About Us - The Soft Landing

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ALICIA VOORHIES, Owner

Who�s Behind The Soft Landing?

Alicia is a recently retired RN with a specialty in developmental disabilities, autism spectrum, seizure and behavioral disorders. She worked for much of her nursing career as Director of Nursing for a local non-profit organization, caring for people with developmental disabilities in a home-based setting. While she loved her job and the amazing people she began to suffer from that old familiar burn out. Deciding to take a nice long sabbatical to spend more time with her husband and three kids she began to pursue her passion for alternative health which quickly turned into a full-time pursuit of all things less toxic.

How It All Began

It all started in 2006 when Joanie, one of the Land sisters, moved to South Carolina with her husband and infant son for a work assignment. She called home one morning after taking her son to their new pediatrician for a checkup. The doctor advised her to immediately throw out all clear, hard plastic baby bottles to protect her son from being exposed to estrogen. She left the appointment in shock and began to worry that she was dealing with a doctor who was off his rocker! So she turned to Alicia, the medical research geek of the family, for help.

Alicia set out that day to prove him wrong but, surprisingly, hundreds of research studies only proved him right! The more information she pored over, the more she began to see a pattern of chemicals leaching from plastics and skincare products to cause endocrine disruption � especially in children. Alicia was shocked and began a search for a plastic baby bottle made without bisphenol A to recommend to Joanie. When she came up with only one possibility and saw how hard it was to find, she realized that there was a need and that the Land Family was destined to fill that need.

Our Mission

Her desire to help concerned people navigate the sea of unlabeled products became her mission and she works hard to answer the growing demand for non-toxic alternatives. Functioning as part of a work-at-home team of family members to locate, research and offer non-toxic products The Soft Landing is the first store of its kind to offer only products made confirmed to be free of BPA, PVC, phthalates.

Alicia publishes all of her findings in The Soft Landing Blog as an effort to educate parents about the dangers of common chemicals. Her work has been cited by ABC News, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Kansas City Star and health-conscious websites such as Dr. Greene, National Geographic�s The Green Guide, Environmental Working Group (EWG), and the Center for Health Environment and Justice (CHEJ). She is currently serving as a Healthy Child Healthy World Parent Ambassador.

Contact Us:

We enjoy talking with our readers and would be happy to answer your questions!

We'd love to hear from you!

Email anytime: info@thesoftlanding.com

Call toll free (within the U.S.) Monday - Friday 9am - 4pm CST: 888.280.6621

International Customers call our office Monday - Friday 9am - 4pm CST: 00 1 913 735 4310

Press Inquiries: laura@thesoftlanding.com

>> CURIOUS about why we sell products made in China? Read more about that below.

Items available at The Soft Landing not made in China:

Bumkins (USA)

Kiddopotamus Bibbity + Tiny Diner (USA)

Fresh Baby Trays (USA)

Constructive Eating Utensils(some parts made in China, then assembled in USA)

Arrow Plastic Dishware Frostware and Sip-a-products (USA)

Glass Dharma Glass Straws (USA)

Camden Rose Wood Teethers (USA)

Dano2 Circus Teethers (USA)

Preserve Toothbrushes (USA)

My Very Own Rattle (USA)

Avent Bottles and Pacifiers (England)

Ringley Teethers (Canada)

Mother's Milkmate (Canada)

Natursutten Pacifiers and Teethers(Denmark/Germany)

Kidishes Glass Dinnerware (France)

Green Sprouts Cornstarch-based Dishes (Korea)

Green Sprouts Wood Teethers (Vietnam)

TreBimbi Dishware (Italy)

Vulli Sophie Giraffe and Chan Pie Gnon (France)

Why Do We Sell Products Made in China - a Change in Paradigm

Years of interacting with major manufacturers has lead us to a paradigm shift. We've come to believe that the problem with product safety really has less to do with where the product is manufactured, and more to do with the company developing and producing the product.

The U.S. has fallen asleep at the wheel in regard to our own chemical policies, leaving us to search for clear information on what chemicals are actually harmful and how to avoid them on our own. To make things more difficult, ingredient labeling isn't required for most products so we are forced to spend endless hours trying to extract this information from manufacturers. And to add insult to injury, we're constantly being barraged by recalls - mostly on products made in China.

Avoiding Products Made in China Doesn't Solve the Entire Problem of Safety

Did you know that global production of bisphenol A was estimated to be over 2.2 million tons in 2009 and in 2004 over 1 million tons was produced right here in the U.S.? The point here is that by focusing on country of origin as the main issue, we miss the bigger problem and our approach to choosing safer products is skewed.

The Center for Environmental Health points to another fact that is often overlooked: toxic product recalls happen with products made in the U.S. too.

"Eighty percent of all toys are made in China. Therefore, the majority of toys that we tested are also from China. However, consumers cannot automatically assume that products made in the U.S. do not contain chemicals of concern. Beyond the lead paint restriction, there are no mandatory rules to regulate what can or cannot be used in children's products in the U.S., and no disclosure requirements on toxic chemicals in toys."

Why Do We Offer Products Made in China in Our "Non-toxic" Store?

While it's not our first choice to sell products made in China, many companies are forced to manufacture in plants outside the U.S. for two main reasons:

The market demands value pricing which is often unattainable when manufacturing in the U.S.
Some products require specialized skills that are no longer available in the U.S., such as stainless steel fabrication (there is not a single stainless steel water bottle made in the U.S. currently)

In our opinion, the real question is whether the company has made a commitment to ensuring high quality or not.

We make our decision to retail a product based on our knowledge of each individual company. Here is an example of the interview process we begin with for each potential vendor:

1. What materials are used to manufacture your product inside and out?

2. Do you have third-party safety done testing on a regular basis? If so, please send test results along with your reply.

3. Where are your products manufactured? If in China, how do you maintain quality production and ensure fair working conditions/wages for employees of the factory?

We work with some amazing companies who committed to the safety of their products. We choose companies that have proven they're full of integrity by monitoring the production of their products carefully and fully back the quality and safety of each one.

Of course, this is just our two cents. And we'll always choose USA made products when given the option - assuming they meet our standards for integrity and quality assurance!