A Bella band is every pregnant woman’s best friend for keeping unbuttoned pants cleverly and discreetly concealed during those awkward ‘in-between’ stages of one’s pregnancy. Baby Be Mine maternity offers Belly bands (which bare a striking resemblance to the aforementioned Bella bands), made of bamboo. Please note - these are not Bella bands, but Belly bands.

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Let’s face it folks, there is an ever-increasing demand for truly functional green gear for today’s busy families on the go. Couple that with deep concern over the planet that we are passing on to the next generation, and it’s enough to really keep you awake at night - besides the obvious parenting demands! Enter Fleurville’s eco-fabulous line of recycled plastic bottle fabric totes and packs that keep (on average) ten 600ml plastic water bottles out of the landfill! We love their Spring 2008 floral prints and clean graphic contours. These spacious and lightweight totes and shoulder bags function equally well as diaper bags or simple on-the-go carryalls. Fleurville makes parenting a breeze by sending the right message to little ones looking on from their strollers as inheritors of the planet.

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Your mother lied to you, and you lie to your kid. Parents lie all the time – especially when it comes to booboos. Have you ever said, “Let me use my magic to make the pain disappear,” or “I’ll blow on it and it’ll stop hurting.” How about, “Let me kiss it and make it feel better.” Lies, lies, lies, but every parent will attest that these little white lies work.

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Buying a tap water equivalent someone has slapped a fancy label on and packaged in a plastic bottle is both economically and ecologically unsound; we all know this. But it’s summer, and with myriad outdoor play dates, we understand how vital it is to keep our kids hydrated. So at some point we opt to purchase a reusable water bottle that meets this need - one that recent press has told us should not be a Nalgene (or other) bottle made of plastic.

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Move over Crayola - something fresher and greener has arrived! Thanks to some resourceful, eco-savvy design innovation from Inntrax Twig Crayons, children can now shelve their old boxes of petroleum-based crayons and wield an assortment of colorful stray twigs which have been given a second life as budding artist’s tools. It’s good to know that we are finally out of the woods when it comes to non-toxic and eco-friendly art supplies for our doodling little ones!

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Mention the word ‘cloth diaper’ to a modern, harried urbanite and you are likely to be met with a look of shock and horror. When I tell my friends about cloth diapering, the response is usually, “But isn’t that SOOO messy and time consuming? All that laundering and poop scraping?” Despite a prejudice in our culture towards the quick-fix disposable, cloth diapers are really the only green choice when it comes to diapering. Not only are cloth diapers healthier, more economical and eco-friendly than their plastic cousins — but their ease of use and convenience has significantly improved over the last decade. Here are five great reasons to go cloth:

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Buying clothes for a baby is a totally fun experience - whether shopping in stores or online, it’s fairly easy to obtain a variety of sweet little outfits for both girls and boys. However, the discerning, environmentally conscious parent may have a more challenging time. When searching for organic onesies and outfits, surely we have the right to choose style and substance when it comes to our little ones and their budding green wardrobes? Look no further for adorable eco-cuteness as Kate Quinn Organics has you and your baby covered!

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Though creating a green nursery or playroom can typically be a real expenditure for families with growing needs, there are some rather cost-effective and stylish options for designer households that abide by form + function fabulousness. Kid-friendly tables and chairs by Knú are a great choice for parents who do not want to compromise their design tastes for practicality. Knú’s eco-mod tables and chairs will set you up in enviro-friendly, color-coordinated style via the knú-est standards for play that is meant to last and last - while looking great, too!

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As a euphoric yet sleep deprived new parent, the last thing you will want to do is spend precious brainpower deciding which baby bottles are best for your little bundle of joy. Your head should be spinning in bliss over the new life you’ve created, not with worry over the toxins you need to avoid to keep your baby safe and pure. It’s a good thing that the great, eco-savvy and family-oriented minds behind thinkbaby have done all of the thinking for you!

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If you have been hunting high and low for some eco-chic threads for your little ones, look no further as Fauna graphic tees are perhaps the most unique and eco-friendly designs out there. These adorably rockin’ tees are printed here in NYC with water-based inks and dyes on organic cotton. Multi-talented designer Ross Menuez has created this rather ‘wild’ collection as part of the Fauna series for the designer collective, Areaware. 

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Inhabitots parents love any opportunity to repurpose great design materials, so we were totally excited to come across these super-stylish INKE wallpaper kits made from vintage stock. Recycling that migrates across your child’s bedroom or playroom walls as a herd of elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, ostriches, monkeys, rhinos and lions could not be cuter! Dutch designer Inke Heiland has created an ‘old-as-new’ way for families to cultivate their wild side. What a great way to let loose and go green at home!

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Some kids possess an innate eye for design. They line up their Hot Wheels cars in order of size and hue, insist on wearing mismatched Converse All Stars to fashionable effect, and prefer vintage over store-bought. But would I turn over the proverbial keys to the castle so that my son could have a go at decorating our apartment? No way.

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I think my baby girl may have been a puppy in a past life. I find myself saying, “Don’t put that in your mouth,” and “Don’t chew on that,” at least a hundred times a day. Between her crib railing, the arms of the sofa, her now tattered book collection, and my neck, my daughter has left her mark on practically every surface of our household. Tiny tooth punctures and jagged tears betray her trail throughout our home. Looking for my baby? I just need to follow the remnants of the ravaged fashion magazine, or look under the dining chair with the gnawed leg. I had a tall order to fill to find a teething ring that would satiate my teething fiend, but the Maple Teether by Camden Rose ended up being the perfect safe, stylish & savory solution.

