It’s the first week of 2009, and already two friends have had babies, and five more have announced they’re expecting this year. It’s definitely the year of the baby for a lot of people! I thought I’d kick off the new year with a week of newborn/infant write-ups to make any parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or whomever ready for their eco-kid’s arrival.

Can you count how many blankets you’ve either given or received for children? I had everything from handknit throws to cotton swaddlers to a blanket that screamed flammable, sent to me after my kids were born. For a truly luxurious (and thankfully, natural) blanket, these SHI SHU BABY blankets will fit right in. The mom behind SHI SHU found out the hard way how unnatural products can react with skin, when her son broke out in a rash from a microfiber blanket. SHI SHU blankets are handwoven, and made with a 60%/40% natural cotton to bamboo blend with bamboo sateen trim. Bamboo is an amazing fiber - it’s antibacterial, breathable, washable and long lasting. The fibers are not chemically treated, and will wow anyone who receives one!

This blanket would be an ultimate for me, something my kids would snuggle in for years to come. And luckily, they come in adult sizes! This week, I’m celebrating the wonder of babyhood by giving away one super-gorgeous, large SHI SHU BABY blanket in the color of your choice! Just leave a comment at this post with your favorite color. The giveaway will be open until next Sunday night, January 11th at midnight, PST.

Winner will be chosen at random. Open to US residents only. Retail value is $88.

This contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone for entering!

Snow is starting to make an appearance around the country this week, which means new boots and snow shoes are either being broken in for the first time this season or people are running out to find the right shoes! I’m a big fan of KEEN footwear, and their just-launched website where you can buy shoes, bags and gear directly from them is a definitely go-to place for winter (and summer, but let’s talk snow for now). Here’s what I love most about KEEN - their products are top quality, stylish and beyond that, they take great pride in being responsible not only with their products, but for the planet and community as well. Here are some green points about KEEN I think you’ll appreciate:

*KEEN’s shoeboxes are made from 100% recycled post-consumer waste;

*Their awesome line of Harvest Bags features recycled shoe manufacturing components, such as rubber and aluminum;

*KEEN shoes use either water-soluble glues or vulcanized rubber instead of glue;

*Natural cotton (grown without pesticides) are used instead of treated canvas;

*KEEN uses leather only recommended by the Leather Working Group, a watchdog for environmentally safe tannery practices;

*Their successful social efforts, including the KEEN Hybrid.Stand campaign, where sustainability entrepreneurs were awarded (collectively) $125,000 for their humanitarian and eco-efforts! And don’t forget to visit KEEN’s HybridLife community page, where you can read about and nominate people and groups who “Stand Out” and make a difference worldwide.

So, how does all of this wonderful information translate to you, dear readers? This week, one very lucky commenter can win ANY one item from KEEN! ANYTHING - shoes for you, your little one, your better half, a bag, anything. Comes right on time, doesn’t it? Here are the rules - leave a comment here with an answer to this: What KEEN item would you love to give/get for the holidays? Please visit KEEN and leave the item name in your comment. This contest will be open until next Sunday, December 14th until midnight, PST. One winner will be chosen at random; open to US residents only.

For an added bonus, use the code TEENSYGREEN for free shipping now through December 14th! Good luck!

This contest is now CLOSED! Thanks to everyone for entering!

As much as I adore LeapFrog’s products, they are admittedly, not very green (aside from the cute green color, but you know what I mean). Encased in plastic, with no known method for recycling (so far as my research has taken me), it didn’t take me long to find a green twist to this enormously popular toy.

Not every toy my kids have is eco-friendly, although we try much harder now to make very conscious decisions about what we (and what we can influence) other people to buy for them. As they get older, the gadgety stuff is tougher to get away from, but for things like art products, blocks, dolls and more, there couldn’t be a better time to be a kid these days!

For battery operated toys, rechargeable batteries are green in more ways than one. First, you’ll save a ton of green by providing reusable batteries instead of disposable. You can use them in anything requiring batteries, from handheld video games to flashlights to the new talking doll that totally creeps you out. Rechargeable batteries come in alkaline form, lithium ion (LI-ion) or Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH). There are differences with these, including price, charging speed and what kind of products the batteries work well in. Green batteries is a great place to start researching batteries and chargers. You can also check out this article from MetaEfficient, about the best rechargeable batteries for 2008.

