History

In 1993, Blue Penguin was born in the garage of Avima Yaffe. Having just given birth to her third child, motherhood had deepened Avima’s awareness of environmental concerns.  She wanted to do what she could to help leave the world a clean place for her children.  At the same time, she realized that disposable diapers were creating a major landfill and pollution problem in the U.S.  Avima had been trained in engineering and then in biology.  What a perfect combination of training and philosophical focus! 

After much research and several prototypes, Avima developed a cloth diaper of the most healthy, natural fabric available – 100% cotton – engineered to be well-fitting, leak-proof and comfortable for baby.  She designed her diaper to look and “act” like a disposable. It was every bit as easy to put on and take off as any disposable.  It fit well and was leak-proof, like disposables.  It was, however, far better than any disposable could ever be. Not only was this diaper as easy to use as a disposable, it was also made from breathable, environmentally friendly cloth... it would not be going into our landfills.  Additionally, the design of the diaper, with a unique “quick dry” doubler sewn in, made it easy to clean and faster drying than other cloth diapers. 

For a number of years Avima worked building the business and ultimately began being carried by a number of on-line catalogues.  With the growth of the Internet, she also began to sell as a factory outlet site on-line, directly to customers.  At that point, in 2004, she began to look for a successor to take over the business and was joined by Carol Stewart as a business partner. 

Current Operations

In January of 2005, Carol purchased Blue Penguin and has taken over all operations of the business.  For Carol, Blue Penguin represents a meeting point of both her environmental awareness and her background in non-profit management. While Blue Penguin is not a non-profit business, Carol operates it based on a clear mission statement.

Based in the Glassell Park area of Los Angeles, California, Blue Penguin's products are manufactured in a bright and airy workshop to which the office is attached. At our shop we receive fabrics, plan inventory, cut from our patterns and sew all of our garments. We also ship all orders from our workshop directly to our customers. We have a staff that fluctuates between four and six, depending on demand: Alfredo is our fabric cutter, Elva and Maria sew, Briana and Danny assist with office work, and Carol does a little bit of everything! Everyone who works at Blue Penguin is a U.S. citizen and lives in the neighborhood. We are a community-aware, family-friendly workplace.

Thanks so much for reading about our company. We hope you become part of our extended family!