Moms helping kids go green when heading back to school

Two Naperville moms started a business designed to help eliminate trash in the lunchroom.

The women are helping families go back to school green through their business, Litter Free Lunch.

For the past few years, Felice Farran has tried to reduce garbage in her children's lunchboxes at Prairie Elementary School in Naperville. She uses a Thermos for drinks and plastic containers instead of Ziploc bags.

"The final step was the napkins," Farran said. She found that most cloth napkins in the stores were too big or too sophisticated for her young children. "They weren't conducive to their lives," she said.

After talking with friend Megan Wojtyla, the women came up with the idea to start a business having the child-size napkins made and then selling them on their Web site.

The idea became a reality through www.litterfreelunch.com. The women are selling fun packs of five 12-inch by 12-inch cotton napkins.

"A simple change can make such a big difference," said Wojtyla, who has four children ranging in age from 3 to 11.

Another important factor for the entrepreneurs is that the napkins are made in the United States. In fact, they're made at a sewing factory in Fairbury in central Illinois near where Wojtyla grew up. "I grew up on a farm where we learned not to waste anything," she said.

The women built their business on the philosophy that educating children about the environment and engaging them to become more eco-conscious will encourage further thinking about ways to reduce, reuse and recycle throughout their lives, Wojtyla said.

It has been estimated that a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per year, Farran said.

The napkins are currently sold with a sports theme, in solid colors or solid bright colors with trim. They range in price from $16.99 to $26.99. The napkins will soon feature additional designs including flowers and school logos.

Before beginning the business, the entrepreneurs were full time moms. Before motherhood, they worked in the corporate world. Wojtyla, 41, worked for Spiegel Inc. in product development and marketing.

Farran worked in human resources for several Fortune 500 companies specializing in work life benefits.

"We've worked with large companies. We're finding that starting a small business is tough," Wojtyla said.

The women hope to expand their Web site, designed by a Naperville firm, to offer additional litter free lunch options.

"Make it a litter free day" is the slogan for the young company.

For more, check out www.litterfreelunch.com.

Ahead of the curve: Several Curves exercise locations are implementing new technology that customizes workouts based on the participant's body structure and endurance and adjusts each exercise machine's intensity based on the recent progression or regression.

The system monitors energy level and range of motion and computes workout data to produce a progress report, including the number of calories burned and 3-D anatomical diagrams to show which muscles were worked and how successfully.

Many area locations, including Schaumburg and Elk Grove Village, will host an open house on Aug. 22 and 23. For more, check out www.chicagolandcurves.com.

Design honors: Designcraft Inc. based in Lake Zurich recently won two prestigious awards for consumer product design.

The 2008 International Design Excellence Awards competition, presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America and sponsored by Business Week, awarded a Bronze IDEA Award to Designcraft in the Leisure & Recreation category for the design of the Amphibian Dynamic scuba Fin.

Designcraft was also awarded the 2008 International Design Excellence Award honorable mention in the Consumer Products category for the scuba fin.

The fin was also featured on the cover of Sport Diver magazine's 2007 Gear Buyer's Guide. It is manufactured by Omega Aquatics (www.omegaaquatics.com).

This innovative scuba fin features a hinging mechanism that flips the blade up to a resting position against the diver's shins, allowing full mobility to walk and climb ladders. Water resistance snaps the blades into swimming position within the first few kicks after the diver enters the water, allowing for a total hands-free operation.

Designcraft specializes in industrial design, design engineering, rapid prototyping, CNC machining and finishing to create photo-ready models. For more, check out www.designcraft.com.