Green and Natural Parenting » Natural Product Reviews

Xtrema Healthy Cookware

Tiffany — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:11:21 +0000

In my post on Healthy Cookware I mentioned that I was trying a new-to-me brand of safer pots and pans called Xtrema by Ceramcor. They sent me a skillet a few weeks back and I have now had a chance to use it in the kitchen. Their pans are high temperature ceramic that is non-scratch and easy to clean. I don’t see a non-stick claim on their site but in my opinion they are very much non-stick. They can be used on stove top, oven, under broiler, freezer, frig, microwave and on a barbeque grill. The company recommends that you use nylon, silicone, or wood cooking tools with these pans but as you can see in the photo above I used a metal spatula for cooking eggs. I don’t like plastic or silicone spatulas and wooden ones are too thick for flipping eggs. It didn’t scratch the pan but for all other types of cooking I used wood spoons.

For fried eggs this pan was great. They cooked like a dream and they flipped very nicely without sticking. The pan was also a snap to clean. I also used it to make some fresh fish for the kids, and also to saute mushrooms and onions for other dishes. IMO it took a bit longer for food to cook with this skillet than in my stainless steel skillet. That said, I must also share that I recently went from cooking on an electric range to a gas range again and I am NOT digging the cook times for gas, so that could be the issue as well.

This isn’t my new favorite pan or anything but it is very nice for cooking eggs on weekday mornings, or browning up some mushrooms for lunch… when I don’t have too many people to cook for. It is super easy to clean, which makes me VERY happy and it is a nice looking skillet as well. I am happy to give this healthier skillet a home. I would like to try the Xtrema Wok and give it a nice test run as well.

Why Its Healthy:

* Handmade using natural gas, clay and water

* No trace metals or chemicals leach from the cooking surface

* There is no harmful PTFE coating and it produces no harmful PFOA gas which can occur with most popular petroleum based non-stick coatings.

Why Its Green:

* Materials are inorganic natural minerals from our earth’s crust

* The non-scratch ceramic cooking surface on the Xtrema cookware is non-reactive and 100% non-toxic

* Durability – These pans will last for a long time and cannot be scratched… even if you use steel wool. There is even a 50 year warranty.

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

EIO Glass Kids Cup Review

Tiffany — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:48:29 +0000

A couple years ago I compiled big lists of BPA free kids cups. Most of us were used to giving our kids plastic sippy cups to avoid spills but when we found that BPA or Bishpenol A had the potential to harm our children we sought better options. Our demand for better products was so loud that MANY companies reformulated their products to offer safer cups and many new companies popped up to fill this need as well. Still for many moms, myself included, there was still something missing.

Yes we had safer cups but they were made of plastic.. which frankly can have other issue besides BPA. While I gave moms who wanted plastic options they needed I scoured the net for stainless steel cups and I bought up small mason jars at thrift stores for my own kids. With out mix of stainless steel tumblers and little glass jars we made do, but I DID miss the sippy cup option!

Now a company has stepped to the plate to provide an answer for us picky moms… a glass cup with plastic sippy attachment, and a sleeve to prevent breakage. It is quite simply the most awesome safe sippy cup I have yet seen. I am really loving it… the EIO Glass Cup for Kids.

The design is similar to what we now see in glass baby bottles. It has a silicone sleeve that prevents breakage of the body.. which is glass. The top portion is BPA, Phthalates and PVC free plastic with a small hole in the inclined area. There is no spout or valve that is impossible to clean or that allows for mold growth. It is dishwasher safe. The BEST part though is that the lid fits on to virtually any 8 ounce canning jar!!! Yes… if your cup breaks (which is unlikely IMO) you can replace with a canning jar, easy peasy! I just love the whole concept, especially the part where I do not have to buy another cup if the part most likely to break, does in fact break.. I can just use a caning jar I already have. The top plastic part is very sturdy and unlikely to break IMO. The sleeve is nice but not really a necessity.. if it were to rip somehow, the cup would function just fine without it.

