Imagine how much money you would have to spend if you had to buy a crib, raised cot, daybed a junior bed and a longer bed while your kid grows. However, this is exactly what most of us do as our kids are growing.
One of the niftiest and greenest pieces of furniture to come along for kids in a long time is The Leander Bed. This is a functional bed that can be taken apart and put together again to turn into several different types of sleeping platforms including a full crib with rails and a long formal bed.
Another nifty gadget that has been around for a while are Color-Changing Eco Lamps. These are soft little plastic 'ghosts' that you plug into a wall. If you press the ghosts belly and it turns green then you have switched it on for an hour. If it is orange then you have switched it on for over four hours and if it is red you have switched it on for over eight hours. I like this product because it teaches your kids about conserving energy and timing energy usage. It is made by a company called Tio and it is not much more expensive than a night light.
One of the messiest baby accessories to deal with are plastic baby bibs. Finally a company is making biodegradable baby bibs. Cocoboheme's bib feature big beautiful pictures of chickens, pigs, frogs and other animals. They are made out of potato starch and are solvent free. This means that your baby can suck on the bib without you having to worry about he or she eating chemicals. You can use them more than a couple of times before you have to throw them out and after you do they do not leave a big stubborn carbon foot print like typical plastic baby bibs.
Did you know there are companies out there that are now making eco-dough, eco-fingerpaint and eco-puzzles? Eco Kids, which is a family based company based out of California is now making all of these things out of plant and fruit extracts. The play dough and paint is made without toxic metals, dyes or chemicals.
All of the containers the toys come in are biodegradable and the puzzles are made out of Radiata Pine which is a wood that is sustainably forested in New Zealand.
It is nice to buy products for your children that do not have you feeling guilty about a thing.