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Herbal Animals was dreamt up in 1994 by Lauren Rosenstadt Johnson, at the time a single mom living in Chicago. Lauren was looking for a way to make a living that would make a difference. Her 8 year old daughter Liz was open to all possibilities, so long as at they included, one day, a tree house. The idea behind the first Herbal Animal, Sydney Greensheep®, was simple: to provide a natural solution to an age old problem: how to get a good night's rest. Since the advent of electric lighting, it's estimated that people in the industrialized world are sleeping on average 60 to 90 minutes less than they did in the 1920's. Consequently, falling asleep at the wheel ranks second only to drunk driving as a leading cause of US automobile accidents contributing to as many as 10,000 deaths annually. Likewise, some of the world's biggest man-made disasters have been caused in part by sleep deprivation, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Bhopal gas leak. Unfettered by any knowledge whatsoever of how to sew, Lauren set about making her first Herbal Animal, Sydney Greensheep. In the early days, Lauren and Liz delivered bolts of fabric and 40 pound bags of filling to cottage industry sewers in a fifty mile radius in the Chicago land area. As Lauren explains, "I had an artsy-fartsy background--I thought people in cottage industries never left their homes." Liz, who had from time to time at the end of a long night fallen asleep face first in her dinner plate learned firsthand the need to work smarter, not harder. Today, sewers using organically grown cotton either low impact dyed or colorgrown (naturally grown in soft shades of green and brown) handcraft Herbal Animals® pillows of all sizes. They fill them with relaxing blends of certified organically grown grains and herbs, such as lavender, chamomile, lemon balm and hops, to name a few. Just like grandma made, but with a cool design twist. Herbal Animals have been featured in such publications as Forbes, Self, Health for Women, Entrepeneur, Vegetarian Times, and on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They have been seen in the loving hands of such notables as Natalie Merchant, Donny Osmond and Eartha Kitt. Herbal Animals can be found in over 750 body care, gift and natural living shops nationwide and overseas. We'd love to hear from you with suggestions, new product ideas and stories of all kinds about you and your Herbal Animals.

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