Krista's Story

The Owner

I always like to know who I am doing business with so I thought I would let you know who I am, why I started this company, and what we are all about. My name is Krista Cathey and I am a wife to my high school sweetheart and mother to three wonderful children. My kids are now 18, 15 and 6—and yes, she was planned. I joke about the gap, saying that I wanted to do a study on whether it was better to have kids early when you have energy but no money, or when you are older and more established but with less energy. My study was flawed though, because the first two took up so much money that we are really not any better off!

Regardless of whether you choose to have children younger or older, the feeling of responsibility to protect them is the same. You look into those beautiful little eyes and realize that this little person is so dependent on you for everything -- it can be quite overwhelming. But as time passes, you learn and grow and soon it becomes second nature.

Life experiences do bring wisdom and experience; they also change and mold you into the mom that you’ll become. For me, being diagnosed with cancer was certainly the most life-changing event of my life. And when I found out that approximately 80-90 percent of cancers have environmental links ¹, I decided to do some research into my life. I started by looking at the products that I was using on my skin and was shocked to find out that one of the ingredients in a skin care product that I had used for at least two years was banned in other countries. It was a slap of reality that we are the only ones looking out for our health.

It is very easy to pretend that the things that we can’t see just don’t exist. We’re quick to protect our children from the things that we can see: we buckle them in a car seat, we install cabinet locks, and we put up safety gates. I never thought that I would have to worry about the lotion that I put on my baby or the plastic toys that filled the toy box. Here are some facts that opened my eyes:

In the past 60 years, more than 85,000 synthetic chemicals have been developed and released.²
According to a survey by the Environmental Working Group, every day children are exposed to an average of 27 personal care product ingredients that have not been found safe for children.³
Of the 1,700 ingredients found in children’s products that were reviewed, 77% of the ingredients have not been assessed for safety.³

I began to research the products that I was using on my children only to be saddened that I unknowingly was exposing my children to a stew of chemicals on a daily basis. Children are not little adults. Their bodies absorb things differently. It was my job as a parent to try to reduce their exposure wherever I could. I have learned to balance what I can do with what my pocketbook will allow. I carry around the "Shopper's Guide To Pesticides" guide by the Environmental Working Group to help me choose the most important produce to buy organic. I research skin care and cleaning products and try to buy the healthiest options for my budget. It has taken a lot of time and research.
GreenPea Baby started out of the desire to help other parents find healthier options for their children. I am far from what most would consider "crunchy". I am just an average mom that decided that it was not okay for formaldehyde to be in my child's shampoo! I love organizations like Healthy Child Healthy World, Dr. Alan Greene , and the Environmental Working Group who have been wonderful resources in this journey.

Our Mission

Our company’s mission is to help parents simplify shopping for their children by conducting product research and reviews and to match products to their needs. We are dedicated to providing parents with the support, tools and products that they need to create healthier environments for their children.

1 Cancer and the Environment. What You Need to Know What You Can Do. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. National Institute of Environmental Health Services. http://www.nci.nih.gov/newscenter/benchmarks-vol4-issue3 2 Creating Healthy Environments for Children. Healthy Child Healthy World. http://www.healthychild.org 3 Safety Guide to Children’s Personal Care Products. Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com

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