Non-Toxic & Eco-Friendly Toys Talk in Toronto

On Monday I gave a talk about non-toxic toys here in Toronto at Red Tent Sisters. For the talk I prepared a hand out that I though some of you would be interested in so here is a web version:

Manufacturers:

Exclusively make non-toxic toys

Automoblox - www.automoblox.com
Dwell Baby - www.dwellshop.com
Educo (HaPe) - www.hapetoys.com/Educo.asp
Rich Frog - www.richfrog.com
Selecta Spielzeug - http://www.selecta-spielzeug.de

Makes some non-toxic or eco friendly toys

Brio - http://brio.knex.com/
Djeco - http://www.djeco.com/
Goula
Heros - www.heros-toys.de
Haba - http://www.haba.de/Home.344.0.html
Melissa and Doug - www.melissaanddoug.com
Toys’r’us
Vulli - http://www.vulli-toys.com/

Exclusively make non-toxic eco friendly toys

Anamalz (HaPe) - www.hapetoys.com/Anamalz.asp
Bamboo (HaPe) - www.hapetoys.com/Bamboo.asp
Blabla - http://www.blablakids.com/
Didoodle - (Made in Canada) www.fidodle.com
Ecotronic - www.ecotronictoys.com/
Green Toys - http://www.greentoys.com/
Grimm’s Speil und Holz - http://www.grimms.eu/en/include.php?path=start.php
ImagiPLAY - www.imagiplay.com
Jalu Wood Creations - (Made in Canada) www.jalutoys.com
Keptin jr - http://www.keptin-jr.com/
Lana organics
miYim - http://www.miyim.com/index.html
Noonoo - http://www.noonoodesign.com/p73/playthings
North Star Toys - www.northstartoys.com
Peppa - www.babylonia
Plan Toys - www.plantoys.com
Sprig - www.sprigtoys.com
The Playful World -http://www.theplayfulworld.com/index.htm
Under the Nile - www.underthenile.com
Wonderworld - www.wonderworldtoy.com

Where to shop
The shops below consist of a list of my favorite stores in Toronto or on the web; there are many other store that carry non-toxic toys and eco toys; the list would be too long if I included them all. I do not work for any of these stores nor did I receive anything for mentioning them.

Internet Shopping

Ape 2 Zebra - www.ape2zebra.ca - great selection
Baby Guru - www.babyguru.ca - good selection
Bear Dance - http://www.beardancecrafts.com/creativeplay.htm - great selection of non-toxic toys
Cheeky Monkey - www.cheekymonkey.ca - good selection
Craftsbury Kids - www.craftsburykids.com - great selection
Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/index.php - great selection of hand made toys
Green Cricket - www.greencricket.ca - small selection but all are non-toxic and eco
Kai Kids - http://www.kaikids.com/ - small selection but all are eco friendly and non-toxic
Safety Super Store - http://www.babyproofingplus.com/ - good selection
Natural Pod - www.naturalpod.com - exclusively sells eco-friendly and non-toxic toys, great selection

In Person

Baby on the Hip, 969 Queen St. E., 416-465-4141 - small selection but al are non-toxic and eco-friendly - www.babyonthehip.ca
Craig’s List - great selection of second hand toys - www.craigslist.org
Grassroots, 372 Danforth Ave, 416-466-2841 - small selection but all are non-toxic and eco-friendly - http://www.grassrootsstore.com
Kids on the Hip, 1142 Queen St. E., 416-466-1117 - small selection but al are non-toxic and eco-friendly
Lapin Calin, 1918A Queen St. E., 416-690-1918 - small selection but al are non-toxic and/or eco-friendly - http://lapincalin.com/
Mastermind Beaches, 2134 Queen St. E, 416-699-3797 - good selection Toys “R” Us - limited selection - www.mastermindtoys.com
Planet Kid, 960 Queen St. W, 416-537-9233 - All toys are non-toxic and made in Canada - www.planetkid.ca
Scholars Choice, 1599 Bayview Ave., 416-485-8697 - good selection in store, great selection in catalogue - www.scholarschoice.ca
Ten Thousand Villages - www.tenthousandvillages.ca - small selection but all are eco friendly and fair trade
Treasure Island Toys, 581 Danforth Ave., 416-778-4913 - great selection & custom orders available
Value Village, 924 Queen Street E., 416-778-4818 & 2119 Danforth Ave., (416) 698-0621 - great selection of second hand toys
Paint Depot, 914 Queen St. E, 416-469-5633 - carries lead paint test kits - http://www.paintdepot.com/

