Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Getting Less to Give More: The New Birthday Party
As the holiday season approached, my husband and I experienced more than the usual anxiety. It wasn’t a matter of what to buy, for us, it was important to consider what not to buy and the many reasons why:
We wanted to avoid the crush of gifts that create an association in a child’s mind that the holiday is all about her and what she gets. Our little family has some solid traditions in sharing meals and occasions with friends and family and we wanted that focus to continue since that is the most important part of celebrations for us.
Additionally, with 90 percent of toys coming to our country from China, and 82 percent of the toy recalls involving these imported items, every new bit of inexpensive plastic is as much of a concern as it is a gift. Read the rest of this entry »
Green Holiday for Nevada School
Published on December 19th, 2007
What does it look like when a school goes solar? Students in Gerlach, NV, found out firsthand yesterday when they celebrated the installation of 90-kilowatt PV system at their campus in northern Nevada. The system will supply almost all of the energy needs of the three-building campus that serves 83 K-12 students.
“The solar panels will give our students good insight into the different ways we can address global warming issues with renewable energy,” said Gerlach Principal Carol Kaufmann. The system is the result of a collaboration between the Washoe County School District, MMA Renewable Ventures, SCHOTT Solar, Sierra Pacific Power, and the infamous Burning Man festival. The ground-mounted system will save the district approximately $20,000 per year.
Happy To Be Here
When Jennifer Lance asked me to be a part of the new and improved Eco Child’s Play blog a few weeks ago I jumped at the chance. I’ve been a fan of this blog for quite awhile so, it’s nice to be writing here!
Many of you may know me from my own blog, The Not Quite Crunchy Parent where I cover many different aspects of eco parenting…from the point of view of one who tries but doesn’t always succeed in being green.
Though I grew up in the ‘70s with a yoga teacher, organic eating mother, I came rather late to green living. First I spent 20 years earning an MBA in marketing and then working for a variety of companies selling toys, paper products, food, housewares and a variety of other consumer products. After reaching The Director of Marketing level and shortly after having a child, I scaled back to consulting and teaching and started learning more about natural living. Having a child can do that to you! Read the rest of this entry »
Three Fair Trade Toy Companies
I StumbleUpon-ed Inca Kids the other day and loved their products, particularly those geared towards children. The company is fair trade, and they get their products from Peruvian craftspeople. This got me thinking about fair trade toys. With all the justified hoopla around toxins from Made-In-China plastic toys on shelves in the U.S., fair trade toys seem like a safe, sustainable alternative that facilitate imagination in children. Jennifer wrote about this cute fair trade hippo earlier this fall Here’s a brief rundown of few companies that feature fair trade toys for children:
* Inca Kids has adorable puppets, dolls, musical instruments, and books made in Peru. My favorite are the bunny gloves/puppets–they’re too cute!
Free Eco Toys for Baby!
Our friends at Z Recs have started a blog called Prizey, a directory of online giveaways related to children. This month, they are featuring an Eco Baby Giveaway! This giveaway consists of over $200 in eco-friendly baby products. To enter, you must email the folks at Prizey:
- a theme idea you’d love to see in a future PRIZEY giveaway, with one company whose products you think would be a great fit for it, and
- your mailing address (even if you’ve entered a past contest, because we don’t store your personal info at PRIZEY)
by Midnight CST Nov. 27. Read the rest of this entry »
How to Become a Green Parent: Ten Easy Ideas
Editor’s note: The following is a guest post written by Michelle Montoya for Baby Best Buy. Michelle is an SEO copywriter at Pole Position Marketing, and online retailer Baby Best Buy is one of the company’s clients.
By protecting the environment today, you will be creating a better life for your children tomorrow. If we teach our children to love and respect the earth, they will have a better understanding and will then pass that on to their children.
Although the damage that has been done to the earth is irreversible, we can do our best to preserve it as it is by teaching our children.
While “going green” sounds like it might require an internal overhaul, it’s really not that difficult. There are many minor changes you can make in your life and in that of your children that will have a positive impact on the earth’s environment. Read the rest of this entry »
Think-ets: Tiny Trinkets for Imaginative Play
I believe that the only toys worthy of children’s play are ones that inspires their imagination (and are eco-friendly). Just by their nature, open-ended toys are more sustainable, as children do not rapidly outgrow them or get bored quickly. Think-ets is just such a toy, made up of many miniature trinkets with boundless possibilities for play.
