2009 October | Inhabitots

6 Healthier Halloween Eco-Treats for Kids (No Tricks, We Promise!)

by Jasmin Malik Chua, 10/14/09

It’s the most frightful night of the year. Ghouls and goblins, pirates and princesses, mischief makers galore will be haunting your doorstep in pursuit of sweet, delectable offerings. But if high-fructose corn syrup, artificial preservatives, and other spooky chemical additives make your skin crawl, here’s a grab bag of organic and all-natural treats that will appease the most ravenous fiend, no tricks necessary.

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Somebubby Baby Ties & Bowtie Onesie Ensembles

by Johnny Strategy, 10/13/09

We all know that bringing your cute, sweet, tiny, perfect, cuddly – did I say cute? – bundle of joy to weddings or other formal events is a no-no. However, that is no reason not to dress up your aforementioned object of affection in Somebubby Baby Ties and Bowtie Onesie Ensembles. We first fell in love with Somebubby apparel at The Baby Show NYC. These too cute for words ‘formal’ outfits for baby are made in the USA from 100% cotton. The ties and bowties are made from designer vintage neckties so every tie-piece is one-of-a-kind and unique. They would be perfect for birthdays, dinner parties, or simply hitting the town with mommy and daddy — and an added bonus is that all proceeds benefit savethechildren.org.

+ Somebubby Baby Ties & Bowtie Onesie Ensembles $35

LAST CHANCE! Enter to Win a Bambino Baby Box Worth $175!

by Beth Shea, 10/13/09

Green parents: today is your last chance to enter to win an incredible Bambino Baby Box worth $175! Brimming over with awesome goodies, perfectly suited for an eco-lifestyle and a little greenie! Don’t miss your chance to win this great prize! Contest closes at midnight EST tonight!

ENTER TO WIN HERE >

Hiromatsu Children’s Furniture by Designer Yu Watanabe

by Johnny Strategy, 10/13/09

Hiromatsu Furniture recently teamed up with designer Yu Watanabe to create the WF series of kids furniture. As if designed by a child, the free-form yet simplistic pieces are sure to inspire creativity in the young and old. Yu Watanabe is an 80-year old retired professor of design who agreed to emerge from retirement to create these beautiful pieces for future generations. Made-to-order and fashioned out of all-natural pine, each piece in the collection is unique. We can’t get enough of those adorable bunny chairs!

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Oeuf’s Animal Hats & Booties Show Us Where the Wild Things Are

We now know where the wild things are — they live among us — the diminutive dwellers in our households, underfoot in Oeuf’s gorgeously crafted 100% Alpaca Animal Hat & matching Booties Collection. The green dragon, the black wolf and the snowy white bear will keeps kids toasty, festive and spooky for Halloween and for this Friday’s premiere of ‘Where the Wild Things Are.’ Babies and children can suit up for the year’s most anticipated children’s film by donning any creature set from this new, seasonal collection from Oeuf.

Brian Dettmer’s Ghastly Recycled Cassette Tape Skulls & Skeletons

Some people look at old cassette tapes and see lampshades – others, coin purses. But few see anything as frightfully fun as what Brian Dettmer sees — skulls! That’s right, the Atlanta-based artist recycles, melts, and melds the musical relics into eerily realistic “skullptures,” including a full human skeleton made of 180 tapes! Talk about being a bone-a-fide upcycler…

Oeuf’s Bat Hats are Halloween’s Coziest Accessories

From sweet winged baby angel slippers to warm and fuzzy mittens and sweaters, green kids furniture and clothing maker Oeuf (which means “egg” in French) is always coming up with unique products that show us how fun being eco-friendly can be! Their cozy new Bat Boy and Bat Girl hats are no exception. Perfect for Halloween shenanigans, this knit beanie comes in both “bat eyes” and “mask” styles and can be worn atop your little Trick or Treater’s head or over their eyes, Hamburgler style. In fact, you could easily build costumes right around the Bat Hat, and since your child will continue wearing it throughout the winter, it’s a great alternative to a cheap polyester throwaway costume from a big box retailer.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: 5 Ways to Shop Green for the Cure

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we’ve found five great eco-friendly products that will help you ‘Think Pink’ and shop green to raise awareness and funds for finding a cure for breast cancer. Moms and daughters will delight in these pretty, pink finds!

Kids Raise Awareness About Global Warming with Climate Quilt Campaign

The Climate Quilt Campaign co-founded by Habitat Heroes and the Green Schools Alliance, is a major effort to raise awareness about climate change issues while connecting children around the world, and empowering youth who want to speak out for a cleaner, healthier planet. Kids across the globe are pledging to help save the planet by participating in the Climate Quilt Campaign. The end goal is to create a quilt (made out of recycled fabric) to raise awareness about global warming; with the hope that the finished collaboration will be displayed in Copenhagen during the UN conference on climate change which commences December 7, 2009.

Nature’s Art: Striped Icebergs and Frozen Waves of Antarctica

Norwegian sailor Oyvind Tangen, 63, captured nature at its most mysterious and beautiful while on board a research ship 660 miles north of the Antarctic. His stunning photographs of brilliantly colored icebergs, remind Tangen of, “…striped candy I bought as a child.” His images remind us of nature’s eye-candy, which is now forever documented as a testament to the majestic beauty that unfolds on our planet.

