Green Options

We’ve made a special effort to encourage toymakers of all sizes to enter as we search for the greenest toys under $25.00. We’re all interested in maximizing our dollars these days and I’ve been surprised to find out just how many relatively inexpensive green toys there are!

We paid a visit recently to one of my favourite toy stores in the whole world, Hot Toads.  The physical store itself isn’t all that impressive — it’s a small, concrete-floored basement room in a medical building, with sparsely-stocked wooden shelves, draped with puppets and stuffed toys hanging by clothespins from simple lines strung across the room.  The back wall features a working 10-foot long model train table made entirely out of Lego.

But it’s not about the decor — it’s what they carry that makes this place special.  Plan Toys.  HaPe.  Schylling.  Plastic toys made from recycled milk jugs.  Non-toxic wooden toys.  Toys intended to enrich the mind and body of your children, not just feed into consumerism and branding.

And for me, it is a local store, within driving distance, right here in Atlantic Canada.  Unfortunately for my American friends reading this, while they do take online orders, Hot Toads only delivers within Canada.  Sorry, eh?

One of the many cool items they have is a line of large toy cars called E-Racers, from HaPe’s Bamboo Collection.  I had a nice chat with the fellow working there, and learned that apparently these were the first toys to be made from bamboo.  I was surprised that, while bamboo has been used for clothes, cutlery and dinnerware, flooring and even wallpaper for some time, the idea of bamboo toys was still relatively new.

He also filled me in on a fact I had previously been unaware of.  Of course, bamboo is the new golden child of the eco movement: it grows easily and quickly without pesticides, and is therefore a readily renewable resource with low environmental impact.  Bamboo wood is attractive and sturdy, and bamboo cloth is soft and has natural antibacterial properties.  As worldwide consumer demand for bamboo has increased dramatically in recent years, some companies have taken to clear-cutting hardwood forests in order to make room for bamboo plantations.  And despite bamboo’s rapid growth, difficulty in seed propagation combined with over-harvesting has even threatened some species to near-extinction.

Ugh.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) teamed up with designers, teachers, and technicians from more than 15 nations to develop Bamboo Collection toys, smart toys made from natural bamboo.

Bamboo-indigenous to many countries-is an extremely fast growing giant grass that is easily renewable when harvested. This new use of bamboo will provide stimulus for economic growth & support for many people across the globe.

Natural Pod, one of our favorite online natural toy companies, has introduced a wooden kitchen series just in time for the upcoming holiday season. With options such as the Chef’s Kitchen, Chef’s Kitchen and Hutch, and the Chef’s Portable Kitchen, these large wooden toys will inspire and delight any child.  Best of all, these products are made Canada and carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ecolabel, which verifies the wood comes from well-managed forests.

My children love the Chef’s Portable Kitchen.  It was designed by Natural Pod and is made on Vancouver Island, British Columbia with a combination of Europly, Birch, Oak, Fir and Purple Heart and finished in natural beeswax.  Purple heart is one of my favorite woods, so I was delighted to see the details done in this unique wood. The portable kitchen is rather large at 32 inches across, making it easy for several children to work cooperatively and share this unique, wooden toy.

Children are fascinated by animals. Perhaps they feel a closer connection to our furry friends than adults, or perhaps their fascination stems from their cravings to learn about the world around them. Playing with toy animals opens up possibilities for dramatic play beyond dolls and blocks, as well as complements these traditional toys. You’ve probably seen the plethora of plastic animals in toy stores, from zebras to giraffes, but the wooden toy animal options are usually simple cutouts that are hardly recognizable as animals. Anamalz are different, in that they truly look like animals, are made from wood and felt, and are poseable.

I first read about Anamalz in a post titled “What Makes Toys Green” on Z Recs. I was intrigued and had to get a set for my family. These are the first wooden toys I have encountered to be made from organic wood! Designed in Australia and made from non-toxic European materials, these maple animals are interactive and encourage creative play. Children can bend, balance, intertwine, move, etc. to their heart’s content without breaking these quality toys. Anamalz comes in 30 different species, including a 7 foot tall giraffe! Of course, my favorite is the elephant.