Now you have no excuse to “forget” to replace the batteries in the obnoxiously loud toy your kids cried about for a year! Happy shopping!

It’s offcially baby season! I have so many friends having babies from now through the spring, I’ve toyed with the idea of doing a “babies only” eco-site to keep up with all the products I’ve been researching! For now, I thought I’d kick off celebrating all the new bundles of joy with a great giveaway from a hot eco-friendly company.

The husband and wife team behind the super-stylish company Itzy Ritzy wants to bring a bit of celebrity to you and your baby! Their “baby bamboo” fabric is incorporated into many of their products, giving softness and eco-loveliness to blankets, car seat covers, highchair covers, nursing covers and burp cloths. Bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial, deodorizing, with a silky feel that’s indulgent yet practical (meaning, machine washable). One thing I love about Itzy Ritzy is their amazing array of fabric choices, so I can send gifts to friends who have all kinds of style preferences. From girly to rocker to traditional, there’s seriously something for everyone here.

This week, Itzy Ritzy wants you to win their beautiful Ritzy Nurser in Vintage Floral and Baby Bamboo fabric! How much do I wish these were around when my daughters were born? These nursers are not your big t-shirts thrown over your shoulder. It also makes a great shade cover for baby carriers as well. To enter, please leave a comment here with an answer to this - which Itzy Ritzy product would you give to your best friend, family member (or yourself) during baby season? Find your favorite and let me know! This contest will be open until midnight, PST on Wednesday, October 29th. Good luck!

PS - Itzy Ritzy is also offering 20% off your order! Please enter the code GREEN when asked during checkout.

This contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone for entering!

I don’t know about you, but it’s going to be baby city in my world shortly. Not from me, but I have a good number of friends adding to their family, and I’ve been on a gift hunt to prep for all the little ones! Since one of my favorite things to write about are shops and products from parents just like us, how excited was I to find Olive and Bean, a beautiful green store to help get kids off to a great start!

Olive and Bean’s brick and mortar store in Las Vegas (of all places, and Amen!) is chock full of eco-modern products for babies and toddlers, including such brands as Dwell (linens), Spot on Square (furniture), Erbaviva (skincare) and Pediped (shoes). The on-line shop is vibrant and so much fun to browse, with both practical and whimsical gifts. I think it’s an amazing spot to find the perfect baby gift - categories are broken down not only by product, but how much you want to spend. I have my eye on these adorable, non-gendered soft blocks by QCollection Junior for a few of the babies my friends are having this fall and winter!

Click around and pick your favs! This week, Olive and Bean is generously giving away three gift certificate for three winners! Two gift certificates are for $50, and one is for $25. Please leave a comment here with an answer to this - what would buy with your Olive and Bean gift certificate? Winners will be chosen at random. This contest will be open until next Friday, October 3rd at midnight, PST. Good luck!

This contest is now closed! Thanks so much for participating!

What an amazing time to be a kid who eats lunch! When I started my search for a PVC-free, lead-free lunchbag two years ago, it was slim pickings. Now, you can find so many wonderful and functional lunchbags to fit the style and personality of your kids. Because lunch should be as fun as school, right? Many schools don’t allow metal lunchboxes, because they’re difficult to store in the fridge, but I threw one in for bigger kids. Here are my favs for this back-to-school season:

For the Animal Lover - I flipped over these BUILT Munchlers lunch bags, and I think if I didn’t already have too many lunch-carrying options I would buy every one of them. They’re made from soft-sided polypropylene, tested safe for food, lead free, and easy for small hands to open themselves. The coolest part, aside from carrying around fab animals, is that the bag folds out to a placemat! That means clean lunch space and the bag stores flat when your kids finally put them down! They also come in a wearable lunch pack option.