Up until we got the EIO cup we were just using open cups (both metal and glass). We had lots of breakage, which was no biggie really but the spills were getting out of hand. Since we have started using the EIO that issue is gone, thank goodness. We have the green cup but there is also purple and orange and I am considering getting one for my 6 year old too because the cup does not have a babyish appearance and it would help with dinner time spills. This cup is great for older kids too.

I don’t like using plastic or buying new plastic but I will buy “smart” plastic. Something that will be reused over and over again, that will last, and that makes it easier to use less plastic overall. This cup definitely qualifies.

All in all, I am pretty excited about his new innovation. Some companies see a need and they do the bare minimum… like take the BPA out of their existing cups. Other companies see moms who are concerned with not only the chemicals but also the reliance on plastic and the move towards other materials and they come up with a solution. I love the EIO cup but I also love the fact that one company stood up and took notice of what I (and other moms like me) wanted in a kids cup and they delivered. It should be no surprise to anyone that is was in fact a mom who invented this cup… a mom that wanted to empower her kids to use REAL, earth friendly dinnerware at the table.

Much thanks to Kathy Haskell of EIO for the awesome product and for sending me a sample cup to review at my request.

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

LunaPanties Review

Tiffany — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:28:48 +0000

Sommer of the Mommy Go Green Blog Tours recently asked me if I wanted to review Lunapanties and I answered with a resounding YES! So this will be my review of said panties… if such talk makes you squeamish then avert your eyes now.

As indicated in my round up of greener menstrual products I am not a fan of the mainstream menstrual products for women. Paper and plastic pads and tampons just aren't good options for the planet nor for a woman's comfort. More than anything I think those mainstream options allow us to distance ourselves from the process as much as possible and not take responsibility for it. Either that or it is just pure convenience… aka why wash cloth pads or rinse out a Diva Cup in soapy water and get your hands dirty when you could just throw the problem away… literally.

I was very interested in trying Lunapanties because I see nothing wrong with convenience myself and having panties that also double as a cloth pad seemed genius to me and ooohhhhh it is genius. Even if you use paper sanitary napkins I dare you to see this as less convenient. Other than the washing, which I am assuming you won't be doing by hand, down at the river, beating your panties against rocks, then this is such an easy solution. Follow me here for a second.. put the panties on… then take them off to wash. Easy! No unwrapping a sanitary napkin, peeling off the gazillion stickers that are affixed to them, no sticking it to the crotch of your undewear, no cursing when your monthly gift misses the napkin and stains your panties, no feeling like you are wearing an adult diaper, no wrapping the napkin up in toilet paper (or a time capsule to protect from pets) and throwing it away to sit in a landfill for all eternity… see… easy!

Lunapanties are basically just panties that come with some extra padding in the crotch area and they have a couple loops sewn into that area as well that allow for you to double up, or triple up even, on the protection by adding absorbent inserts. The panties and the inserts are made of super soft organic cotton (95%) and they are oh so comfortable. The other 5% is lycra to make the panties snug fitting. The ones given to me for this review are a pretty purple color but I see from the web site that they also come in black. I like the purple.

After using them for a week recently I can say that I REALLY love them. I plan to buy a couple more pairs and they, coupled with my Diva Cup, will be what I reach for every month. I also like the fact that I can still use many of my other cloth pads with them too. On heavy flow days I do need to use inserts just for my own peace of mind, and for a couple days I just used the underwear and the Diva Cup with no issues. On the last day or so I just wore the panties with no insert. I didn't even feel like I was on my period and that ladies is lovely, as I am sure you know!

There have several different sizes (S-3XL) and have several different styles from briefs to thongs. I would recommend getting one pair and trying them to see how you like the fit and style and then ordering more. I requested large size granny panties (briefs would be the name they use) and the large seemed… well… kinda large. They seemed to me that they are sized a little to big.

The price for the panties is $29.99. If you usually buy panties at Wal-Mart for $2.00 a pop then this might seem expensive. If you buy panties at Victoria's Secret then these will seem like a good deal. I think they are a great value, especially given that they are high quality and organic. 3 panties, my inserts and pads, and my Diva Cup will do me just fine and I will still save in the long run because I don't have to buy sanitary napkins or tampons every month.