Just because it’s for kids it does not mean it’s safe in many toys available on the Canadian market you can find one or multiple of these:

Lead Bromine ( Fire retardant) Chlorine (PVC) & Phthalates Cadmium Arsenic Mercury Antimony Chromium Tin Bisphenol A

Internet Resources

www.healthytoys.org - Online database of toys tested for various chemicals
http://www.ewg.org - Environmental Working Group has been at the forefront of many actions to ban various chemicals in the US
http://www.greenenterprise.net/web/index.php - Online database of green enterprise in the Toronto area
http://www.greenmom.ca/index.shtml - Tones of resources for raising your child green, Green Mom also has a trade show once a year in Toronto.
http://healthychild.org/main/
http://www.healthycanadians.ca/index_e.html - Canadian recalls
http://www.cpsc.gov/index.html - USA recalls
http://europa.eu/rapid/searchAction.do - European recalls
http://www.recalls.gov.au/ - Australian recalls
http://www.toysafetyrecalls.ca/ - List of recalls from around the world

Toy Thursdays

North Star Toys has been making non-toxic wooden toys since 1979 they are a family run business and are based out of Questa New Mexico. All there toys are very well priced and they are an eco-friendly company. Some of the key points that make them eco-friendly are very interesting such as:

• Their saw dust is used to supplement compost and for chickens
• The wood-scraps are donated to schools for art projects and are used for kindling
• Only use local hard woods
• They only use solar and wind energy

Some of our favorite picks from there catalogue are:


Little Rollie Vehicle Set at $45.00 USD. At less then $6.00 per wooden vehicle this is a steal we will definitely be ordering this one for Christophe when he is a little older.

Busy Boat at $16.00. We were thinking of ordering this one for Christophe at Christmast or for his 1 year birthday. The boat floats in water so this is a great non-toxic bath toy.

Baby's first Toy at $9.00. I find this one very elegant and simple.

Credits:
Images from North Star Toys website

Toy Thursday

If you are a mom in the east end of Toronto there is a great chance your wee one has a blabla. (I say this because I think half of the babies in all our groups have blablas) We purchased our blabla at Baby on the Hip when Christophe was minus 8 months. This is actually the first purchase we made for him, I am pretty sure we had yet to tell anyone that we were expecting. At the beginning he was not very interested in his blabla but now it is one of his favorite toys to chew on. We keep it in his stroller so it is with us when we are on the go.

Thank you Baby on the Hip for bringing in such great toys.

What's your favorite...

I though it would be intreasting to see what my readers think about various baby related items. I decided to try to post a question once a week for you to answer. I hope to find this an interesting way to learn about new baby products that I might not have tough about.

What's your wee one's favorite toy?

Christophe's favorite toy is hands down Skwish.

References:
Images - Manhattan Toys

Toy Thursday

A few weeks back I picked these up for Christophe; Christophe loves rolling the balls around, he is still to little to play with the turtle bottom part. I love these kinds of toys that can grow with your baby. Geoff and I however think racing the turtle are fun all you have to do is put a bit pressure on the ball and it send the turtle rolling away. I can't wait till Christophe is older and we can have turtle races.I hope he lets me race the red one.

Toy Thursdays

Thanks Kim for posting this image on your blog. These Water Blocks from Plan Toys are beautiful and educational all at once. If you hold 2 different colour blocks together kids can see what new colour they make. These have definitely been added on our wish list for Christophe.

Toy Thursdays

I am always trying to find bpa free tub toys. Last week while shopping at Whole Foods ( that I now hate - but that is for another blog entry) I stumbled upon these guys. Little Tub Puppets by Rich Frog, I though they where too cute. Unfortunately the little man still has not shown too much interest in them . I think they may become more of a hit when he gets older...

So if your little one like puppets this may be a great tub toy for them.

A few new toys...

Today I went out to purchase a few items for baby and stopped in our favorite toy shop, Treasure Island Toys on the Danforth here in Toronto. As always I left with a few toys...

