You’ve established the ideal, serene setting: eco-friendly crib, green nursery, purified air — but your baby remains AWAKE! Time to try something new? Nook Sleep Systems proposes their Pebble Mattress to lull your little one into green dreamland. The aesthetically appealing pebbled surface of the mattress promotes air circulation and maximum breathability. Designed with a “unique air layer that fosters oxygen flow inside the mattress,” it also boasts luxurious softness compliments of all-natural eucalyptus fibers. In addition to eucalyptus, other non-toxic materials which comprise the pebble mattress include: 100% natural latex, zinc (to reduce microbes, mite and other nasties), certified organic wool, certified organic cotton and PETE.

In addition, Nook Sleep Systems also offers an entire, chic eco-friendly baby bedding collection including crib sheets, nap sacks, blankets, and toddler pillows.

+ Nook Pebble Mattress $610

+ Nook Sleep Systems

via DailyCandy

With its multiple rearview mirrors, motorized axel and fold-out tent, Bruce Maynard’s solar powered stroller seems like baby gear on steroids — but 74 year old Bruce didn’t retro fit the motorized baby stroller dubbed ‘Sam’ for his grandchildren… he’s planning on using it himself to trek diagonally across America from Washington State to Key West, Florida.

No toy serves up an instamagic escape faster than a kaleidoscope can. And Lithuanian sculptor Zilvinas Stankevicius’ eco-friendly version, made from responsibly sourced, fast-growing hazel branches and natural Baltic amber (not the unfriendly plastic or cheap metals that are use to make standard versions) is simply dreamy. A simple peek into the tubular scope transports kids to a Technicolor, multifaceted alter dimension, where friends multiply, colors shift and new galaxies appear just beyond reach — all without every leaving (or harming) the planet.

+ Amber Kaleidoscope $18

+ ONA

New York City chef and new dad, Daniel Angerer has added cheese made from his wife’s breast milk to his menu. While eccentric foodies and their culinary masters sometimes travel great lengths to procure hard-to-find ingredients that satiate exotic palates and put them on the cutting edge of innovation, Angerer found his “gold” ingredient right at home… sleeping next to him. But his idea to make cheese from breast milk could possibly be one of the year’s biggest D.I. Why? moments.

They say it takes a village to raise a child; and when the whole village (and a team of skilled architects) chips in, the result can benefit the community’s entire population via a hand-built school designed with ‘earth architecture.’ The METI ‘hand-built’ primary school in Rudrapur Dinajpu, Bangladesh, “uses traditional methods and materials of construction but adapts them in new ways.” Austrian architect Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag from Germany led a team of local craftsmen, pupils, parents and teachers in the execution of the project, which took just four months to complete using local materials: bamboo, straw, jute rope, and an earthen mixture for the walls and foundation.

Brick-loving kids will be bowled over by designer Dave DeGobbi’s new Lego concept, Crawler Town. The story of Crawler Town begins with an end… the inhabitants of this steam-punk world have exploited the earth’s natural resources and can only find life’s simple luxuries “like pizza, fresh vegetables and beer” while vacationing at moving structures like Crawler Town. Yes, the environmental lesson this toy teaches is a pretty dark one (it’s best suited for older kids) but in all of this, forced by necessity, the townspeople have figured out a more energy efficient means of survival.

Like a crystal castle for a post-ecopalyptic world, Casa Ecologica de Botellas Plasticas (or La Casa de Botellas) is a dream home that only an extremely creative, environment-friendly mind could conjure up. Constructed from thousands of PET plastic bottles, possibly headed for improper disposal, the home created by the Alfredo Santa Cruz family in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, is “a tool for promoting ecological and social responsibility.” The Santa Cruz’s, “successfully designed their portable structures to be accessible, simple, and creative down to the last detail.” As if the ‘big bottle house’ wasn’t whimsical enough, Alfredo also designed a smaller playhouse out of bottles for his young daughter. See exactly how many plastic bottles it took to build La Casa de Botellas after the jump!

Although IKEA’s Lack Table is the foundation of designer Alexis Liu’s ‘Lack Dog,’ her transforming canine furniture creation lacks nothing in way of ingenuity, originality and fun. Created as an entry piece for a recent designboom contest, Liu converted IKEA’s unassuming table into a replica of her beloved pet, Noodle. “Like the real thing, this version can sit, stand, lie down, play bow, turn his head, flop his ears, and wag his tail,” says Liu of her entry. ‘Lack Dog’ is currently a concept piece, but if the designer works on a model that can convert from table to canine and back again, we see it being top dog in the children’s furniture market.

via designboom

Fact #1: “Only 2% of batteries 
are currently recycled — 
the rest end up in
 landfills and are 
poisoning our planet.” Fact #2: “Kids love electronic toys.” Add these two facts together and you get the starting point from which Ecotronic has launched a line of wind-up, shake-up, pump-up powered toys. The quirkiest is an odd activity game called Mr. Robot Head. I remember encountering a very similar incarnation at a street fair in my youth. The goal is to toggle a metal ring from one end of a winding length of wire to the other. If you don’t have a steady hand, and the metals meet, Mr. Robot Head is sure to let you know it by buzzing loudly and flashing his LED eyes. Colorful cell phones and touch-button duckies, an FM radio and a beeping boombox, microphones, flashlights, and rockets round out the Ecotronic battery free toy collection. Each item comes boxed in the Gekopak, “bio-degradable packaging that’s easy to open, has no dangerous ties and wires and uses nothing but recycled paper.”

+ Mr. Robot Head

+ Ecotronic

Another day, another eco-friendly cat house: following Jasmin’s excellent kitty condo post, here’s another sweet crib for your cat. The Loyal Luxe Cat Chalet was recently shown at the New York International Gift Fair. Made by Quebecois designers, Maud Beauchamp and Marie-Pier Guilmain, the flatpak, posh pet palace is made from 100% recycled cardboard and includes: ornamental decorations and playing balls made from leftover cardboard from its production, four interchangeable decorative ornaments to place on the façade (a moose head, a fish, a bird and a banner on which your cat’s name can be written), a textured cardboard carpet for the interior, for kitty to massage and sharpen her claws on — and the blank exterior awaits colorful personalization from pint-sized pet owners.

+ Loyal Luxe ‘Canadian Cabin for Fluffy Little Critters’ $23 at loyalluxe.com

+ Loyal Luxe (The website also features super cute kitty videos!)