Wondering what to get for your green-minded, earth loving mommy this Mother’s Day? We’ve compiled a list of ten meaningful gifts she’s sure to love… and you’ll also score points with Mother Nature for these eco-friendly choices. Here are 10 green Mother’s Day gifts for your eco-savvy mom.
Consumer Reports, normally a trusted source for parents everywhere looking for safe baby and child products, is currently feeling the backlash from their recent attack on attachment parenting practices. This week, on Earth Day no less, a post to the Consumer Reports safety blog entitled, “Five Products Not to Buy For Your Baby” admonished the use of both co-sleepers and baby slings. Slings and co-sleeping have long been considered beneficial baby tools by attachment parenting advocates, and the Consumer Reports post is garnering comments from angry parents by the minute.
Mother’s Day is Sunday May 10th. And there’s only one way to top simply saying, “You’re an awesome mom” … and that’s by saying, “You’re an awesome mom,” with flowers. But not just any flowers, Recycled Newspaper Roses handmade by the girls at the Lower Eastside Girls Club.
According to ENN, buying sweet smelling blooms is quite a stinky option, but these lovely creations are not only eco-friendly, each purchase benefits a worthy cause. “Our recycled roses are an eco-friendly alternative to fresh flowers. Handmade by Girls Club members, these flowers never die!” Show your lady that you respect mother earth as much as you respect her. Take it from us: eco and crafty moms everywhere will love them.
Bring the cheer of a summer beach day into your child’s room with these fun Beach Ball Lamps from designer Toby Sanders. We just spotted these clever and eye-catching lamps at the Milan Furniture Fair, and we love the creative use of old beach balls, bringing new life and vitality to what would otherwise go straight to landfill.
Does it get any cuter than this little guy?
This smiley little octopus will melt any baby’s heart, and lots of tentacles and tassels are extra fun for exploring fingers. Happily, this charming baby octopus is as friendly to the earth, and to struggling artisans as he is to children. Hand-knit by …
Kids love to pucker up when they happen upon dandelions… and what is cuter than that? Now they can wear a dandelion on a super cute tee. The adorable Small Is Beautiful tee is made with 100% organic cotton and printed with environmentally friendly inks by the always eco-friendly and hip No Enemy. Available in a small size for 3-6 month-old babes and a larger size for 9-12 month-old tots.
Nothing whips up summer fun like a treasured, multifaceted playset. Playsets get kids outside and active, while allowing them to use their imagination. A safe and durable playset can provide countless hours of fun, and act as a great backdrop to sit and dream, draw, or picnic when you’re small. If you’re considering a summer splurge for your little ones, skip the plastic swing sets, and invest in a quality 100% Northern White Cedar playset from CedarWorks.
We often talk about the importance of cloth diapers here at Inhabitots, because using them is one good green way to eliminate the waste that goes along with using disposable diapers. With summer almost here, you may be wondering what baby should wear on his bottom during swim-time fun? There are disposable baby swim pants available, but like disposable diapers, disposable swim pants create waste issues, and can be made with icky chemicals. A better choice over disposables are the super cute and easy to use Swimmi pants from Bummis.
Some parents might consider this Waldorf themed birthing doll a little extreme, or perhaps even shocking, but kids do have a natural interest in birth and breastfeeding, and for open-minded or attachment parenting families, this Birthing Doll might just be an incredible learning experience.
Artist Jim Denevan amazes us with his freehand, eco-friendly by nature and design, sand drawings. With summer on the horizon, many child builders and architects will be blooming on beach sands. Show kids Denevan’s amazing artwork to inspire them and encourage their appreciation for environmental beauty. (via Nature Repurposed.)
Droolicious features 5 Wild Ways to Bike with Kids. No matter how big or small your brood, check out these eco-friendly transportation options and wheel about town in …
One issue customers have with IKEA wares, is the take-it-home-and-build-it nature of the majority of items they sell. Once thought of as a necessary drawback to the concept of flat pack furniture, Way Basics does away with the notion that in order to have modular furniture at an affordable price one has to grapple with an allen wrench. By introducing a line of ‘no tools’ furniture for kids, made from recycled post-consumer materials, Way Basics is attempting to save green parents a lot of trouble.