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In the days after a new baby arrives, it’s easy for the new tired mama to slip into the background. Everyone wants to lavish the new baby with attention, which is only natural, but mamas need some TLC and pampering, too. If you really want to make a new mama’s day or night, whip up a batch (or two) of this amazing, inexpensive, and great smelling homemade organic sugar scrub. And if you really want to make an impression, stay and baby-sit for an hour or more so your mama pal can take a luxurious bath, and actually enjoy soak up this new body scrub experience.

Making a sugar body scrub is very simple, and a homemade version will cost far less than the scrubs you find at specialty spa boutiques. The following is a basic organic sugar scrub recipe along with some additional ideas for making other yummy scrub flavors!

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My wife and I go out to eat with our three-year-old toddler quite often, and our budget constraints usually dictate that we dine at restaurants where eating meals typically involves using chopsticks (Thai anyone?). As a result, my son has taken a liking to the paper-wrapped stick-like utensils, and without Chopstick Kids our dining experience - not to mention our life - would be a literal mess!

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We love DIY, open source design, especially when it’s great, green design made available to us and our families for FREE! Swiss architect Nicola Enrico Stäubli’s FoldSchool furniture does just this, bringing downloadable cardboard plans to your computer, so that you and your tots can build your own eco chairs! The downloadable FREE patterns from his website are the embodiment of great green design- all you need is a printer, some cardboard, a pair of scissors, and some childlike creativity, and you’re on your way to sitting pretty. Patterns come in three options- a stool, rocker, or chair.

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It’s not always easy to get wee ones to eat their veggies and greens, but with Bambu’s line of kid-sized utensils, there now is an enticing way to make eating stylish, fun, and eco-friendly, too! Made from certified-organically grown bamboo, Bambu’s adorable kids line is the first-of-its-kind, providing a durable and natural alternative to the usual plastics. They’re lighter and stronger than wood, heat and stain resistant, and thankfully won’t absorb food flavors.

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We’ve all had our wooden toys when we were kids: wooden blocks, wooden animals and even wooden cars. All of these classic toys were great, but none of them were powered by the sun. And that is why we love this low-fi take on a high-tech concept: solar powered toy helicopters. These charming Scandinavian style wooden helicopters come with plastic rotor blades with compact solar panels on their tops. This allows the helicopter to collect solar energy as they sit on the windowsill, and charge up for later playtime.

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Imagine children’s furniture that is totally convertible as your little one grows and adapts to new eating routines and seating arrangements. Better yet, what if Mom or Dad could use the same chair to dine with little ones around the kitchen table? Too good to be true? Argington Modern Children’s Furniture has literally raised the bar for how to raise our little ones. The adjustable Argington Babylon Toddler High Chair defines sustainable design for future generations, as good solid investment pieces prove to have lasting value and multi-functional use for the whole family!

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It’s a real comfort to know that some of the most innovative and versatile contemporary furniture pieces on the eco design front are for precious newborns and cute tots (and the parents who love and want the very best for them!) We’ve seen an explosion of green baby products from great design companies like Modern Seed, Speesees (highlighted in our Holiday Gift Guide for Kids,) and even the adult-favorite, Design Within Reach. A real stand-out as an eco modern nursery investment in this niche is Ooba and the gorgeous pieces in their Nest Collection. The Ooba bassinet looks as good as any other design piece in the rest of your home and sustainably compliments your lifestyle in the most modern and functional way.

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Flat surfaces practically scream “draw on me!” for youngsters, and here’s a piece of furniture that encourages creativity without the hassle of scrubbing ink off your walls. The Fundy Play Table from Argington comes with a chalkboard table top or dry erase board, all packaged in a low kids-sized table in eco-friendly materials. It come sin white or orange, made from FSC wood and nontoxic finishes. And not to worry- after your tots are done drawing rainbows, store their pens and chalk in the compartment underneath the table surface.

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Fresh, organic homemade baby food is, undoubtedly, the best way to nourish your growing little one.  However, it is not always possible to make your own baby food due to travel, the busy modern-parent schedule (i.e. the lack of a single spare moment in the day), or possibly no access to the necessary food-prep equipment. HomemadeBaby offers delicious and fresh organic baby food that your wee one will gobble right up, all the while helping you to feel that you did your best in providing the best alternative to puréed homemade and loving nourishment.

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Give your kids a creative outlet on a surface they’re already hankering to make their mark on — by turning your walls into their next art project. Wallpaper-By-Numbers takes a much beloved hobby of coloring by numbers to an entirely new scale, running floor to ceiling. Rolls of 20.5″ x 33′ start at $95.00 and come in a variety of bold prints with brightly pre-colored backgrounds, the adults will have just as much fun as the kids with this project.

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Iglooplay’s adorable line of eco mod children’s furniture will leave you wishing they made an adult version. Based in Brooklyn, NY Iglooplay children’s furniture collection combines organic forms with practical ergonomics and a modernist sensibility that engages both children and adults. Designer Lisa Albin first conceived the collection following her first baby after finding that there was little too choose from when it came to thoughtfully designed children’s furniture. While observing the way her growing toddler interacts with the world she began to develop designs that were engaging to kids while aesthetically pleasing to adults.

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Bring some 8-legged inspiration to your soon-to-walk tots with this ridiculously cute and recycled Socktopus. A sort of contemporary marine version of the traditional Sock Monkey, Mr. Octopus is made from recycled sweaters, making each one a totally unique creature. They’re even more endearing in their resemblance of those pesky lone socks you find after every load of laundry. Handmade in the USA, they’re filled with hypoallergenic polyester and topped off with cute button eyes (making them ages 3 and up appropriate). Here’s one 8-legged friend your little one will love snuggling up to.

$20 from Elsewares

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