Greener toys for the holidays

So the holiday season has snuck up and smacked me square in the back yet again.  It’s like turning your back to the ocean you stare at it for a long time and get comfy with it, then turn your back to talk to someone and WHAM your off your feet and on your butt in the middle of the sand & water.

Back to the point!  How did this holiday season end up here so fast and what to get the wee ones in your life?  This year I’ve really started looking at the materials used in toys and where they were made.  I am trying to buy toys and gifts that aren’t made of plastic or made in China.  It’s actually a fun challenge if you think about it, I’ve gotten a chance to really look at some cool toys that I might not have found otherwise.  So I am going to give you a few of my favorite finds.

The first toy I found was at the Green Expo in San Francisco.  This is an amazing doll that is similar to the old fashion rag dolls, but with an Eco twist.  The company is called The Earth Friends and they make great dolls from organic, recycled and sustainable materials.  For more info about The Earth Friends, check out their site http://www.theearthfriends.com I think my favorite thing about this doll is the little details that remind me of dolls that my mom made me when I was little.  The yarn hair, the big eyes, the tiny line nose and so many other things.  Did I mention that B spent about 30 minutes lining the dolls up trying to figure out which one Santa might bring her.

Here is one of their fun dolls.  Did I mention that they are sewn here in the US!
This is one of the little girl dolls that they have.

And here is one of the little boy dolls they have.

The next toy that I found is made of recycled plastic, the thing that really surprised me about this toy is how sturdy it was and how interesting the texture is.  It’s made from recycled plastic, but doesn’t have that super smooth, cold, hard feel that plastic does.  I love this dump truck and there are a growing number of recycled plastic toys out on the market so keep looking.  Here’s one of the dump trucks from Green Toys, check out http://www.greentoys.com for more of the great products that they have.  They have a great tea set that my little B loves, haven’t bought it yet, but it’s on the list.

There are a few other items that I am interested in looking at first before I make any recommendations about them.  Until I get myself out of the house and into a store here are a few sites to check out for ideas on Eco toys.

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toy_categories/green_toys/index.cfm The cool thing about this site, besides the mass quantities they have of toys, is that they break down the “Econess” of the toys. They have categories which range from sustainable wood-recycled product- organic cotton.  They also let you search by interest, age, gender and origin of toy.  There really is a lot of items on this site.

http://www.moolka.com This is another company that has a lot of organic, wood toys.  They carry a brand called Haba majority of their toys are made in Europe, mostly Germany but they do outsource to China.  The thing is that this site offers you the ability to search by county where the product was made.  They also have a lot of other brands as well. When B was little we had a lot of toys from Haba that came from England, my parents spent about 5 weeks in England the summer after B was born and seemed to bring back one of every toy they could find.

This is a block puzzle and these have become B’s favorite type of puzzle. They have different scenes on each side. This one happens to be made by a Swiss company.

I hope you found this helpful.  If you have any other recommendations I would love to hear about them!  I’ll try to post more products as I find them.

Cheers!

To Greening up our kids!

Suffocating in Plastic Toydom

I’ve been thinking lately, as I look around my itty bitty house, how did we get so much crap?  I will say that most of this stuff was bought by us without thinking and almost 90% of it belongs to our 2 year old.  The crap I’m talking about is little plastic things, nick nacks, useless toys and trinkets that at the time of purchase seem like a good idea and I will admit that she plays with maybe 20% of the stuff.  But you see I’m now on a mission

My mission is not to rid my house of the plastic crap, although that would be nice, because where would it go?  The garbage? Goodwill most likely?  I’m sure in my quest to green and de-clutter I will be donating some of this stuff to goodwill or other organizations.  What my current mission is, is to keep the plastic toys and trinkets out of the house in the first place.  I am not saying we aren’t going to buy our daughter toys or things to play with, but I’m thinking of things that are much more earth friendly.  examples would be toys made from sustainable wood, metal or organic cotton.

It’s funny I’ve always really thought of myself as a green person until I realized the amount of plastic that we had bought to entertain our child.  While it might not seem like a big deal at the time you buy something, over time plastic breaks down and leaches into the environment which also happens to be your home, um gross!!!  Also like most things that kids own they out grow it or bore of it within a few months, now what?  A. Keep it for the next kid B. Give it away C. Give it to some other unsuspecting family or D. Throw it away.  Inevitably it will end up in some land fill.

There are some other options to not buying plastic toys, instead rent or trade for them.  The companies below have made a living out of doing that.  Trade in old toys for toys that your kids currently want and then trade again or rent the toys that your kids might be interested in keep them for a bit and then send them back.

http://www.toystotrade.com This is a site to trade old toys, that are still good of course with other toys your kids are asking for.

http://www.babyplays.com This is a site that works like a library sort of.  You put a wish list together and get a membership plan set up for yourself.  Check out the site, it’s a really neat idea.

Now I’ve never actually tried these sites, but the idea is really intriguing to me and at this point I’m thinking I might be sending some toys there way if nothing else.

I will keep you all posted on my current no plastic mission and let you know how it pans out.  Wish me the best!