Pontino by Selecta Spielzeug


Orange Push Fox by ImagiPlay


Spring a ling by Educo

The search for safer toys

Many of you know that we have made the decision to remove almost all plastics from our sons life. This includes toys. I have spent many hours on the internet researching wood toys and below is a list of the manufacturers I have found so far.

Melissa & Doug
Plan Toys
Haba
North Star Toys
Selecta Spieizeug
Grimm's
Heros
Jalu Wood Creations
Ringley
Holztiger

If anyone out there knows of others manufacturers please share.

Toy Spotting

I am always blogging about toys that I want here are few toys we already have that Christophe is loving.


Kringelring Wood Clutching Toy by Haba, this is probably one of his favorite things after his hands to shove in his mouth. Simple yet effective toy. I purchased this on at Treasure Island Toys at 581 Danforth Ave in Toronto.




Sophie the Giraffe by Vulli, many of you out there probably know this one or already may have one but I had to mention it because once again Christophe can't keep his little paws off this one or his mouth. Thank you grandmama (this one was a gift)

Toy Spotting

Now now everyone; you guys and gales have to admit Ronronos the cat is absolutely adorable in a weird kinda of way. This is must for Christophe collection. There are 10 adorable little critters you can get from The Delingos family. Since I am a cat and hog lover Ronronos and Pikos are my favorites. They come in 2 styles stuff toy for older kids and Baby Delingos that are flat fabric clutching toys for the wee ones.

Toy spotting

The Green Daily wrote about Ten Thousand Villages a site that sells fair trade items as I was browsing their items I came across the cutest wooden squirrel pull toy. Great price also - $8.50 CDN.


They also have this great wooden toy clock for $20.00 CDN.

UPDATED - Looking for good deals

I love buying things second hand or gently used as I like to say. You save money and you stop things from ending up in the our landfills. On top of all the second hand stores in Toronto a great way to get good finds are Mom to Mom Sales. For anyone that is not familiar with Mom to Mom Sales they are like huge yard sales with multiple sellers and only baby and kid items.

Here are a few of the up-coming ones in the GTA. If anyone knows about any other sales please feel free to post them in the comments.

May 4 - Children Pillage in the Village I have never been to this one however once I have checked it out this year will let you know what I think.

May 31 - Greenmom Spring Market - Seem like a great place to get all the new eco-friendly gear for your wee one

June 14 - Markham - Always a good one arrive early

October 25 TPOMB Sale

Phthalates

I already knew I was not going to use your typical baby products bought at the Pharmacy or Grocery store now with the new information released on phthalates it just reinforces my decision. Our reason at the beginning to chose products that are more natural then the typical ones found in your pharmacy our drug store were as follows: both Geoff and I have sensitive skin which probably means baby will have sensitive skin; mass manufacturing companies tend to put to perfume and dies in there products; I don't believe in purchasing a product knowing it was tested on animals; buying organic is better for the environment. Now we add to that list phthalates free.

Phthalates are derived from phthalic acid and are used in many ways: the dominant plasticizer in PVC; as a solvent in perfumes and pesticides; as a finishing lure in nail polish, adhesives, caulk and paint; in the production of low end sex toys (if you own a rubber sex toy that did not say phthalates-free always use a condom to protect yourself from your toy); modern electronics such as computers, cell phones and MP3 players; and in beauty products to stabilize fragrances.

According to the interview I was listing to on CBC radio last night there is no law in Canada or the US at this time that forces manufacturers to disclose if they are using Phthalates in beauty products including those for children and babies. CBC also reported regarding phthalates: "In the study, they were found in elevated levels in the urine of babies who'd been recently shampooed, powdered or lotioned with baby products"

Now why should we as parents be concerned; well in laboratory testing it was proven that phthalates cause damage to the reproductive system. I know I would like my son one day to be able to give me grand kids.

So the moral of this story is read labels make sure everything you buy is phthalates free; don't trust labels because they don't need to disclose if they use phthalates; don't buy PVC toys especially ones that will end up in the little ones mouth.

If you want to read up more on this subject here are a few interesting articles I found:

Wikipedia Definition

Phthalates found in Baby Care Products Linked to Infant Deformity

How to avoid Phthalates

CBC news article re Phthalates and baby products

CBC news article re Phthalates and obesity

CBC news article