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

Non-Toxic & Eco-Friendly Toys Talk in Toronto

On April 20th, I will be leading a discussion on non-toxic & eco-friendly toys at Red Tent Sisters in Toronto.

In this discussion I will share all the information I have gathered in regards to toy selection for my son; I will also be bringing in loads of examples to show and your little ones can test drive them while we talk.

If you are interested check out the Red Tent Sisters Meetup Page - cost is $10 at the door or $8 in advance.

Books for mamas

I picked up the book "Fresh Milk" by Fiona Giles at Red Tent Sisters here in Toronto. I have to say anyone with an open mind that has ever nursed should definitely read this book. It is a combination of short stories and real life accountings of men and women from around the world and there breast-feeding experiences. It opens up many topics for discussion and makes you ask yourself tones of questions. The author sent out a questionnaire to a bunch of people in order to receive material for the book. Some of the questions she asks in the book and my answers are:

What single change in the world would have made breastfeeding easier for you?
For a visual aid to come to your hospital room and
demonstrate how it's done as soon as your baby is born.

If you could buy breastmilk by the liter from the corner store, how much would it cost?
If it was for babies that would otherwise be getting formula free. For anyone else; 1 000 000 for colostrum; 500$ a liter for a mother that has nursed less then 6 months and 100$ a liter if the milk comes from a mother that has been nursing more then 6 months.

If you could cook with breastmilk what would you make?
Ice Cream.

Within any given chapter in this book I cried, laughed and was slightly wired out.

It's an amazing book that all nursing mothers should read.

We all love to read

I decided I would start sharing with you some of my favorite kids books we have bought so far. So once in a while I will post a book that we are enjoying to read to Christophe. Since day one I have always made sure to read him a minimum of one story per day.

We picked up "We like to Nurse" by Chia Martin (ISBN-0-934252-45-9) this afternoon at Red Tent Sisters. It's a great little story about how various animals also nurse just like baby.

Another book we recently purchased that I love is "Eco Babies Wears Green" by Michelle Colman (ISBN-978-1582462530). As we are all getting more and more eco conscious this is a great little board book that shows eco baby car polling on a bike, recycling, composting, etc.