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March 31 - April 6, 2016 • Page 17 A
Store owner Phnewfula Frederiksen shows a game that is both
educational and environmentally sensitive.
“Baby lit” versions of classic books have few words and lots of
pictures.
Happy Mango features simple, non-electric toys.
Frederiksen holds her 1-year-old
daughter, who can often be seen
playing at the shop.
Tots go green at Happy Mango
by Kathy Mitchell
Phnewfula (pronounced
new-fa-la) Frederiksen left
her career as a music
executive to focus on
another passion—staying in
tune with the environment.
Frederiksen is now the
owner of Happy Mango,
an eco-friendly baby,
pregnancy and children’s
boutique, that opened in
Kirkwood earlier this month.
The shop, which sells items
for expectant mothers and
children through age 6,
features a wide variety of
items, including bamboo
swaddles, furniture that
grows with the baby and non
electric educational toys.
“We have an
environmentally sensitive
version of just about every
item that would be on your
baby shower registry except
clothing,” Frederiksen said,
adding, “going green isn’t
as hard to do or as off
the grid as people think.
Many of the products
at Happy Mango are
comparable in price to
traditional store-bought
baby items and can usually
be repurposed after their
intended use.”
Frederiksen said she
first became aware of
environmental issues when
she was in elementary
school. “We saw a film that
said if we don’t make better
environment choices in a
few years we’re all going to
be wearing gas masks or
moving to Jupiter,” recalled
Frederiksen, who grew up in
Japan. “Still, I really started
taking a serious interest in
environment issues when
I was a student at Clark
Atlanta University.”
Her revised career path
also was prompted by the
birth of her children, now
6 and 1. “I needed to be
fully present for my kids,”
Frederiksen said. “Working
for a company just didn’t
allow me the time I needed
to spend with my children.
Also, I felt the music no
longer reflected my values,
so I quit my job and moved
back to Atlanta, where I also
can be near my mother.”
Now her children are often
at her shop in the play area
with children of shopping
patrons.
“As an eco-conscious
mom, I want to make
choices in the things I
buy for my children that
are eco-friendly from
manufacturing to shipping
to consumer use.” she
said. “As a mother, I want
to create the healthiest,
safest environment for
my children. I know there
are other parents and
grandparents out there
who feel as I do,” said
Frederiksen, who said she
is proud to be called a “tree
hugger.”
“I started tree-hugging
in college and really
adopted a green lifestyle
for not only the well-being
of my family, but to instill
in my kids a sense of
responsibility to Mother
Nature.” Frederiksen said
her children and those
served by the shop are
too young to be educated
directly concerning the
environment, “but they
watch what their parents
do. If we always pack
their lunches in reusable
containers and other
children have lunches
in throw-away plastic
containers, they’ll notice
and ask why.”
Frederiksen said
saving the planet for the
next generation is the
biggest benefit of going
green. “After you bring a
beautiful human into the
world, you want to keep the
world in good shape,” she
commented.
Education as well as
environment is a focus
with the toys she selects
to sell in her shop. There
is, for example, a selection
of wooden building blocks
in languages from Hebrew
to Swahili. Classic books
such as The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn, Pride
and Prejudice and Les
Miserables are available as
“baby lit” that contains lots
of pictures and extremely
simplified condensations of
the original books.
“Not all of our customers
come out of concern for the
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environment,” she noted.
“Some come because
we have some really cool
things. Ecofriendly can also
be fun.”
Happy Mango started
as an online shop in 2008,
then launched as a pop
up shop in Atlanta’s Krog
Street market area in
October 2015, where it
remained through January.
“But this had been my
dream all along, to have
a permanent bricks and
mortar store,” she said of
the shop on Hosea Williams
Drive. “I looked at a number
of locations, but I really love
Kirkwood. I love its diversity
and its energy. It’s emerging
as a great place to shop
and live.”
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