The washing is also very easy. I just threw them in the wash on cold and let them soak for an hour and then rinsed and spun. Then I washed them with a load of towels. They did not stain but I wouldn't have cared much if they did…. that's just not a big deal to me. The Luna company recommends Nellie's A-Natural Laundry Soda Soap Detergent, which I have used and like and they suggest BunchaFarmers Biodegradable Stain Remover Stick for stains. Never heard of it but I may have to try that now!

All in all I find this to be one of those great products that really makes life more comfortable and convenient and yet has the benefit of being the greener option to. A++

BTW if you Twitter than check out the #ecowed party and hashtag on May 12 for Lunapanties and get a discount code.

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

Kidzsack Eco Friendly Backpacks

Tiffany — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:01:38 +0000

Friday mornings are often crafty times for us because it is the only day when my two youngest are both home all day. This morning my daughter colored her Kidzsack Backpack an my son colored with his Eco Stars (more on those later). We set up the perfect place to do all this busy work… on the back porch, soaking in the fresh air and sunshine. This area will double as our dining room until Fall.

Anyway, the Kidzsack is a durable kids backpack made from eco friendly fibers. They come with an uncolored picture on the base of the pack and the kids get to color them in and make the backpack their unique creation. As a future fashion designer (her words not mine) my daughter really appreciates this product. It comes with 8 washable markers so that you can wash and then "create" all over again.

There are numerous different designs from which to choose from, for boys and girls. The bag my daughter has is called Sea Life but you can also get Sports, Castles, Jungle, etc. My daughter is anxiously awaiting Monday so she can take her new pack to school and show it off.

What I like about this product is that it gives kids control over the creative design. I like the fact that this "craft" is actually useful too. I know we will get much use out of it at school and during trips this summer. I love bags you can wash too!! The bag gets bonus points for being partially made out of recycled plastic bottles… they gotta go somewhere.

I am not so crazy about markers in general because of the new plastic, but what can you do? Usually we donate the markers that come with craft projects but these will be kept for future colorization of the bag. We give this product a A+ for fun and a B+ on eco indicators.

For more info on how it works watch the video below:

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

The Goodbyn Lunchbox Review

Tiffany — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:42:43 +0000

I have been meaning to write up a review of this lunchbox… which I bought many moons ago when they first hit the market. But I rarely have time to pack lunches AND snap pictures in the wee hours of the morning. Some days I cannot even believe I used to have a bento lunchbox blog where I blogged daily pictures of my son's lunches. The addition of a second child to the mix is throwing me off my game. But Mondays are much more nice now that my husband is home for them (at least for now) so I actually had time to throw a quick lunch together and take some pictures!

The lunchbox we used this morning is the Goodbyn. I grabbed it because I had personalized it with an "I love you" message that I felt my daughter needed to see. Yes, mommy was feeling major guilty this morning over her own bad behavior. So I grabbed the "I love you" box and already that is a major plus for Goodbyn. The stickers may not be eco friendly, they are probably plastic based, but the idea that you can personalize the lunchbox is a big hit in this house.

On the menu: Banana, baby carrots with hummus dip, green smoothie in a bottlle, PB&J Lara Bar, Strawberries, dried blueberries, and goji berries chilling with two fruity cubes to keep them cold, Brazil nuts, and two fair trade chocolate earth balls. Everything is raw vegan except the chocolate. The container with the Hummus is not from Goodbyn… I borrowed it from one of our Laptop Lunchboxes.

The whole concept of this lunchbox is awesome… BPA free (safe) plastics, compartments to eliminate the need for plastic baggies and single serving packaging, and it is a pretty hip looking bento. You know me.. I LOVE bento. I also like the carrying handle and the ability to use the stickers that come with it to make it completely unique to your child. There are even stickers for kids with allergies. It is dishwasher safe if you happen to have one (I don't) and you can recycle it if need be later on down the road.

