that nearly every product raised a different concern, whether toxic plastics used in bottles, pesticide-laden materials used in clothing, or off-gassing chemicals used in mattresses.
Soon, our time-strapped friends came to lean on me for advice whenever they needed to purchase things for their kids – be it a diaper rash cream, a toy or a piece of furniture. I realized that other parents would find it equally difficult to keep up with all the confusing information they were sure to come across, which would make it impossible for them to adequately protect their children. And thus Greeno Bambino was born…

There are just so many scary things being used to make products these days, and it can really overwhelm even the most well-intentioned parent. And you know, I felt overwhelmed myself when I began my research. There is just no way to figure this stuff out all on your own. That’s why I started Greeno Bambino and it’s what drives me every day.

3. Is your business online, or a physical location or both?

Greeno Bambino is online only. Focusing exclusively on the web allows us to reach a much broader audience, and since it’s our goal to help parents wherever they may live, it just makes much more sense for us to concentrate our efforts on creating the best online shop that we can. A side benefit of our dedication to the web is that we gain access to much more diverse feedback, which allows us to more efficiently tailor our store to our customers’ evolving needs. Plus, being online only allows us to keep our overhead costs lower so that we can devote more resources to customer service and product research.

4. What do you enjoy most about running your business/site?

It’s a tie: I love it when my research leads me to find a great new product that nobody knows about yet; and I also love helping a customer choose a product that perfectly meets their needs, whether it’s something fun like a unique present for their nephew such as Tree Block’s Math Kit or something more urgent, like an effective solution to their daughter’s eczema problem such as VMV Hypoallergenics’ Big Brave Boo-Boo Balm.

5. Is there a favorite product or service that you offer?

That’s a tough one. I really love Sprig Toys. They are so beautifully constructed and unusual looking, and engage children in active play so effectively. And they smell incredible - they are made from Canadian Pine Sawdust and when you put your nose up to them they smell like a woodshop. I am also really fond of our Naturepedic mattresses. Giving your child a comfortable, non-toxic mattress is one of the best things you can do for their health. Perhaps more than anything, though, I am proud of our commitment to customer service. It is the foundation of our business. We will do everything we can to help customers find whatever it is they need, even if the appropriate solution is something we don’t carry ourselves.

6. Anything else you would like to share about your business? Being a working parent? Etc…

When we started Greeno Bambino, it was our intention to be just as strong on informational content as on product offerings. It is a tall task to feed both of these twin goals simultaneously, and we strive to get better at each every day. To that end, we are constantly seeking out new products and adding new product categories (cleaning products and furniture will be added soon), and we will be launching a blog in short order as well.
Also, I’d really like to dispel the common notion that issues of non-toxicity and environmental activism go hand in hand. I mean, I’m fairly eco-conscious, though in a very mainstream way. And of course Greeno Bambino as a company aims to be as environmentally responsible as possible. But frankly, it’s really irrelevant. While it’s true that many of the best non-toxic children’s products are manufactured by thoughtful companies that care equally for their customers and the environment, and so there is a correlation there, one really has nothing to do with the other. You don’t have to give a hoot about recycling or pay attention to your carbon footprint to be concerned about your children’s health. So no matter where you come from philosophically, we just want to help you help your kids be healthy.

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