meta-dad

The best diaper bag for Dad, period

February 10th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in cool schtuff, dad recomendation, eco-friendly, fyi, los angeles, parent stuff, simplify

Diaper Dude | The best diaper bag for dad-types
I have three young ones and I can say from experience that each “job” has its own equipment, so to speak. Meaning, you have a bag for hiking, one for the gym and maybe one for work, but do you have one for all the diapers, wipes, bottles and creams that is better known as the “Kid Kit”? Sure you could use a backpack or a messenger bag or perhaps in a pinch you could use your wife’s diaper bag. But to be an organized dad and wear something that better reflects your personal style (as opposed to the pink flowers and polka dots on your wife’s bag), you will need a separate bag.

With my first kid, I could get away with jamming a few diapers in my back pocket and going on an adventure with him, now with three kids, two in diapers, I need as much organization as I can afford. The Diaper Dude (DD) brand, which takes the traditional “female-centric” diaper bag and makes it “dude friendly.” “Most diaper bags for men were backpacks, lacking in accessibility and functionality,” says Chris Pegula, founder of LA-based, Diaper Dude. This brand has star-power to boot; you cannot open a magazine without seeing a famous dad of today – ranging from Brad Pitt and More »

Tags: 0-1 year, 2-4, baby fashion, better living, design, eco-friendly, mod

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

Simple Ways to Have a Eco-Friendly Holiday Season

November 24th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in cool schtuff, eco-friendly, fyi, the house and home, what's going on??

Snowy Scene
Between Thanksgiving and New Years Day, Americans take an additional 25% of waste to the curb. That amounts to over 25 million tons of trash for the holiday season.

If every family reused just 2 ft. of ribbon from holidays past, that would save 38,000 miles of ribbon—enough to literally tie a big bow around the entire planet.

2.7 million Holiday cards are sent across the country each year—that’s enough to fill an entire football field 10 stories high!

So, what to do?

Fill your recycling cart with:

Corrugated cardboard boxes (flatten it out to fit more!)
Gift boxes
Gift catalogs
Newspapers filled and all of those advertising inserts
Wrapping paper (non-metallic only)
Non-metallic greeting cards

How to Trim Your Waste-Line This Holiday Season;

BYOB-Bring Your Own (shopping) Bag for every shopping excursion—make this a habit all year long.
Send e-cards instead of paper cards (or at least make sure your paper cards are made from recycled content).
Avoid gift wrap that is not recyclable (metallic) or not made from recycled content—or, be inventive and crafty - just decorate the box. The comics’ pages makes great wrap for kids and last years cards can become collage wrap for any box. We like to save all those paintings and craft projects that the kids do throughout the years and re-use them as wrapping paper!
Shipping a gift? Use Pop Corn (the real kind, popped and no butter) to protect fragile items, and then have your gift recipient feed the birds.
If you get a gift with those dreaded Styrofoam peanuts that will live longer than cockroaches, donate them to your local UPS or packaging store
Lots of gifts have bells and whistles! Include rechargeable batteries and a charger to get your loved one off to a greener start.
Trees, wreathes, all can be composted—and will end up as community mulch when taken care of properly. But better that that, buy your tree ‘roots and all’. Transplant that beauty after the last slice of fruit cake leaves the house.
Don’t know what to get someone? Plant a tree in their honor!
Consider gifts that aren’t material-like a massage, sporting event, babysitting, dog walking or tickets to the museum, this is also a clever (and personal) way to save money this year!
Think about the packaging! If you can’t recycle it, buy something else instead! That will send a clear message to manufacturers all over.
Holiday lights all a tangle? HolidayLEDs.com will accept your old incandescent Christmas lights, which will then be recycled. Be sure to ask neighbors and friends if they want to recycle their lights as well. You can reduce waste and shipping costs by sending all lights in one package.
Did you get some great new things? Appliances, clothes, gadgets, cookware? Well, chances are great that you have some ‘less new things’ that would make a lot of people pretty happy. Donate them to your favorite charity or non-profit. You know -pay it forward!

Beyond the Holidays;

Decide what catalogs you want and what catalogs you don’t with CatalogChoice.Org
Or, write to the Direct Marketing Association at P.O. Box 9008 , Farmingdale , N.Y. 11735-9008 to have your name removed from ALL third-class mailing lists.
Credit card offers filling your box? Opt out by calling 1-888-5OptOut (1-888-567-8688) or visiting OptOutPrescreen.Com.

Via RecycleBank.Com

Tags: better living, eco-friendly, educational, green, holidays

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.