GOOD
Changemakers
Photo courtesy Billie Wonder
Steef Fleur’s Billie Wonder stylish washable diapers help reduce waste and environmental impact while aiding in potty training. BY ALENA FOLLESTAD
A
As concerns about climate change heighten, we all are looking for ways to shrink our carbon footprint, reduce waste, reuse products, and recycle when we can.
There are many innovative individuals around the world who are coming up with solutions to these concerns. One such individual, Steef Fleur of Amsterdam, has brought environmental change to motherhood. Her company, Billie Wonder, produces washable diapers (and all the accessories you could need) so parents, both new and experienced, can make a change, one diaper at a time. Fleur, a former documentary photographer who studied urban development, discovered washable diapers while on assignment in Northern California in 2015. While working amongst the hemp growers of the region, she was amazed at the use and ease of reusable diapers, despite the fact that disposable alternatives were available.
“I just looked at it, and I thought, this looks so much better than a disposable one,” says Fleur when recalling that first time she saw the reusable diapers. This experience stuck with her and, after the birth of
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her son in 2017, she began the Billie Wonder webshop, selling existing brands’ cloth diapers and promoting washables as a new norm. When Fleur and her husband first told friends and others about these non-disposable diapers, they were often met with reactions of disgust and disbelief. Fleur says when she asked people to picture a washable diaper, the responses included, “One of those cloths with a safety pin.” Inspired to research and dive deeper, Fleur found this outdated image was, in fact, accurate in the current market at that time. But “new normal” was about to have a whole new meaning for everyone. The 2020 pandemic changed life everywhere. Fleur found all of her upcoming photoshoots canceled, but this shift meant she had the time to breathe new life into Billie Wonder and launch a reimagined brand with its own product line. Fleur says, “I hired a business coach, and I realized with him along the way I believe in this, and I really
