Eco Child’s Play

Eco Child’s Play (ECP) is a blog devoted to informing and discussing “Green Parenting for Non-toxic, Healthy Homes”. ECP began in 2006 as site devoted to natural toys, but we quickly realized we needed to expand to include broader issues related to green family life to fully express our interests. If you would like to contact our blog team, please email jennifer at greenoptions.com.

Jennifer Lance-founder and editor

My green interests were sparked as a youth, when I dreamed of being a Rainbow Warrior. I became a vegetarian at the age of sixteen and decided I wanted to live in the mountains sustainably. I’ve been living off the grid and growing my own food now for fifteen years. We have built an eco-home from salvage timber off our land, which we milled ourselves. We produce electrical power from our creek, and daily hikes are part of our family’s routine. Extending my eco-values to my children is only natural, as I try to raise world citizens with the smallest carbon footprint possible. It’s not always easy, with the commercialization of childhood, but I strongly believe my children will benefit in the long run. I am also a teacher, artist, and yoga instructor.

Derek Markham-lead writer

“Oh, Papa!” (rolling of the eyes) is what my humor inspires in my oldest daughter…

I dig singlespeed bicycles, simple living, organic gardening, sustainable lifestyle design, slacklining, bouldering, and baking with sourdough.

We just finished our own family experiment in lifestyle design, living for almost six years in one 8 by 15 foot room. We hauled all of our water, used a sawdust toilet, had a solar shower for washing up, and we had two unassisted births during that time (one under the stars, and one in a tipi). Don’t try it. (Just kidding- you’ll never truly understand cabin fever until you’ve experienced 2 adults, two kids, and a cat in 120 square feet, during single digit temps in January!)

I love good food; Colorado peaches are my all-time favorite. I really enjoy conversations with three year olds. I love being in the wilderness with my family; it feels like home. I love positive thinking and big audacious dreams. I like to skip rope, and yes, I do have a tiny rubber chicken (vegan) that lives with my flash drive.

Susie Kim-writer

I run an Environmental and Green blog the Accidental Environmentalist and also known as Jolly Green Girl. I consider myself a savvy green girl but not willing to buy into the whole crunchy granola image that treehuggers represent. I am aesthetically minded with love of good design but also try to find it at prices that will not break my budget. On April 1st, 2008 I had my baby girl, Layla, and have become obsessed with natural and healthy living…. especially anything Organic.

MC Milker- writer

MC Milker spent twenty years in corporate marketing including stints in a variety of consumer products companies. Prior to shifting her focus to marketing consulting and motherhood she held Director of Marketing positions at several corporations.

Once becoming a parent she became more and more concerned about environmental toxins, our consumer culture and green living. She started taking classes in child development and studying environmental issues.

In 2006 she started writing The Not Quite Crunchy Parent blog to raise awareness of those issues with ordinary parents. She uses her marketing background to delve into the business decisions that impact products offered to consumers and discusses ways for consumers to shop for products that are healthier for their families.

Ms. Milker holds an MBA from The Thunderbird School of Global Management and has taught at The University of California, Berkeley and The University of Hong Kong. She has run her own marketing consulting business for the past 10 years focusing on developing and promoting healthy and natural products for children and their parents.

Katy Farber-writer
Katy Farber is teacher, freelance writer, and mama from the mountains of Vermont. She writes about the environment, parenting, and education, and can be found running the dirt roads of her town, or playing in the yard with her two spirited little girls. She is the founder and editor of Non-Toxic Kids, an environmental health and issue blog for families, and is usually writing about toxins, green parenting and environmental issues until way too late at night.