Children are fascinated by miniature objects, but of course, you have to be careful around small children due to choking hazards. Think-ets contains 15 miniature objects, such as wrench, milk bottle, penguin, jack, etc. The sky’s the limit on what children can do with this toy, and they can also collect them, as no two bags of Think-ets are the same. When I introduced Think-ets to my six-year-old daughter and her seven-year-old friend (even though the toy is recommended for ages 8-108+), they shunned the idea of making up a story with the objects. Instead, they were fascinated with taking turns decorating and writing in the pages of the miniature book (about .5″ in size). Later that day, my daughter made up a story with the trinkets that was quite literal, but then again, she is only six! Read the rest of this entry »
Natural, Gentle Bath Bubbles?
When my daughter was two, I thought bubble baths would be fun. I read every label in the health food store searching for the safest, natural bubble option. I was alarmed to find that a majority of the labels had warnings about prolonged exposure and girl’s urinary tract systems. I was also concerned, because a friend of mine swore her daughter developed eczema from a commercial character bubble bath. I was lucky to find Clearly Natural Happy Kidz Bath Bubbles
Clearly Natural Happy Kidz Bath Bubbles
Perhaps Clearly Natural Happy Kidz Bath Bubbles
The Perfect Gift For Baby: Luxury, Organic Baby Blanket
When a baby is born, it is so pure and natural, yet will soon be exposed to all of the harsh chemicals of the modern world. It is true that babies are exposed to some toxins in utero and through breastmilk, but this exposure is limited and mostly out of the control of parents. What is in the control of new parents are the kind of products they use on their baby, and of course, green products are better for baby.
As a new parent, I was very concerned about swaddling my newborn in synthetic, petroleum-based polyester blankets. Conventionally grown cotton baby blankets are not much better, as they are grown and produced with pesticides and chemicals. The solution: organically grown baby blankets. Unfortunately, six years ago the only organic fiber blanket I could find was a dull green color and unattractive. Today, babies can be swaddled in stylish, luxurious organic baby blankets by Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics, the perfect gift for baby.
After the recent barrage of recalls, many parents are looking for items made in the USA. Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics baby blankets are not only made in the USA, but the cotton used to make the fleece is also organically grown in the USA. The demand for non-food organic products is growing (27.5% in 2006), as people realize that it is not only the food we eat that comes into contact with our bodies. Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics are optimistic about this trend. Cofounder Susan Doris explains, “Part of our goal … is to help educate people about the impact on the environment from purchasing different fibers, and how they can really make a difference with what they buy.”
Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics baby blankets are very beautiful and soft to the touch. The organically grown fleece is lined with silk, and worry-free for green parents. As cofounder Robbie Mahlman states, “Our blankets make green gorgeous.” I can’t wait to give one to my new niece Tessa! All this green luxury comes at a price though, but as I have said before, sustainability is expensive in comparison to superstore shopping. The demand for cheap goods is one reason our environment is in its current condition.
What do you get for buying a sustainable company’s beautiful baby blanket? The company is honest in describing the green strengths and weakness of their product. They call this “baby steps” as they “try to run our business as sustainably as we can.” The blankets are made of 100% certified organic cotton, grown in Texas, milled in South Carolina, and trimmed with natural silk. They are colored with low-impact, azo-free, non-heavy metal dyes. The company’s receipts are printed on seeded lotka paper, and all other paper products, such as hang-tags and stationary, are 100% post consumer fiber. The decorative tissue is handmade from kozo fiber. Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics uses plastic bags in packaging only when the destination expects wet weather. That is an awful lot of “baby steps,” in my opinion!
There are a few areas the company identifies as needing sustainability improvement. Their labels are made from polyester fibers, because there are no US sources for woven cotton labels. The shipping boxes contain 55% recycled fiber content, rather than 100%. Furthermore, Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics would like to move from natural silk to “peace” silk. I have to admit, I had never heard of peace silk, even though I have taken many fiber arts classes. During conventional silk production, the silkworm is killed as it is boiled and the fiber unwound. Alternately, peace silk lets the moths emerge from their cocoons and complete their full life cycle before the silk fiber is removed. This product is rarely available for commercial uses.
You may not care about the life cycle of a silkworm, but Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics does, as they take “baby steps” towards combining sustainability, elegance, and beauty in their baby blankets. The company also cares about 15 pesticides used on cotton crops and their ecological impact. They care about providing green babies luxury, comfort, and health, something CEO Robbie Mahlman calls, “earth friendly elegance for discerning parents and their babies.”
