Trying To Be Greener

Safer eco-living, one day at a time

For the holidays choose safer, natural toys November 14, 2008

Recently, I wrote about introducing my daughter to toys made of safer, natural materials. My desire has been to try to limit her exposure to lead, BPA, and phthalates, all of which are extremely harmful but even more so to small bodies.

This isn’t an easy thing to do. You can’t always rely on safe toys being sold in conventional places. Many of the products sold there contain the harmful components mentioned above. I’ve always just ended up doing research myself on individual toys and just searched for them all over the internet.

I used to feel uncomfortable about well meaning relatives and friends purchasing toys for my daughter that may not be the safest choices and with the holidays coming up, this could be a time of “plastic overload”. I found, though, that there’s an easy way around this. When asked what they can get for my daughter, I just suggest a store that has a variety of choices with a high standard for safety.

One of those stores is Natural Pod. Natural Pod is a Canadian company that was started by individuals who were just interested in finding safer toys for their own children. Their site has a variety of beautiful toys for babies, toddlers, and young children. These are toys that you’ll want to hang onto for generations to come – how often have you been able to say that about typical toys you come in contact with?

They have lovely toys for babies:

Organic Soft Block Set

Organic Soft Block Set

Stacking toys for toddlers:

Nesting Birds

Nesting Birds

Toys that inspire imagination:

Chef's Kitchen and Hutch

Chef's Kitchen and Hutch

And toys that keep your child active:

LikeaBike Forest

LikeaBike Forest

Not to mention others, like musical instruments, bath toys, arts and crafts, and dolls just to name a few.

Lucky you: Get 10% off your first order at Natural Pod when you use the code “GCM08″ through December 31st. Be sure to pass this information along to any family members who may interested in purchasing holiday toys for your little ones.

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Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.
 

Toys, toys, toys October 6, 2008

Everyone needs a little fun in the mix of life and that includes Baby. There’s plenty to choose from wherever you go – teethers, plush toys, and of course, tons of big, plastic things with annoying, repetitive music. It’s important to have variety, but trying not to over do it is key. Be selective and try to make each item have a purpose so we don’t continue to add excess to our landfills later.

With all the alerts about BPA, though, it’s also important to make sure your child’s toys are safe too. When choosing a new toy, be aware of the company that manufacturers it. Do they use safe materials and practices? Consider wooden toys with non-toxic finishes and when buying plastic items, do some research first. A few places you can start with are Z Recommends for teethers and bath toys.

Here are a few examples of toys I’ve been using and have been very please with so far. You can consider them for your own child or someone you know is expecting. Does your child have any favorite “green” toys?

Salto from Haba

Haba Bonita Clutching Toy

Under the Nile Organic Cotton Grapes

Baby’s First Blocks from Haba

Crocodile Creek PVC-free Rubber Ball

Ogunquit Wooden Rattle

miYim Organic Plush Baby Victoria Bunny

Please see my update to this post about a HABA product.

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Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.
 

 
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