Filed under: Kids and Parenting, Shopping Guide

‘Tis the season for giving gifts! The most thoughtful gift is one that helps keep the planet alive — or at least doesn’t hasten climate change, global warming, or poisons the recipient with chemicals that leach out of plastic parts. Especially when you’re shopping for kids!

Be sure to check the Good Guide, which tested and rated the most popular toys for the year. Sorry to break it to you, but Zhu Zhu Pets rated a relatively low 5.5, which isn’t going to stop your kids from wanting them, but may change your mind!

The Plan Toys Cargo Train received the highest Good Guide rating, of 8.3, followed closely by the (awesome sounding) Lego Star Wars: the Clone Wars Fan’s Vote Anniversary Edition, Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, which received an 8.1 rating.
If you want to support green toy companies, check out the Eco Toy Alliance. It’s a collaboration of four earth-friendly toy companies that is “dedicated to helping consumers understand the benefits of eco-toys and the importance of raising our children to respect and protect the planet.”

The toys produced by the Eco Toy Alliance, Green Toys Inc, ImagiPLAY, Hosung Naturals, and Sprig Toys, are all made from eco-friendly green materials, like wood, organic cotton and recycled milk jugs. They also all encourage imaginative play.

Speaking of recycled materials, remember our GreenDaily favorite, TerraCycle. It seems like they are always announcing a new and cool upcycled product. Check out the kite made from Oreo wrappers, the Honest Kids backpack made from juice pouches, or the Yak Pak mp3 player slip case made from vinyl billboards.

Green Gifts for Eco-Kids originally appeared on Green Daily on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Shopping Guide

Store manager gets ready for Black Friday/Photo: John Moore, Getty Images

There are some, like Adbusters, who believe the green way to deal with Black Friday is to stay home and celebrate “Buy Nothing Day” instead.

For those of us who are less radical in our day to day lives, but still want to shop with a conscience, there are some practical ideas — and cool tools — to help you make your post-Thanksgiving sale shopping a little more eco-friendly.

To start, remember to consider the carbon footprint of what you’re buying. Where was it made, what’s it made of, how did it get here, and what type of packaging does it have? Some inexpensive gifts have a huge “earth cost”! You can mitigate this by patronizing companies that you know have good green practices.
The excellent Good Guide has come out with a free iPhone app that lets you scan the bar code of an item to check it against their database, and tell you if the company is good and green, or bad and green-washing. They also have a text message version for you non-iPhone folks out there.

Another way to reduce the impact of your shopping is to wait until Cyber-Monday and do your deal hunting online. You’ll avoid the drive and the inevitable idling as you wait for a parking spot at crowded malls.

True, you still have the carbon-footprint of shipping, but you can buy as much as possible from one vendor, and have it shipped all at once to cut down on the impact. Also, if you’re going to have to mail gifts to far-away family anyway, take advantage of gift wrapping services and send it directly to them.

If you’re determined to get into the stores, consider carpooling or taking public transportation if it’s available. This will also keep you from over-buying, if you know you have limited space in the car or have to fit your bags into a seat on the bus.

Also, remember to bring your reusable bags. They’re not just for groceries: you can also carry sweaters, video games and Barbies in them!

It’s easy to get caught up in the spirit — or frenzy — of holiday shopping. Just try to use the same thought and care you put into your everyday attempts to be environmentally aware. You might be pleasantly surprised to find that you’re already an eco-shopper!

Green Tips for Black Friday originally appeared on Green Daily on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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