The Goodbyn does have a pretty big drawback though. You have to instruct your child on the proper way to open and close the lunchbox to avoid spilling the contents everywhere and even when adults do it I am not so confident it will stay closed. I have yet to buy some rubber bands because I have a fear of them after an "incident" with my toddler but ideally I hope to get a rubberband to wrap around the box so my daughter can actually use the carrying handle to carry it. Every time she takes this lunchbox I worry that I will find out she had to eat her lunch out of the bottom of her backpack. The closure mechanism just isn't very secure… a rubber band would fix it though and I hope Goodbyn addresses this issue some day. Another drawback is that the box is heavier than her other lunchboxes, like the afore mentioned Laptop Lunchbox and her Yubo. I also find the side compartments a bit too small. This morning I wanted to add a few more greens but the side compartments are just teeny.

All in all, we like the Goodbyn and think it has some awesome features. The execution is a bit flawed but it is also workable. While it isn't my personal favorite it does make my daughter happy and that counts for a lot.

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

Greener Cleaners Roundup

Tiffany — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:57:42 +0000

One of the first steps in moving towards any greener, more sustainable lifestyle has to be the step where you ditch chemical cleaners and start using cleaner, greener options. It is my number #1 recommended step in fact because everyone has to clean house and by using green cleaners we make our homes and our planet safer.

Its not always an easy switch though. We may get used to using harsh cleaners like Clorox or Windex and using something more mild like baking soda and vinegar seems like more work. I know when my husband quit his old job that took him out of town all but a few days a month and he was around to do some cleaning, he was kinda baffled by my cleaners. He kept asking how do I clean this up with no paper towel and no cleaners? I would point to the cleaning cabinet and you would have thought it was empty by the look on his face. What was he to do with spray bottles, peppermint Castile soap, vinegar, baking soda, and ripped up towel remnants?

For his sake, and my own, I usually try to keep a couple non homemade green cleaners on hand so he won’t have an excuse not to help with the cleaning. Other people just want to use conventional cleaners and that is okay… there are greener choices available. I get lots of requests from companies to test their green cleaners and since I know I will use them I agree to act as a tester on occasion. The cleaners below are some of my latest adventures in this area.

The ones pictured above are called wowgreen and there are 12 of them from an all purpose cleaner, to a dish soap, to a wood and dust shine. I got a big box from the company and dove right into testing them since I had some guests coming over… the kind of guests that bring TV cameras. I rather enjoy cleaning and do it thoroughly so they got a good run. Ultimately they clean pretty good but not good enough to keep me buying them. They don’t blow my homemade cleaners out the water but they do have one very cool feature. You buy the bottles once and then refill them with little packets of concentrated cleaner and water. It is a much better alternative then buying bottled cleaners over and over again at the supermarket. But with homemade cleaners I can refill my own bottles AND not have the little plastic pouch of concentrated cleaner to throw away.

Another drawback was the fact that all the cleaners have dye in them. They are all groovy colors like red, blue, yellow, and orange but that is not necessary and the dyes can’t be natural. They also stained some of my white rags which is kind of annoying. But they didn’t give me hives like many of the more conventional cleaners do so that is a good sign. All in all I I found them efficient but they didn’t “wow” me. I ended up donating what I had left (which was a lot) to someone who could use them.

A company called Earth Care Market sent me some of their cleaners and I like their stuff much better although I had tried most of it before. The soap nuts they sent are already a hit here. The Wipe-Its are coin sized pellets that turn into a paper towel-like cloth wipe and I have tried them before to. I like them a lot but not so much for every day cleaning. I keep some on hand for vacations, camping, and hiking though.

Their Clean-It Mop might have been a nice change of pace from my usual routine… which is to use my feet and two rags to clean my hard floors. BUT I didn’t have a mop stick on which to attach the mop head and wasn’t about to buy one (plastic) just to test out a mop head that would only last a few weeks. So I donated it as well and is was liked well enough but I am told it fell apart rather quickly.

The last thing that I tested was the big winner IMO. It is Vaska laundry detergent. Soap nuts are good and all but the shipping aspect is a pain in the butt. I would like to try making my own but as yet have not ventured there. When we ran out a few months back I just got a bulk tub from Costco with powdered detergent. Well, in addition to the stuff smelling noxious and giving me a headache if the lid falls off, the powder does not want to dissolve in my washer. I am not sure if that is a detergent problem or a washer problem but little pebbles of detergent all over our clothes did not go over well with me. Getting the Vaska liquid herbatergent was a life saver.

