Featured Retailer: Natural Nursery

Who are you and what is your position? 
 
I am Arabella, partner in www.naturalnursery.co.uk.  I am married to Paul with one child, Ellie, aged 6 who goes to the Exeter Steiner School.  We recently moved back to Devon so that we could be closer to the sea and have a bigger garden.  Although we live in Exeter, we are lucky to have part of next door’s garden, meaning we have a good sized veggie patch which has proved to be great fun.
 
Also in the family is Sooty, our dog and soon to be arriving are chickens.  We have chosen some of the rarer breeds as although they lay less eggs, we wanted to help preserve these ancient breeds.  The next project will be bees – work starts next month on building our hive.The reason for starting the company?
 
Before having Ellie, I had become disillusioned with my career as a solicitor – the pay may have been good but I was finding it hard to reconcile with my increasing awarness of environmental and ethical issues.
 
During my maternity leave, I realised that I really had come to the end of my “corporate life” and although I wanted to be at home with my daughter, I did need something to keep me busy.
 
I had really struggled to find the type of products that I wanted to use with Ellie – 6 years ago it was almost impossible to find cloth nappies and slings on the high street and most shops hadn’t heard of the concept of fair trade toys, so the orginal idea for the shop was born.

How long have you been in business?
 
We have been in business for 5 years now, in different formats as we used to have a shop too.

Tell us about  your products?
 
We strive to make the best products available to the widest range of people – I don’t believe that organic, ethical, sustainable should be the preserve of only a small number of people.  We offer some ranges that may at first seem to be expensive but they are always good value for money.  The Ergo Baby Carrier  http://www.naturalnursery.co.uk/ergo-baby-carrier-39-c.asp   for instance – it is one of the most expensive on the market, but I carried my daughter in it until she was 4 1/2 years old, probabably 4 or 5 times a week, so the cost per use of it was amazingly low.
We do try to provide a full range to new parents too.  So, cloth nappies, slings, breastfeeding aids, organic clothing, natural toiletries, books, toys, they all feature in our range.
We do like to source as close to home as possible, so many of our suppliers are based in Devon, such as Natalia.  Other ranges will be organic, fairly traded or made from recycled items.

What is your favourite green luxury item?
 
Big cosy organic wool blanket – cost rather a lot but is is so beautiful to look at, so snuggly to wrap up in and will last me for years.  I am also a big fan of the jewellery that designer Kate Fancis makes – all hand made in the UK and the blue glass beads made from recycled bottles are just divine. http://www.perfectlygorgeous.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=704

What is your top green tip?
 
Stop driving!  As a non-driver myself, I don’t understand why so many parents are so reliant on the car.  Leave it at home, buy a sling and you and your family can get some exercise in the fresh air while you are carrying on with your normal life.  E loves the trips on the bus, you get to see the area you live in in a completely different way, meet lots people you wouldn’t normally meet and it is cheaper than running a car.  Plus you do find that you talk to your child so much more – when you are concentrating on driving, you can’t really be concentrating on the child and E and I have so many conversations about things that we see out of the bus window or when we are walking along the road.

What do you do to relax?
 
Gardening – we are lucky enough to have an allotment at the end of our garden and we use the instant organic gardens from Rocket Gardens http://www.naturalnursery.co.uk/rocket-gardens-89-c.asp – the lazy way to a plot full of veg.  If the weather is too wet for that, then it is into the bath with a good book for me.

Check out the Ethically Traded Ladybird DressUp Costume we featured from Natural Nursery.

Related posts:

1. Business Mum Week: Arabella from Natural Nursery
2. Top 3 Orchard Toys at Natural Nursery
3. Natural Nursery Sale: Our Hot Duo
4. Featured Retailer: Only Fair
5. Featured Retailer: Treeblocks

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