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based inks, which have become popular among celebrity moms like Jessica Alba and Cheryl

May 4, 2009, Greencastle, Ind. — "In addition to stressing over finals like most law students, 24-year-old Kyle Smitley, founder

and owner of eco-friendly children's clothing line, barley & birch, is concerned about when her next shipment of clothing will be

in," begins a Toledo Free Press feature on the 2007 DePauw graduate. "She was an environmental geoscience and philosophy

major at DePauw University and is now a full-time University of Toledo law student. Smitley has been operating the business

since 2007. All of the clothing is made in the United States using 100 percent certified organic cotton and water-based inks."

"Organic clothing is important because conventional cotton today uses 25 percent of the world's insecticides, seven of the 10 top

ingredients having been noted by the Environmental Protection Agency as having carcinogenic properties," Smitley tells the

The story points out, "Every facet of barley & birch is carbon neutral ... Socially, barley & birch

donates 30 percent of its profits to organizations working to improve the environment and global

community." Megan Lewis reports that, according to Smitley, "the brand is really starting to take

off with recent celebrity support. Stars including Jessica Alba and Sheryl Crow have dressed

Balancing a business with law school is tricky. "I do a lot of multi-tasking," says Smitley. "If I

get a break from class, I am e-mailing on my iPhone while making a call on my regular cell