How to Buy Environmentally Friendly Toys

Anyone with children in their lives has had to buy a toy at one point or another. The stock at any toy retailer speaks volumes about the amounts of these purchases each year. Keep these purchases green by following these easy tips.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Research your options. Before stopping off at the nearest store for your buy, research the options that exist for eco-friendly toys. Try the Eco Mall or The Happy Hippie websites (see Resources below).
2. Don’t fall for the obvious option. Wooden toys seem like they would be eco-friendly and all natural. Not so. Many toy companies harvest forests of trees to make their wares and use oil based paints to color them. See if the toys you want is painted with water-based paints and that the wood used comes from safely-trees farmed for this purpose.
3. Send them outdoors. More and more childhood obesity is a spotlight factor in our society. Indoor, stationary games are a large cause of this fact. Send the kids outside with a little imagination and they can play for hours, running and having fun.
4. Find a misfit toy. Used toys can be found online and in yard sales or at consignment shops. Many of them are gently used and almost new, with a lot of life yet to give. You may be lucky enough to find a toy that is no longer available or comes from times past. The joy that a new discovery can bring is as bright as a child’s smile.
5. Keep it fair. Fair Trade toys and games are sold within eco-friendly guidelines and make sure that quality products are sold without undercutting hard-working local manufacturers. Keep money in the local economy and make sure that no one is harmed by your purchase (see Resources below).