Playful Pieces

With the holidays fast approaching, I thought maybe it'd be a good time to start thinking of all the wonderful gifts we give, particularly for our little ones.

Thanks to the GoodGuide who has done some great research on what the greenest toy companies of 2009 are. PlanToys, featured to the left, makes all of their wooden products from organic rubberwood dried in a chemical free kiln-drying process. Their colorings are all non-toxic and water based, and they even use solar power and low emission biofuels to power their factory and machinery!

Green Toys, a California based company, manufactures everything with recycled plastic or eco-friendly materials. In fact, their plastic comes mostly from old milk bottles, tested to make sure they don't contain any Phthalates or BPA. Their packaging is also eco-friendly, made from recycled corrugated cardboard.

North Star Toys is another wonderful manufacturer of wooden children's toys, made from 'sustainably managed' wood, or scraps from local cabinetmakers. The wood is painted with non-toxic paints, and oiled with a food grade mineral oil for finishing. The factory that make the toys is also run on 100% renewable energy.


The last of the featured toy makers is Haba Toys, available at Oompa.com. This German manufacturer makes all of its toys in factories powered by renewable energy like solar panels and heat generated from wood scraps. They use non-toxic paints and finishes that are water based.

I think aside from knowing the toys are safe, they're adorable, so you can't go wrong! And if they end up in your child's mouth rather than on the floor, you don't have to worry too much about what they're ingesting!