For the Futurist - Fleurville has come a long way since their original Mothership bags, and their Lunch Pak is a proven hit with the preschool set. The PVC-free bag can be worn as a backpack or carried, and is completely insulated with a wipeable interior. It comes in a totally mod design (they could have named it a Lunch “Pod”) with great colors for both boys and girls. I’m hoping they’ll eventually make this bag as part of their Re-Run line and save some plastic bottles from landfills in the future!

For the Whimsical Set - I wrote about Mimi the Sardine bags for my very first teensygreen post, and I still hail these bags as our go-to lunch/snack/art supply/all around bag. Mimi the Sardine bags are made from 100 percent lead free, PVC-free, and meets the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard for safe textiles. They’re so fun to carry around, I mean, your kids will look so adorable carrying these to school!

For Kids Who Love Opening Boxes (and Well Coordinated Lunches) - Bento boxes are all the rage, but many of them (AKA cheap ones) have lids that always open and spill. My younger daughter loves her Laptop Lunch Bento system for many reasons. One, she eats like a bird, and having the ability to put a bunch of different foods together without plastic baggies makes both of us happy. Second, she gets to open all those little boxes herself - like food presents! Laptop Lunch wil save you a lot on plastic wraps and bags, and you can buy extra boxes in great colors. You also get their lunch menu cookbook, with awesome photos of lunch ideas that will make you instantly hungry!

For Older Kids - I first saw the tiffin lunch system while watching Anthony Bourdain eat his way through India. Men called “dabbawalas” or literally, “one who carries a box,” collect these stainless steel lunch boxes from suburban homes, deliver them miles away to their respective lunch recipients, and return the tiffins to their homes. Apparently they have amazing delivery accuracy (wish I could say the same for some places near my house)! These tiffins have made their way here, and I think they’re super sleek and old-fashioned all at the same time. Tiffins come in various sizes, from two to four tiers, can be insulated, and are sealed for no spillage. I think these would be great for older kids who are past the swinging-lunchbag phase, and who can manipulate the tiffin opening, which can be tricky.

I don’t know where you live, but here in Florida we’re on a ONE WEEK countdown to kindergarten. One week gives me not too much time to get ready for school supplies, earlier wake-ups, new teacher, classroom, and the hundreds of other tiny details to make the first day of school as stress free (and tear free) as possible. So for the next couple of weeks, I’ll be covering a lot of Back to School stuff, from the littlest kids to the ones you’re getting ready to send to college and beyond.

One important part of back to school gear is, of course, the backpack. For the past two years we’ve had to buy new packs, after the old ones seem to fall apart at the end of the year and are unrecyclable. I’m also not a big fan of character backpacks, so it was a pleasure to find Ecogear/Ecotech bags. For this giveaway, Ecogear/Ecotech has every kid covered, with organic fabrics and PVC-free materials for their unique, roomy and totally rugged bags for tots to teens and beyond. They’ve even patented a new material, called Ecoweave, which is clean to recycle and toxin-free. My husband has even belted the Snow Leopard around his waist when he’s on his scooter! Ecogear/Ecotech has a ton of new products coming out in coming months, so keep checking back about your favorites!

We’re going to have two winners this week! One winner will have their choice of either a Snow Leopard, Movhave Tui or Bighorn big kid pack from the Ecotech line. For the younger set, one winner can choose their favorite color of the Panda backpack from Ecogear. Please leave a comment at this post with your preference of backpack and what other bags you think would look good stuffed with books, sports gear or anything else your kid lug around with them!

This giveaway will be open for one week, until Monday, August 18th at midnight PST. Good luck!

This contest is now closed! Thanks for entering! 

I have been on a MISSION - to find the perfect BPA-free sippy for my girls. And like many things green these days, it can be overwhelming! I need sippys mainly for camp and when we’re out (which is pretty much all day, every day, so you can see the importance). I’ve been using the Nuby soft sippys for a couple of years, and I do love them, but I’ve really wanted to try all the fun new stuff on the market. I also didn’t want to spend a ton of $$, but with two kids, it’s inevitable to have multiple cups.