What’s better than stylish baby furniture that treads lightly on the earth? How about stylish baby furniture that is fun, playful and celebrates the earth’s creatures, all while maintaining a small environmental footprint? We love this Zebra crib by Ninetonine design for this exact reason. Forgoing the same-old same-old jail bar crib design that characterizes the majority of cribs these days, Ninetonine’s zoomorphic Zebra crib brings a safari spirit to your nursery, with a crib that literally looks like it is about to take off on a gallop across the savannah.
Trees are the ubiquitous symbols associated with a fruitful life, green-mindedness, affinity for the earth (tree-hugging), and family. Celebrate all of these traits by gathering around with your loved ones and building your very own Totem Tree in honor of Earth Week. Printed with wood and plant textures, the Totem Tree’s tangible earthiness brings the outdoors in. The kit includes a manual, two birds, a birdhouse, and mushrooms growing on the tree trunk. Hidden messages are sprinkled throughout the 150 cardboard panels via mediums such as crushed soda cans. The Totem Tree is biodegradable and recyclable. We’re certain you’ll want to keep it on display as your family tree year round, and you may also transform it into a new creation as a rainy day activity.
It’s Earth Day, and here at Inhabitots we’re going about our green business as usual, honoring Mother Earth. As eco-conscious readers of Inhabitots, we’d like to open up a discussion with you about things we can all do to extend Earth Day into a year long celebration. Enlighten us with your thoughts and ideas, and you could win an Inhabitat T-shirt or onesie of your choice for your …
Children are inherently curious, enthusiastic nature lovers. Just try to get a child to not jump and splash gleefully into a puddle, giggle at a squirrel, chase a butterfly or smell a flower. They are impressionable and eager to learn about their surroundings, and Earth Day presents a precious opportunity to take them by the hand and lead them down the emerald path to a life of green thinking and earth loving. Here are 10 kid-friendly activities to help you celebrate Earth Day with your children.
Summer’s on its way, and you and your little ones are going to be out and about enjoying nature. Staying hydrated is important, but carrying around all those plastic water bottles is not only bulky and expensive, but super bad for the planet. Buying your tot his very own reusable water bottle is a great green alternative to using plastic disposable bottles. Read on to find out why now is the best time ever to choose a cool, new reusable water bottle from SIGG.
If you envision your little one as a budding eco warrior or simply a cute elfin sprite, you might consider preserving your child’s essence with a customized leaf portrait by Jenny Lee Fowler. We love the ingenuity and resourcefulness of these silhouette cut-outs, a modern interpretation of early Americana or green Victoriana. Simply provide a clear photo of your child’s profile against a neutral background, and the artist will craft a unique likeness that no other print can replicate. It’s a great way to share the spirit of green and support crafty endeavors of the sustainable realm.
Calling all bloggers! The Inhabitat Shop recently launched with a fabulous collection of eco baby products and green design goodies, and we need your help spreading the word about our spring green bounty! In order to get the word out about our new shop, we’re trying a new experiment and holding a green blogger contest. Consider yourself a trendsetter? Think your blog (or facebook profile, or twitter profile) is influential, and want to prove it by winning your favorite designer item from the Inhabitatshop? If so, pick your favorite item from the Inhabitatshop and blog it. The blogger (or facebooker, or twitterer) who sends the most traffic to the Inhabitatshop will win the very item they chose to write about – not to mention bragging rights as most influential blog in the ecosphere. Intrigued?
If your Easter festivities left you with visions of jelly beans dancing in your head, you can carry on the celebration with these candy lookalike and colorful kid-friendly crayon stones. The molded shape of crayon stones allows for a ‘proper tripod grip’ for younger kids, as well as being ideal for children with special needs. Made of soy wax (a renewable resource grown in the US) and colored with non-toxic mineral powder, this set of 16 colorful stones allows for hours of eco-friendly play and dreaming, all within arm’s reach. Because of their super delicious, candy-hued palette, crayon stones are suggested for kids 3 and up.
When we think of sharing furniture with our young children, we imagine plopping into one of their bean bag chairs, or watching nervously as they try to climb into a giant dining chair without toppling it over. Designer Naomi Dean bridges the gap between plopping and toppling with her adult and child friendly Tiny Footprint Desk. This sleek, modern, diminutive desk functions both as …
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