Earth911 Podcast: Lauren Gregor, Founder of Rent-a-Romper

The fashion industry is a profligate source of pollution, even when making baby clothing. Lauren Gregor founded Rent-a-Room to help parents find and reuse baby clothing. During the first years of a baby’s life, they change sizes and styles faster than a teenage fashion plate. Gregor, a new mom, decided to follow the fashion rental examples of Rent-the-Runway and StitchFix, introducing a subscription service the provides curated “capsules” of baby and toddler clothes. Available in a 7-item Just the Essentials Capsule and 15-item Complete Capsule, Rent-a-Romper’s customers can return clothing whenever baby outgrows it. Gregor estimates that instead of using and tossing out baby clothes after a single use, Rent-a-Romper can extend the use of an item up to or beyond a half-dozen uses. Lost items or those that parents want to keep do not cost extra. Gregor’s company also offers subscriptions to branded clothing through partnerships with children’s clothing makers. Do you have used baby clothes you’d like to see reused? Rent-a-Romper accepts donations and will provide a prepaid shipping label to make contributions easy. Visit Rent-a-Romper to learn more, or start shopping for your kids today.