First Birthday Party

Come celebrate an awesome 1st year under new ownership. 

February 22nd from 11a-5pm

Meghan, Vicki, and Marissa want to say THANK YOU to their awesome loyal customers by throwing a party (complete with cupcakes from Cupcakes by Design)

Fluff Photos with Felecia Holland

Henna designs done by Juliea of Crowning Lotus for $10 a design ($2 of each design is being donated to Nestlings Diaper Bank of West Michigan).  

Gift bags full of goodies to the first 25 shoppers

Games (how fast can you change a cloth diaper?, how fast can you fold a Boba air up?)

Giveaways from Smart Bottoms, Bummis, Thirsties, Allen's Naturally, Moms in Tow, Just Between Friends Sale - Grand Rapids, and more! 

Lots and Lots of fun!!!

RSVP HERE on Facebook

The Fastest Cloth Diaper Changer in West Michigan

Do you have what it takes to earn the title of 

Fastest Cloth Diaper Changer in West Michigan?

Bring your game face to EcoBuns on February 22nd between 11am and 5pm for our One Year Birthday Party and show off your diaper changing skills.  Prizes will be awarded to the fastest diaper changers!  

The Rules:

• Start with a diaper-wearing baby on the official diaper on the official changing mat.
• Both the starting and ending diaper must be a cloth diaper.  The diapers may be any cloth diaper brand that EcoBuns carries.
• One diaper must be completely taken off and the second diaper must be on securely. 
• Times will be posted on the leaderboard at EcoBuns, and final results will be shared on our facebook page and website blog.
• Participants must be 18 years of age or older. 
• Each participant will have two tries to change a diaper.  The best time will be recorded.  
• Contest participant will place their hands on the official changing mat. Timing will begin when hands are lifted, and will end when the diaper is changed securely and hands are placed back on the mat.
• If you have concerns about privacy, you may change baby behind a closed door as long as an official time keeper witnesses the change.  
• If you don't have your own baby to change and would like to participate, we suggest asking your family and friends if you can barrow their baby.  If you need a baby, feel free to post on our facebook page, or in our chat group asking to barrow one.  

Acceptable diaper brands:

• bumGenius (freetime, 4.0, elementals)
• Flip
• Econobum
• Grovia
• Thirsites
• Smart Bottoms
• Tots Bots
• Bummis
• FuzziBunz

If you  have any questions, leave us a comment on the blog, or email marissa (at) Ecobuns (dot) com

Make the Switch to Cloth Wipes

If you are using cloth diapers, it really makes sense to use cloth wipes.  With disposable diapers, when you use disposable wipes, care givers tend to put the wipes into the diaper, roll the diaper up, and throw everything away.

If you use disposable wipes with cloth diapers, chances are you'll end up putting the disposable wipe into the cloth diaper and throwing the diaper into your diaper pail or wet bag.  This means that the wipes will end up in your washing machine.  Disposable wipes tend to get tangled up in the aplix (velcro like closures on cloth diapers).  If you do remember to not put your wipe in your diaper, you're left with the problem of needing to dispose of the wipe in a different place than your diaper.

There are a lot of other benefits to using cloth wipes.

•  Cloth wipes create less solid waste than disposable wipes. Babies go through 7,000 - 9,000 diaper changes from birth to potty training.  If you use two wipes per change (and let’s be honest…how many people can really only use two wipes on a major poop explosion), we’re looking at over 14,000 - 18,000 wipes. Picture all that in your local landfill!
• Cloth wipes work better than flimsy disposable wipes.  Cloth wipes really grab the mess – making it much easier to clean up.  We recommend having 1-2 cloth wipes for every diaper change you have.  With cloth wipes, you should hardly ever need more than one to finish the job.  
• Cloth wipes do not contain harmful chemicals like disposable wipes.  Often when parents are at the end of their ropes battling diaper rash, they find that their baby actually has a reaction to the chemicals in cloth wipes.  A simple switch to cloth wipes and the rash goes away. (For more on the chemicals in disposable wipes, read this post)
• Cloth Wipes will save you more money.  Depending on the brand of disposables wipes, and the numbers used to come up with the figures, you can expect to save $120 - $500 per child.  

Ready to switch? Check out our selection at EcoBuns.com

What is in a disposable wipe?

What you put on your baby's skin matters.  It is surprising what companies put into products that are used on a baby's sensitive skin.  Here are some common ingredients found in disposable wipes, and why it should worry you.

Happy First Year!

It's hard to believe that it has really been a full year already!  This morning turning the key to open the store made me think back to a year ago.  I could hardly sleep I was SO excited that we were now the OWNERS of EcoBuns!  It was a dream come true.

I just want to take the time to let you all know how much Vicki, Meghan, and I all appreciate you.  YOU are the reason that we have been able to build EcoBuns into the retail space that it is today.  Looking back over pictures from this last year have been so fun!  It's amazing to see how far the store has come in one year.  We love being able to supply you with everything you need to cloth diaper.  This year EcoBuns has started to expand into new product lines and brands.  We have listened to what YOU told us you want, and we are working hard to continue to keep all of your favorite products in stock, and bring in the products you are looking for.  

A few pictures from early in 2013, when we first took over as owners.  The bottom right corner is from when the previous owner opened in this current location (Aug 2012)  

Today the store is growing and changing every week!  We host momma support groups, classes, and throw some really cool parties.  We have been overwhelmed by the community support!  It has been so much fun watching all of your babies grow, laugh, crawl, walk and talk!

In April of 2013, EcoBuns partnered with Nestlings Diaper Bank to provide cloth diapers for low income families.  To date, Nestlings has provided SEVEN families with cloth diapers!

When we took over the store, most customers would call to see what we had in stock before they made the trip out.  It has been our goal to never run out of stock of products that you are looking for and keep customer friendly hours.  We know that in the past EcoBuns hasn't had a large inventory in the store, and we have been working very hard to change that!  We love being able to send people home with exactly what they came in looking for.  

2013 saw TWO new brands of baby carriers for EcoBuns.  (Onya and Tula)

We have added a TON to our momma care and baby care sections this year.  

I absolutely cannot say thank you enough.  Every time you choose to shop at our store either in store or online you are helping to build an amazing community of like-minded parents in West Michigan.  None of this would be possible without our loyal customers.  We know that you have plenty of options of where to shop.  We are so very thankful that you choose EcoBuns.  

THANK YOU!

We can't wait to see what exciting things will happen at EcoBuns this year!!!  

Be sure to join us for our Birthday Party!