We have some SIGGs, which have supercool designs. They can, however, be tough to clean. They also sweat terribly when you put cold liquid in them. This isn’t much fun when they’re bouncing around in a backpack or lunchbag, and can get everything else wet and slimy. But, they are leakproof, and the girls love popping the top open and taking a swig from their cool looking cups, so I’ll keep ‘em.

We’ve also tried the new Camelbak BPA-free water bottles. Actually, I’ve tried them, because they only come in Mommy sizes right now. But, they are great bottles - dishwasher safe, lightweight, and comes with or without a built-in straw. They also come in awesome colors! Get many of them for the gym or playground!

If you’ve been as BPA, PVC and Phthalate crazy as some people I know, then The Soft Landing is THE place for you. The Soft Landing is a one-stop shop for BPA, PVC, and Phthalate-free baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, bath toys, lunchboxes, even stainless cups for parents. It’s a great find for gifts, especially their line of “Go BPA Free Samplers,” an assembly of various products for you to try, including bottles, teethers, and first eaters.

I’m so thrilled that The Soft Landing is sponsoring this week’s giveaway with their Go BPA Free Sippy Sampler. This is a great way to test out four wonderful, all safe, sippy cups - right now, the sampler includes one Foogo insulated stainless cup; one Nuby easy-grip sippy with silicone spout; a Think Baby training cup with chunky handles; and a Klean Kanteen stainless sippy with two Avent spouts. All cups are for babies six months and up. The samplers sell out quick and are on-sale right now, so if you don’t win, grab one fast! The rules are the same - leave a comment here with an answer to this question - which Soft Landing product would you want to try the most? This giveaway will run until next Thursday, July 3rd at midnight PST. Good luck!

This contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone for entering! 

About ten months ago I wrote about the collaboration between Seventh Generation, Health Child Healthy World, the design firm IDEO, Rickshaw Bagworks and renowned architect William McDonough. Called Wee Generation, their goal was to create an ultimate green diaper bag, one that is upcycled and upcyclable; functional yet fashionable; and most important, created with parent’s needs (and feedback!) in mind. So, such as a child takes about ten months to be born, heeeeeeeeeeeere’s the Wee Generation Baby Bag!

The Wee Generation bag is made from PVC-free material, including post-consumer recycled beverage bottles. There’s a removable changing pad, as well as two removable interior totes for diapers and bottles, or toys and food, whatever you can fit in them. The bags are totally gender neutral, with a light interior so spills and dirt can’t hide from you. At $200, the bags don’t have the east price tag to swallow, but for the work put into them, it may be well worth it. It may also help to know 100% of the profits go to Healthy Child Healthy World, one of leading eco-education and advocacy groups for children. And, as a super special bonus, each bag is filled with goodies, such as a copy of the book Naturally Clean by Seventh Generation, a Wee Generation baby tee, Seventh Generation coupons, and more!

You can purchase the Wee Generation bag through Rickshaw Bagworks.

BPA and the use of it in children’s drinking products and pacifiers is still a hot topic in the news and with consumers. Thankfully, there’s a ton of information available now to help parents make informed decisions about how to safely feed their babies and toddlers. There are a lot of brands to choose from that have safer options, and the BornFree line is one of the top recommended BPA-free bottles and sippy cups recommended.

The BornFree system of bottles was created by a group of dads (go dads!) whose concern for their children’s health allowed them to take a big step to help change the way bottles and cups are made. BornFree’s signature honey colored bottles are made from a BPA-free polymer (plastic), and they even provide a line of glass bottles, which has become a big feeding trend in the wake of BPA. The bottles also contain a unique venting system to help reduce colic and ear infections. BornFree can be found at Whole Foods, Babies ‘R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and other retailers.

BornFree is celebrating Father’s Day in a very special way. If you or someone you know has a baby this Father’s Day (June 15th, 2008), you can win a year’s supply of BornFree bottles (up to 10 of them)! The first one thousand people who mail in a copy of the hospital proof of birth or baby’s birth certificate to the address provided are eligible. Click here for all the rules and regulations regarding this giveaway. Providing babies a safe feeding system (aside from breastfeeding, of course) without worry of chemicals is a great way to start their lives!