If you’ve been following Inhabitots recently, you’ve probably heard us rave about the Great Green Playdate which takes place every month in New York City at Kidville. We get together every month with mothers interested in green play for their kids and play around in a fantastically fun musical fete, lead by the two eco super-mama teacher/musicians who make up the organization Unplugged on a Rug. Check out the video that we recently made (above) about our experiences at the last Great Green Playdate!

The next Great Green Playdate is TOMORROW – so if you live in the NYC and you are interested in checking it out – get in touch with Unplugged On a Rug immediately!

Ofrit Peres and Natalie Reyes are great examples of eco-mamas who have managed to start a small business around their kids, and thus find the perfect balance between work and motherhood. I recently wrote a small business profile on Unplugged on Rug here:

What your kids can teach you about growing your business >

Think that “Going green” with your kid’s toys means shopping for expensive and hard-to-find wooden toys? Think again! Some of the most fun, and GREENEST toys are the ones you can make yourself out of common household products and a little ingenuity. If you are the parent of a small child, you probably already know that pots and pans and cardboard boxes are often more captivating to your child than anything store-bought or pre-packaged. The following five DIY toy ideas take the idea of pots and pans to the next level, and were provided to us by uber-creative supermoms Ofrit Peres and Natalie Cronin, the lovely ladies behind the traveling green play event called Unplugged On A Rug.

2009 was a landmark year for green toys. After the ban on phthalates in toys, BPA scandals, and Mattel’s fine of 2.9 million dollars over the lead paint found in Barbie dolls, parents are naturally becoming more and more concerned with the safety and quality of the toys they give to their children. The silver lining has been the growing support for small businesses and brands that produce responsible, safe, high-quality, eco-friendly toys for children. Here are five of our favorite green kids toys from 2009:

Gift-wrapping holiday presents is a fun tradition and often one of the most cherished parts of holiday gift-giving. However, as enjoyable and pretty as paper gift-wrapping can be, the practice is inherently unsustainable. Just think of all the paper and ribbon that goes into the trash each holiday season for each present. That’s why we love the idea of wrapping your gifts in silk scarves this holiday season. Not only do scarves make beautiful, easy gift wrap that requires no tape or scissors – but the durability and multiple uses of scarves mean that the gift-wrap itself becomes part of the present that can be worn and reused again and again. Scarves are also easier for little fingers to wrap! BOBO wrapping scarves are silk scarves that are designed for the express purpose of wrapping presents.

 

Calling all New York eco-conscious baby-mamas and daddies!

The Great Green Playdate is back – and it is happening at Kidville (on the Upper East Side) this coming Thursday, Dec 17th, at 4:30pm.

For those of you who are not familiar with Unplugged on a Rug — it is a fabulous, green-themed traveling playgroup in NYC for families of children ages 0-4 years. Organized by eco-mamas and childhood education specialists Ofrit Peres and Natalie Cronin, the playgroups involve fun, active, kinetic play with recycled DIY toys, balls, bObles, storytime, and lots of singing and dancing. Inhabitots editors Jill Fehrenbacher and Abigail Doan attended a previous Great Green Playdate and had a blast! (pics below) We’ll be attending the upcoming ‘Unplug on a Rug’ playdate this Thursday, December 17th, and we hope to see you there!

Proceeds from this week’s Great Green Playdate go to the Max Cure Foundation, a charity dedicated to pediatric cancer research and awareness.

GREAT GREEN PLAYDATE:
Dec 17th, 4:30pm
Kidville’s Upper East Side location at 163 E. 84th St. in New York City
Check out our pics of the last Great Green Playdate at Kidville, below:

Back in 2008 we published an article that provoked a lot of interest with our readers, and opened up a whole new world for me as the mother of a new baby. The article (written by our intrepid Dr. Mom writer Neelam Misra) was entitled ‘Elimination Communication: Skip Diapers Alltogether’ — and it chronicled the growing movement of moms in the U.S. who are starting to potty train their babies from birth and forgoing diapers entirely. Inspired by this article, I started putting my son (now 15 months) on the toilet around age 6 months. After all, the greenest approach to the whole diaper-debate is to do without (or do with less in my case).

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!

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!

When people hear the word ‘organic’ in reference to clothing, beige and bland is often the first thing that comes to mind, (frustratingly for all of us who are trying to change this irksome stereotype). Happily, eco kids clothing line Barley & Birch is making great strides in keeping your kids sustainably stylish while fighting the crunchy stereotype, with their vivid, eco-chic tee shirts and organic onesies for babies and toddlers. Sporting beautiful, bright duotone prints of images such as the Golden Gate Bridge, and a desert cactus, Barley & Birch’s stylish eco clothing for tots proves once and for all that eco-friendly doesn’t have to be boring or crunchy.

We all know that nothing beats breastfeeding in terms of feeding your baby Thanks to doctors, La Leche League, and lactivists around the world, this message has been drilled into our heads and breastfeeding is now happily experiencing a resurgence. But, despite the fact that all moms know that ‘breast is best’ – many women experience great difficulties nursing their babies and many give up on breastfeeding early on. I personally think that some of this has to do with the fact that many new moms typically don’t realize how difficult breastfeeding can be, and don’t have reliable sources of support when challenges arise – a function that in generations past was served by sisters, mothers and extended family. (More to come on this in my next post….)