I love the smell, it is really mild, and it gets the clothes cleaner than the powder did with no visible residue. It uses herbs and potent botanical cleaning agents for high performance stain removal and extreme freshness. INGREDIENTS: Plant based surfactants, vegetable conditioner, water-soluble degreasing agent, lavender extract (leaves no scent) and filtered water. My recycling center recycles the bottles too so I would definitely buy again.

Vaska is also getting pretty cool press too. One of the oldest Chinese laundry services in California recently switched to Vaska AND it won a Wash Off with Tide at the Fashion Institute of Technology. There is no reason to use harsh chemical cleaners when the greener, natural stuff works just as well ya know?

Thanks much to the companies for sending me products to test. I am kind of “harsh” when it comes to green cleaners, so sorry bout that. Some products I just have no use for. All that I tried were decent but Vaska is the only one that made me sit up and take notice.

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

Creative Cardboard Toys

Tiffany — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:28:40 +0000

On the heels of my post on ethical toys and I wanted to post about cardboard toys. They are certainly not new… I remember I had a full size cardboard house that I used to play in when I was a little girl. It was very big, and it was black and white so that you could paint or color it yourself to personalize it. After many months of use, when it was starting to tear and generally look raggedy, we tossed it. Every year at Christmas time we would get another one from Sees Candy.

Cardboard toys are low cost and eco friendly. You can recycle them in your own backyard compost pile. They are also wonderfully creative toys for kids. Kids can assemble them and they can personalize them making the toy their own unique creation.

For the past couple weeks my kids have been playing with cardboard toys from the Creative Toyshop. They have TONS of awesome Calafant cardboard toys that go way beyond the simple house I used to play with. They have castles, tree houses, pirate fortresses, dollhouses, and so much more. They provide hours of open ended play and when your kids are done they can be folded away for storage or recycled if they are getting a little too well used.

My oldest son has the Calafant tree house. He was pretty much able to put it together on his own from looking at the pictures. The written instructions were kind of useless IMO but the pictures rocked. After putting it together he got busy coloring it. In true creative form he opted not to let the color photo on the box guide his color choices. I knew he would like cardboard toys because for years he has made his own creations out of leftover cardboard boxes. Creating a tree house of cardboard.. heck what could be better?

My daughter has the Calafant Rosegarden Palace. I put it together for her in about ten minutes and she colored it. She referenced the color picture on the box but more often than not chose her own colors… which surprised me since she is all about pink and purple. On a side note she complained that the markers that came with it stunk really bad, LOL. They just had a really strong marker smell which she didn’t care for (she’s a soy crayon girl)… we ended up donating them after she used them.

They both loved building and decorating these toys. My son now lets his sit in his room on display and my daughter plays with hers… putting her wooden fairy dolls in it. She plans on embellishing it with glitter and rhinestones… I just keep forgetting to check out the craft section of the thrift store.

I love that these toys are rather small since we don’t have a ton of room in our tiny 1000 square foot house. The child size cardboard house I used to have wouldn’t be practical but these are perfect. All pieces are pre-cut and pre-punched. They can be put together without glue and scissors thanks to the Calafant slot-system. They are creative, they provide hours of open ended play, they are eco friendly, and they are fun.

We probably all have memories of playing in cardboard boxes as kids. We too save any big boxes for the kids to play in before they get recycled. Cardboard toys take that concept and run with it. Calafant (German) makes small, medium, and large toys for all ages and interests. There are some larger ones that kids can play in too, just like I did. Fun!

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

Yo Ho I Can Make My Own Play Dough

Tiffany — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:38:00 +0000

I never much liked the play dough you buy in stores. Its smells funny and it has lots of chemical dyes in it to get those nifty colors. It stains carpet when it gets mashed into it to. But every kids likes play dough right? Well, for several years we have either made it ourselves or bought homemade dough from crafters on Etsy.

Recently though we used a DIY play dough kit called Yohoho Dough. It comes in a nifty canister that can be reused for numerous other things and inside it you have everything you need to make 4 pounds of modeling dough. My youngsters give it a thumbs up. It is fun to watch mommy make and fun to play with. Using the canister to hide their treasures in afterwards is a bonus.

