Mommy Goes Green

I rely on SafeMama for toy recall information and over the weekend, they reported on the Mattel and Fisher Price toy recall and settlement.  So, I headed on over to see if any our toys were in the recall and sure enough, on page 21 (of 51 pages) were a set of Dora figurines we had sitting in the toybox right in front of us. Fortunately, I combed through the rest of the 51 pages of recalled toys and didn’t see anything else ( yet ). 

It’s so frustrating to find one set of toys on the list knowing that there are likely other toys in our house with lead – we just haven’t found out yet. While we would rather have a few high quality toys over a large quantity of cheaply made, potentially toxic toys, with birthdays and holidays, they are bound to come in the house.

WHAT TO DO:

1.  Look through the list of recalled toys.

2.  Submit a form on the Mattel website – they will email you a brochure to help you identify toys in the recall and a pre-paid return label to send back any affected toys.  If your product is affected, you will get a voucher for the retail price good for any Mattel or Fisher Price toy ( do we really want more toys from this company?)

3.  Buy toys from manufacturers of high quality, non-toxic toys like Green Toys, Haba, Kidkraft, or Sprig Toys.

Looking for some great green toys for Christmas gifts this year?  Green Toys is a good place to start, particularly for ages 2 – 6.  All of their toys are 100% made in the U.S., in California, to be specific.  The parts aren’t shipped into the U.S. from other countries, they are all manufactured and assembled in California.

You know those plastic jugs you get your milk out of?  Green Toys recycles those into their toys.  In fact, every pound of recycled milk jugs used in the making of Green Toys saves:

• energy equal to 3000 AAA batteries
• electricity to power a TV for 3 weeks
• electricity to keep a laptop computer running 1 month

To complete their environmentally friendly product, all Green Toys are packaged in recycled corrugated boxes with no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties, and are 100% recyclable.  I LOVE not having to take all that hard plastic that toys normally come packaged in to the loyal recycling facility.

Green Toys currently has 11 toys in their line including trucks, tool sets, dishes and outdoor toys like a jump rope and sand play set.  Recently, FamilyFun Magazine named the Green Toys recycling truck in their TOP 10 list of toys for 2009.

With any Green Toys, you can feel confident that you are buying a safe and environmentally friendly product for your kids from a company that is practicing what they preach.  You can buy Green Toys at several online retailers or search for a local retailer.