Eco Child’s Play

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and Mean More by Anna Getty is a great book to help you get a head start on greening the winter holidays.

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas is a fabulous book full of tips, expert advice, crafts, recipes, decorating ideas and directions and pretty much everything you need to make the holidays more eco-friendly. Read the rest of this entry »

Say “bye bye” to toys made of bad plastic and covered in lead paint. Instead reach for the wood- wooden toys that is.

Plan Toys offer superior quality wood toys made with environmentally friendly kiln dried, chemical free, rubberwood. They also use E-Zero glue, water based non-toxic colors, and recycled and recyclable materials. And at Plan Toys they do everything with “green” in mind.

Rosie Hippo shares the “green” passion and sells only ethical, quality, eco-friendly toys for children. Read the rest of this entry »

image courtesy of CaliforniaOrganicFlowers.com

We are a family that sends flowers to funerals, mothers in the hospital, for Mothers Day, or just because.  To be honest, I still have not found a great online source for ordering and buying flowers. I haven’t been thrilled with any of them and just now realized I should have been looking for an organic flower source. We strive for everything else to be organic.  Why not the flowers we send as gifts?

I started browsing the web in search of these companies and am excited to share with you the list I put together:

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I don’t know how or when it happened, but kids’ birthdays somehow seem to be an open invitation for non-stop excess. I consider myself an environmentalist, for instance, and yet for the past few years I’ve made a shopping trip every summer specifically for paper plates and napkins and plastic cups just for my children’s birthday party. The plates are biodegradable and the napkins are compostable, sure, and we do shrink plastic projects with the cups after we wash them, but still—yikes! And consider that just one example of the horrors that birthday party planning can wreak upon a heretofore budget-minded, eco-friendly family.

This year we’re trying for a more eco-friendly, as well as less expensive, birthday celebration. And we’re starting with the invitations—DIY, kid-created from recycled materials or from stash, and reflective of the simple and casual affair that we’re hoping to host this year.

If you’re in need of your own birthday party invitations or invitations to anything, here are some good ideas for simple, DIY invites you and your kids can create for yourselves:

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Most of my photos get stored on the computer, on flash drives and DVDs. I sometimes get creative and make some photo books or do a little digital scrapbooking. However the grandparents always want photos…and they aren’t as digital savvy as some other family members. Email about does them in, don’t ask them to download, upload or do anything else technically advanced. That means I have to make prints. I found a site that offers eco-friendly printing options, Lifephoto.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Rosie Hippo offers parents a place to shop for unique, handmade, organic, fair trade and eco-friendly toys.

They have toys made of wood, made of fair trade materials, they have stuffed animals, pretend play toys, and everything you need to spark your child’s imagination and give them something safe to play with. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m a bad daughter, as I haven’t gotten anything for my mother this year for Mother’s Day. The truth is I hate buying gifts, and I don’t have time to make anything. Of course, I have turned the responsibility over to my children to honor grandmother, but I did send her this video, which of course I had to watch first making myself Mother of the Year (on the same evening my daughter told me I was “extremely mean” for asking her to do her homework).

Mother’s Day originally began as a day of peace; it is not a Hallmark holiday.  MomsRising, an organization devoted “working to bring together millions of people who share a common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America”, has created personal videos for Mother’s Day.  According to MomsRising, Americans will spend $16 billion this year on Mother’s Day celebrations!  That’s a lot of money to show Mom we care, and even though I have sent my mom her special video, I will probably still buy her some Dr. Hauschka. Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”

Mother’s Day is only a few days from now and if you’re anything like me – you don’t have a gift for that beloved mom or mother-law. No need to panic. There are some “kinda green” last minute gift ideas to save you from looking foolish.

1. Tech Savvy Moms and for big spenders you might want to pay extra for two day shipping or overnight shipping (not so green though) and get the new Amazon Kindle. Help mom save some trees if she reads a lot of papers or books. She’ll love this gift and maybe you can even borrow it? Keep in mind the pros and cons to this great gift last minute is the shipping and there is some debate on whether this device or others like it are all that green. Another option is a e-certificate for mom to pick out her own Kindle or maybe she likes Ebooks on her laptop or computer and would enjoy a e-certificate from Ecobrain.
2. Plant a Fruit Tree. If mom has everything she needs and doesn’t need more junk try giving her something that will help other people. In her honor, plant a fruit tree and support a non-profit organization that gives the gift of fresh fruit and sustainability. Mom is sure to appreciate this!

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Increased sports activity and exposure to ultraviolet rays means an increased risk to your child’s eyes, say experts at The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

New research shows that children’s eyes can be damaged from sun exposure like their skin. This damage may lead to increased risk of developing diseases including cataracts or macular degeneration as adults.

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Art supplies are wonderful and versatile. What other items offer fun play, creative expression, and learning all in one…for very inexpensive prices?

With art supplies children have the world at their fingertips. There is so much that can be done, be made, be transformed…but with toxic ingredients like lead showing up in kids’ products you want to be sure that the creative supplies are not only fun but safe for the little ones.

Stubby Pencil Studio offers the biggest selection around that I have found, of eco-friendly, non-toxic art supplies and old fashioned games and toys. Perfect items to stuff in Easter baskets.

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