The dough is organic and non-toxic and it is a USA made product. The whole pirate concept is a winner too, my kiddos love it. Our dough is still going strong after a couple weeks. We keep it in a bento container on top of the fridge and pull it out almost every day for a few minutes or hours of doughey fun. I could REALLY see myself using Yohoho Dough for all future play dough requirements. It is waaay smoother than anything I have ever made on my own, more like modeling clay and the process was so simple.. just combine the wet and dry ingredients, heat and mix. It was easy and my kitchen stayed clean.

I used an old plastic spoon to mix because I didn’t want to get a wood one all sticky but the plastic one almost broke when the dough got stiff so use metal or wood!

You can jazz up the dough with scents and food coloring too! We plan to try that soon…

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

Little Green Star

Tiffany — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:39:35 +0000

One of the few NEW items my daughter will be sporting to school this year is an organic tee from Little Green Star. I made the commitment to buy mostly used and I am sticking to it. I make my final thrift store run next weekend. BUT I have no qualms about spending money on new clothes when they come from ethical companies with green values and Little Green Star is one of those companies IMO. And my daughter has to go to school with some shirts that declare our values right?

My daughter loves this natural tee with a ladybug on it that says “Ladies Don’t Litter”. It has become a motto for her and she goes around saying it all the time. And their other slogans are just as cute:

Peas Out
Water Pollution Makes me Crabby
Bee Green

I love that they have sizes for older kids (4-6T). It drives me batty when I see cute organic clothing and it is only for babies. The tees are 100% certified organic cotton and the designs are printed by hand with water-based inks that are PVC-free and phthalates-free. The prices are not out of ths world either.

Now that I have found my groove with used clothing, my new purchases are dwindling, but for Little Green Star I will make an exception.

Hi there! What are you doing reading this in your feed reader?? Stop being anti-social and come visit me and leave a comment or two!

Marble Run – Natural Toy Fun

Tiffany — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:56:16 +0000

I don’t know about you but I HATE walking down the toy isles in stores. I know all the plastic is not healthy for my kids or the planet but the flashy, techno toys can suck just about any kid in. My 3 year old son for instance is all about robots these days. I am not quite sure how that happened but since Transformers (which he has not seen) is all the rage these days he cannot help but be over the moon for the robots he sees everywhere. Now he is the proud owner of a few robot toys.

But still I can’t help but look at all those flashy, plastic toys and want something better for my kids… something that won’t break a week later or get tossed in boredom. That is why I stopped taking my kids to stores with me so much and started stocking up on toys that will stand the test of time and get the creativity flowing. When one child is done with them they can be passed on to the next… Legos, wooden blocks, wood tinker toys, puzzles, etc. Toys that are American made are also a big bonus.

My two boys have been delighted lately with the American made toys from Down to Earth Toys, especially the Marble Run. It has provided hours of fun for both boys. It is new and exciting for my 3 year old who is enamoured with the marbles and giggles when they fall down the track. It is stimulating and never boring for my nearly 9 year old too. In fact my older son is spending the weekend with his grandparents and he packed two changes of clothes, his toothbrush, his Nintendo DS, and the marble run.

The blocks and marbles set is “old school” and yet still such a wonderful toy. It allows for hands on creativity as they can come up with hundreds of different ways to build their block towers. It used marbles, blocks, some holes, and some elemental physics to create good old fashioned fun for kids. It helps build spacial, sequential, and organizational skills and keeps kids intrigued for a long time. It is the prefect toy for my oldest boy who seems to love anything architectural. And this toy was designed by an architectural artist!

I would like to buy another set or two and see what they could come up with when they combine them… it would be an awesome site.

This is a non violent educational toy. No one is blown up for laughs and there are no toys guns as is so common in today’s toys. As the box says “Our best hope for a healthier, happier, world is in the quality of the learning environment we provide for our children today.” The maker is TEDCO and they have lots of other toys we are going to have to explore.

A good place to start looking is the Eco-friendly toys at Down to Earth. That is were our Kinder Perch originated and we have been so happy with everything we have gotten from there. I highly recommend the marble run for green kids, just be careful with the marbles if you have kids smaller than three!! Enjoy!