Inhabitots Link Roundup of the Week: Gearing Up for Halloween!

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REMINDER! Enter to Win a Bambino Box Worth $175!

Enter to win an awesome Bambino Box filled with classic, non-toxic, Fair Trade toys, decor and books that your baby will surely love! The holidays are approaching, and the Bambino Box is the perfect gift set for eco babies!
ENTER TO WIN HERE >

KOZ Architects’ Sports & Leisure Center in Saint-Cloud is Colorful and Green

“No running in the hallways!” is a rule most children are used to hearing during the school year. It’s also the rule KOZ architects‘ Christophe Ouhayoun and Nicolas Ziesel decided to turn on its head when they designed the kid-friendly Sport and Leisure Center in Saint-Cloud, France. With stairwells three times regulation width (and some lacking actual stairs), the architects liberated these normally restrictive areas, creating “a secure and private area where children can go alone in complete safety.” The result is an eye-catching, sustainably designed building created for festive celebrations, entertainment and leisure.

NEW! PlayShapes by Miller Goodman

“Less is more” is one axiom the toy makers at Miller Goodman have down pat. Its latest offering, a modular set of 74 geometric wooden shapes, can be arranged or stacked in countless ways to produce hundreds of three-dimensional creations. Made from sustainably harvested rubberwood, PlayShapes is merely a conduit for your child’s boundless imagination, with basic geometric forms that …

Eco-Friendly Halloween Costumes from Tom Arma Signature Collection

Not all parents have time to whip up crafty, homemade eco-friendly Halloween costumes for their kids. But that doesn’t mean parents have to sacrifice being green by purchasing a ready-made Halloween costume. The Tom Arma Signature Costume Collection offers a large array of super cute Halloween styles for tots — from creatures such as frogs, ladybugs, elephants, dinos and white tigers, to classic holiday inspired costumes including gingerbread tots, pumpkins, and snow babies. Most importantly, Tom Arma costumes feature many eco-friendly attributes that most store bought Halloween costumes lack. Read on for the green details!

Wee Go Glass Baby Bottles

Looking for eco-friendly glass baby bottles that are cute and modern? Wee Go to the rescue! Wee Go glass baby bottles are naturally toxin-free (no bisphenol-A (BPA), phthalates, or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), as glass doesn’t leach chemicals. Glass is easy to clean, keeps milk better, and even though it is more fragile than plastic, the Wee Go bottles come with an added durability factor — they are outfitted in cheery, rainbow colored silicone sleeves (strawberry, sky, ocean, pink, orange and yellow) which act as a shock absorber for spills and allow little fingers to grasp the otherwise slippery surface.

The Baby Show NYC – Our Favorite Green Finds for Eco Babies!

This past weekend, Inhabitots was on the scene at NYC’s first ever Baby Show, a fun event gathering all the best baby toys, clothes, services and gear together under one roof for new parents and parents-to-be! Several green baby brands showcased sustainable goods at the show, and we’re super excited to share our favorites finds with you. Here are our top green finds from The Baby Show NYC!

WIN AN AWESOME BAMBINO BABY GIFT BOX – WORTH $175!

Attention all new and expecting parents!
We’re giving away an awesome baby goody box: the Bambino Box to one lucky winner! The Bambino Box is a wonderful way to welcome your baby to your eco-friendly family. Valued at $175 this sweet gift box from Jade’s ToyBox includes: a starter library for parents and baby, including children’s classics, Goodnight Moon, replenishable wood ABC blocks, a phthalate-free rubber duckie, a wind-up wooden music box, and a handmade, fair-trade Yoyo animal from a Bolivian women’s cooperative. This wonderful goody box is valued at $175 and is CHOCK FULL of great fair-trade and non-toxic children’s classics, so it makes a wonderful new baby gift!

TO WIN A BAMBINO BOX FOR YOUR VERY OWN:

1) Sign up with Inhabitots.

2) Leave a comment on this post below telling us how you plan to green your lifestyle for your new baby!

Jade’s ToyBox Offers ‘Green Bambino’ Gift Box for Eco Babes

Jade’s ToyBox offers unique, eco-friendly toy filled gift sets for babies, toddlers and preschoolers in a variety of themed ‘concept boxes’ that combine learning, fun and safety. The company was started by a mother and father in New York City after they realized that a number of their daughter, Jade’s toys were listed on the China lead recall list. They developed Jade’s ToyBox to take the guesswork out of shopping for kids. Jade’s ToyBoxes are “free of batteries, licensed characters and toxic chemicals.” From the New Yorker which features quintessential toys for tots living in the Big Apple, to the Moody Foodie which encourages a child to expand their picky palate, there’s sure to be a ToyBox for every kid’s penchant. Our favorite is the Green Bambino Box, (shown above) which is the ultimate starter kit for all new and expecting eco-conscious parents. Learn what’s inside the toybox after the jump!

Eco Felt Monster Onesie Set for Baby’s Green Halloween

Who better to banish the nighttime frights than a cute and harmless monster friend? The ECO Felt Monster Onesie Set from Morado Designs includes a sweet, certified organic cotton onesie with a recycled felt monster applique for your baby to wear, as well as a fun monster stuffie made of recycled felt that will be a friend to your child for years …