Jill Fehrenbacher

Jill is the founder and publisher of Inhabitots.com and Inhabitat.com and a green designer living in New York City. She created Inhabitots.com in the summer of 2008 as she prepared for the arrival of her first baby. She is an avid idealist, modern design junkie and believes firmly that becoming a parent doesn't have to mean sacrificing style or ideals. Follow Jill on Twitter @jillfehr

5 Green Toys You Can Make Yourself Out Of Ordinary Household Items

by Jill Fehrenbacher, 01/12/10

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.

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GREAT GREEN PLAYDATE in NYC!

by Jill Fehrenbacher, 01/09/10

The Great Green Playdate for a Cause is eco-play company Unplugged on a Rug‘s traveling playdate that caters to families with young children from 0-5 years. Inhabitots editor Jill Fehrenbacher will be on the scene with her own Inhabitot, Petey, so join us for some green play and musical surprises! All proceeds from this playdate will go to The Max Cure Foundation.

Hope to see you there!

GREAT GREEN PLAYDATE:
Feb 19th, 3:30pm
Kidville’s TRIBECA Location - 200 Church Street in New York City. Check out our pics of the last Great Green Playdate HERE >

Petey-With-Natalie

About Unplugged on a Rug and the Great Green Playdate:

“We tour the best stuff from our play rooms from community to community. We share our ideas to reuse, reduce and recycle to simplify the environment for more complex play. We are proud to introduce bObles as our favorite toys and many of our most magical playmates to join our cause to raise $10,000 this year to support charities for mothers and children.”

VOTE NOW! Top 5 Green Toys of 2009

by Jill Fehrenbacher, 12/28/09

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:

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GREEN GIFT-WRAP IDEA: Bobo Wrapping Scarves

by Jill Fehrenbacher, 12/21/09

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.

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NEW YORK PARENTS! ‘Unplug on a Rug’ is this Thursday Dec 17th!

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. …

Eliminate Diapers with Infant Potty Training!

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).

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!

Barley & Birch Adorable Eco-Chic Clothes for Your Hipster 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.

5 Ways to Get Breastfeeding Off to a Good Start

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….)

WIN A FREE CUSTOM PHOTO BOOK FROM SHUTTERFLY

If you read my last post about Shutterfly’s custom photo books and are interested in making one yourself, you’ll be happy to know that we are running a contest on Inhabitots to give away 12 custom photo books to our readers. This fun service allows you to design-your-own hard bound book for your child: anything from …

Make Your Own Customized Alphabet Book with Shutterfly!

Most tots love alphabet books, but moms can get a little burnt-out reading ‘A is Apple’ everyday. That’s why when I found out about Shutterfly’s make-your-own custom alphabet books, I got super excited! Finally, I could combine my passion for scrapbooking and taking copious pictures of my child, with the necessity of reading alphabet books — and create an alphabet photo book totally focused around my adorable son. Now my son can read an alphabet book all about his life – filled with photos of him engaged in different activities. All children learn most naturally when educational material is made relevant to their daily lives – and what could be more relevant than an ABC book highlighting all of my son’s favorite things and people?

Little Lark Offers Eco-Friendly Mommy / Baby Matching!

Recently I’ve gotten into getting matching clothes for myself and my kid, and eco label Little Lark allows matching nerds like myself to go crazy with tons of cute matchy-matchy prints for mom and baby. A friend of mine who recently returned from Japan tells me that this phenomenon is called “Peyaruku” or “Pair Look” in Japangrish — though I think in Japan this phenomenon is mainly limited to adult couples who dress to match each other. However, being the big momma nerd that I am, I’m compelled to try to do this with my poor innocent baby who isn’t big enough to protest yet (unlike my husband! . So if you’re into “Pair Look” and you want to do it in an eco-friendly manner, your first stop should be Little Lark.

REMINDER: EcoZoo Backpack Contest!

Just a little reminder that we are giving away an adorable green ‘EcoZoo’ critter backpack to the family who impresses us the most with their green back-to-school tale. So if you want to get your hands on one of these uber green, super cuties, enter our contest …

INHABITOTS FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Inhabitots! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Inhabitots – Happy Birthday to YOU!
And many more….

NY Baby Show

http://www.thebabyshownyc.com/

October 3 & 4th 2009
@ The Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street NYC

Bubble Trade Show

http://www.bubblenewyork.com/home.htm

August 2, 3, 4th, 2009
Cedar Lake
547 W26th Street, New York, NY, 10001

Baby Versions of Modernist Classics by KnollKids!

If you’ve been reading Inhabitat or Inhabitots for awhile, you might know that we are big fans of the Modernist design movement that revolutionized building, products (and life as we know it), starting in the 1930s. We love us some Mies, Eames, and Gropius furniture — but up until now it wasn’t really possible to find tot-sized, or eco-friendly versions of classic Modernist furniture pieces. Happily, Knoll Kids now has a collection of Modernist children’s furniture that is eco-conscious and adorable.

Little Mateo Organic Custom Letter Onesies

Looking for the perfect baby shower gift that will really stand out from the crowd of generic onesies? Little Mateo to the rescue! This mom and pop line of baby wear creates adorable, organic baby onesies, custom-designed with an oversized print of your requested letter or number on the chest. If you’re searching for a stylishly monogrammed onesie, or perhaps want a memento of your baby’s current weight with an “8 lb” creeper, Little Mateo can custom tailor to your satisfaction, with super-cutey results. I recently tested out a Little Mateo monogrammed “P” onesie on my little guy Petey (see above), and we both loved it.