El Dorado Hills, CA – May 5th, 2008.   In the same way that the plastic water bottle has gone from hip accessory to environmental scourge – your baby’s blanket is the latest indicator of whether you are environmentally hip or need a quick eco-refresher course. Robbie Mahlman and Susan Doris founders of Robbie Adrian luxury organics (www.robbieadrian.com), a designer line of organic baby blankets, hope parents up their environmental IQ for the sake of their baby and the environment. “Most parents would be shocked by what goes into the fabric that they swaddle their baby in, day in and day out,” says Robbie Mahlman President of Robbie Adrian Inc. Surprisingly, the two standard baby blanket fibers on the market, polyester chenille and conventional cotton, both have health and environmental issues. “There are a host of chemicals used in the production of most typical blanket fibers, that should turn off consumers wanting to make the best choice both for their baby and the environment.” “We launched our company, so that parents searching for a designer look in a natural blanket for their baby would have options,” says Mahlman.

So what’s the big deal about a baby blanket?

Many parents would be surprised to learn that the chemical compound used to produce the fluffy polyester blanket seen on every store shelf, is identical to that of plastic water bottles – polyethylene terephthalate (of which one of the primary ingredients is anti-freeze.) To make polyester, crude oil is broken down into petrochemicals, which are then converted into the plastic that forms both plastic soda bottles and polyester fibers - PETE. Between the use of a non-renewable resource, the toxicity of the chemicals involved in production and some of the health concerns with additives and catalysts, polyester gets a poor grade from parents who care about the environment. And, that’s before talking about how long it takes to biodegrade.

Baby blankets made of conventional cotton, although produced from a natural fiber, require the use of large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers to produce. Cotton, as Dov Charney, entrepreneur behind the American Apparel T-shirt company, put it, is "the nicotine of clothing". The US Environmental Protection agency has labeled 7 of the 15 pesticides used on cotton as either “known” or “likely” carcinogens. Each blanket takes approximately a third of a pound of chemicals to produce - an eco bummer if you are a forward thinking, savvy parent.

“Obviously, the best choice for both a child and the environment would be to go completely organic and no chemicals,” says Robbie, “but that isn’t realistic for most of us.”  “We created our company to help parents take ‘baby steps’ to being green and offer consumers middle ground – natural but still stylish.”  Robbie Adrian blankets are made with 100% certified, USA grown organic cotton, trimmed with matching silk, using low impact dyes, and are sewn in the United States.

Parents are catching on. With the desire to have healthier, more eco friendly fibers wrapped around their baby, customers, including many celebrities, are lining up for Robbie Adrian luxury organic blankets.  Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera are a few of the A –listers who own Robbie Adrian blankets.

“We have been thrilled with the response to our blankets. We felt strongly as designers and moms, that mainstream parents would buy organic if we added more color and style” says Robbie. “Organic cotton is better for your baby, better for our world”. Now that’s a lesson, worth learning.

Robbie Adrian blankets retail from $44 - $116 and are available on-line at www.robbieadrian.com and finer stores.

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For more information contact: Susan Doris, VP (916) 798-2248 or at sdoris@robbieadrian.com