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How dangerous are your baby products?

January 14th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in eco-friendly, fyi, health, non-toxic, parent stuff, the house and home, what's going on??

soap bubbles

The recent laws enacted banning the use of phthalates has stirred up a number of concerns for me both as a consumer and as a parent. To understand my concerns I will explain something about how phthalates are used in various products. Some may know that phthalates in its most common form (phthalitic acid) is used to make plastic more flexible, rendering them “chewy” or “squishy” like that rubber duckie that your kid may play with at bath time.

What may not be common knowledge is that phthalates are also used in heavy amounts as a fragrance “binder” or stabilizer in a number of cosmetic and hygiene products like baby shampoos, baby powders, bubble baths, sunblock and a startling number of other common products. Sure there are a number of other things to be on the look out for in these type of products, but right now I’ll focus on phthalates.

Why are phthalates so bad? And why has its use been outlawed in Europe for almost ten years? There has been growing evidence More »

Tags: better living, educational, health, kids health

5 Cool & Affordable Eco-Friendly Kids Gifts

December 9th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in cool schtuff, dad recomendation, eco-friendly, games, non-toxic

With all this talk about toxic toys on the shelf and lay-offs, I wanted to dig through this year’s archives and pull up a couple of my favorite picks for cool, cheap (most coming in under $20 bucks) and fun gifts for the tikes. This is what I came up with;

Fair Trade Mini Soccer Balls: They’re approximately 6″ diameter (19″ circumference). Fair Trade means the adult workers who produced this ball received a fair wage – at no extra cost to you! Eco-certified and certified Fair Trade. Union-made and vegan. They also have regulation-sized soccer balls to choose from.

They also have a number of other types of balls, apparel, accessories and equipment to choose from.

Fair Trade Sports | Mini Soccer Ball -$15 bucks [+shipping]
Fair Trade Sports | Standard Children’s Tee -$15 bucks [+shipping]

Plan Toys | Green Toys: These guys have it figured out! They use sustainable and recycled materials and they use green technology for manufacturing their products.

Plan Toys | Fire Truck Activity Set – $50 bucks [+ shipping]
Plan Toys | Zebra Pull Along Toy – $20 bucks [+shipping]

Safe Sippy Cup Stainless Steel: Meet the Safe Sippy stainless steel drinking cup – one small step in creating a less toxic world for our children.

The Safe Sippy cup breaks away from the all-plastic sippy cup designs of the past. From the clean, non-leaching stainless steel cup to the unique safety features to the plastics free of Bisphenol A and other harmful chemicals, The Safe Sippy cup was created to accomplish one simple goal: Clean In, Clean Out.

$17 bucks [+shipping]

Muslim Swaddling Blankets

Natural Muslin Swaddling Blanket [4 pack]: Swaddling made easy! These blankets are made with a unique cotton called Muslin. The light, open weave of natural fibers allows air to flow seamlessly through the material – which lends to the ability for baby’s body temperature to adjust naturally.

$42 bucks [+shipping]

totem game totem plane

Totem : A fantastic and construction award-winning toy to inspire creativity. totem comes with over 120 cardboard pieces emblazoned with signs, symbols, textures and imagery, all notched out to make building a breeze.

Comes with instructions for creating a boat, airplane, spaceship or schoolhouse, but totem is best used for imaginative and fanciful construction.

Made of recycled cardboard.

$35 bucks [+shipping]

Tags: better living, design, eco-friendly, green, holidays, mod, toys

Beautiful Blocks with a Twist

November 18th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in dad recomendation, eco-friendly, non-toxic, simplify

non-toxic wooden tilt kit classic letter blocks
Almost everyone selling toys these days tries to tell us that their toys are educational. But these eco-friendly and non-toxic classic action block sets from Haba are the real thing. Children, playing and experimenting freely, inventing their own rules and structure as they go along or using no rules at all, will acquire and maintain new motor, cognitive, and creative skills when they engage in genuine play with almost any toy offered at TurnerToys.Com.

An explicitly didactic toy is boring. A toy with a predetermined set of goals, with a “right answer”, is not a toy at all. It could be argued that play with such a “toy” is not play, but work. An automated toy holds attention for a while, but pretty soon, after it has done its thing, a child gets bored with it and moves on (it’s a closed system, of course). It is the toy that requires thought and effort from a child, and rewards new efforts with new effects, that really teaches. There is a place for real, structured learning even in the life of an infant. But such behavior is never play and shouldn’t be confused with play.

These classic alphabet blocks feature real embossed (not just printed) letters and numbers. This standard set now includes 28 blocks, providing 4 complete alphabets, 3 sets of numerals, and 28 different animal pictures.If that doesn’t do it for your tots, try adding motion and excitement to your unit blocks with our rock maple ball tilt. Infinite variety of kinetic and dynamic designs unleash a child’s creativity in all four dimensions: length, width, height, and time. Excellent medium for enhancing problem solving abilities.

These are all simple and beautiful classic toy solutions for kids this holiday season!

$30-75 bucks [plus shipping] at TurnerToys.Com

Tags: 2-4 years, 3-5 years, classic toys

Eco-Friendly Stackable Storage for the Kids Room

November 10th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in dad recomendation, eco-friendly, non-toxic, the house and home

stellar q stackable storage Stakcable Storage at ModernMini
Q COLLECTION JUNIOR STELLA STORAGE WITH CIRCLE DOOR

Got to have it! Q Collection Junior’s Stella Stackable storage cubes are absolutely great for your play room or any room. You can stack them into any way you like! The cut out door is an aesthetic accent and the cut outs on sides make carrying easy. These pieces are the perfect size storage units to use anywhere in the home.

Benefits for Health and Environment

Designed for superior indoor air quality
Toxic chemicals are eliminated
Water-based, non-toxic, low or no VOC finishes.
First crib to receive Greenguard’s ‘Children & Schools’ indoor air quality certification.
100% wood
Elimination or dramatic reduction in production waste: wood scraps uses as fuel for wood kilns and facility heating needs.
Packaging is created using renewable, biodegradable materials, elimination of plastics where-ever possible.

$365 bucks (plus shipping) at ModernMini.Com

Tags: design, furniture, green, mod

Modern Project Table from EcoTots

October 29th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in cool schtuff, eco-friendly, non-toxic, the good, the bad, and the otherwise, the house and home

Cocoa Project Table from ecotots
Take a stand for the environment (or in this case a seat) with this eco-friendly craft/project table.

No two toddlers sit the same way, which was the inspiration for the ecotots Play Table and Stool. Whether she sits, stands or kneels, this Play Table and Stool will always be just the right height, and simple no-tools assembly method will ensure mom and dad don’t get a work-out putting it together.