I wrote this post last year. While rewriting some older posts, doing some search engine optimizing and keyword research I found this post. It seems very timely with all that is happening on the toys front with the legislation that could pass making natural and homemade toys illegal. Recently a friend sent me an email wanting me to help her and other moms out to determine what is safe, what they can do and advocate for, where to look on the web and who to trust. She had discovered the website that I found over a year ago. It made me realize how last year when my friends thought I was a “green freak” going over board with my worrying, how they just needed to catch up on their own, when they were ready. Funny it was a NPR report that spurred the light bulb turning on! Go NPR!
Here is what I had to say one year ago and I really wonder, have we come any further making our kids toys safer?
My one year old (tomorrow’s her birthday) was chewing on one of her brothers toys from Christmas. At first I shrugged it off and then after a few minutes thought, “That toy from probably from China and full of lead!” That’s when I took it away from her and she cried for what seemed forever. Is the lead worse than the emotional trauma from taking a toy out of her hand? Hmmmm? Anyhow, I did some research and wanted to know more about the recalls and how to find out about what toys are healthy and what toys aren’t. I know, this should have happened before the holidays but it didn’t. I just seem so focused on buying food, vitamins and personal care products from a company I can trust and learning more about these topics that toxic toys have taken a back seat. Slap on the wrist but shoot…we can’t be perfect!
I found Healthytoys.org, a Michigan based group that really focuses on all thing green and healthy. I was very much impressed with the group and thought they did a great job trying to encompass the health of our Environment and our homes. Healthytoys.org allows you to see what toys test high for toxic chemicals, what toys are safe and even nominate toys to be tested. I thought that was a great idea! Luckily through my brief toxic toy search I have found zero toys in our home that are toxic but I’m still researching.
