Pure Play Kids Coupon Code

I posted yesterday that Pure Play Kids created a coupon code just for this page, but forgot to ask when it expired. Well, it’s good for one year!! That way you can do your Birthday, and other shopping as needed, not right now!! This makes me so, so happy to share!!! Be sure to thank them when you do use it as well. Mike & Tania are truly great folks, who care deeply about made in the USA products!! CODE: ECOUSA2015 for 10% off your entire order

Pure Play Kids– it just doesn’t get much better!!

Image Ohhhhh my goodness– there is little that’s more fun than opening a large box of goodies from Pure Play Kids!!! I adore our new additions sooooo much!  My son’s 3rd birthday is coming up in a couple weeks so I got several things for him which I’ll share later in a different post, but I wanted to show some of the items I got for my Baby Girl, who is just about 8 months currently. I spent a lot of time researching trying to find an organic doll made in the US of completely US sourced materials, and did not find one that met all those criteria, at least not for under a couple hundred dollars for some Waldorf options (great if you can afford them!). Pure Play is as close as you can get to what I wanted. The dolls are hand stitched in the US from organic fabric imported from South Korea, and are GOTS certified organic inside & out. I was pleasantly surprised by how large it was, from the website pic I was expecting it to be smaller. For $30 I could NOT be happier with her. I also got an organic cotton star which is awake on one side, asleep on the other and the other side you can’t see is yellow. I did branch out a bit & make my first Haba purchase through Pure Play, the rattle & ball are made in Germany. I’ve had several people tell me that if I want truly the safest products I’d support made in Europe more, and I agree they have stricter safety standards which makes me happy! My goal is to find truly safe products that would meet European standards, while supporting made in the USA. But, I did want to add a bit more color & variety to my Baby Girl’s safe toy offerings, so decided to add these.

The Pure Play folks (Mike & Tania, who are super amazing & dedicated to made in the USA as much as possible) have told me they plan to increase their made in the USA rattle selection, and are always open to new ideas too. I’m going to put in a request for a boy doll to go with the couple of girls that are offered! All together I spent $200, which yes is a lot of money, but I feel I got SO much for that money, and other than the 2 items from Haba my entire order is made in the USA! My sister added a couple things to my order for her daughter’s Easter basket, one of the items she ordered was a magnetic farm set. I didn’t pay attention when ordering it to see where it was made, but did not expect it to be made in the USA (Pure Play offers many made in Europe items too, but NOTHING made in China!). Sure enough, it is indeed made in the USA, and they have a whole selection of different magnet sets which I am so happy to have learned about. I’ve looked for, and been asked about magnets in the past & for some reason my searches did not lead me back to Pure Play, but now that I know I will be spreading the word!! And, they generously created a coupon code for this page! 10% off using the code: ECOUSA2015 the code is good all of 2015!! Their website: http://www.pureplaykids.com/

Celebrating 2 years!!!

Today is the 2 year anniversary of launching this page!!! I woke up on 2/22/12 & decided to start a page to vent my frustrations related to birthday shopping for my son’s upcoming 1st B-day and finding many of the items I was picking up in the stores to be made in China. I figured maybe other parents could benefit from the research I was already doing, and sharing that info just made sense. I will share an interview below which explains a little more about me, and the catalysts for this page for those who aren’t already familiar with the info. Mainly, the catalysts were Johnson & Johnson & their toxic baby products, and Melissa & Doug toys made in China. I’m so proud of this page, the great co-admin I have (who has been here a year now!), and the great, caring, considerate, very well educated community we have here! My website is a year old now, and has had almost 80,000 views in that time- WOW!!! Thank YOU for being here!! We must be the change we wish to see in the future of our planet- keep up the great work Mamas & Dadas

Silicone– a safe alternative to plastic?

February 2, 2014

Silicone Safety
By Jolene Marty
Co-Admin Eco-Friendly baby/family products MADE in the USA

With such limited products that are actually safe for our family, it’s always wonderful to hear about alternatives we can use. I used to think silicone was undoubtedly one of them. Upon researching into silicone a bit further, I was disappointed that there was not more information on the safety of the product. Criteria I was trying to specifically find was how easily, and in what situations, might this substance leach or off-gas. Even though silicone itself is a natural substance, is it something we need to handle with caution in much of the same ways as plastic?

Upon reviewing several articles I unfortunately do not have a clear answer. Here are some things that I did find out about silicone. Also if you do choose that this is something you will use, or continue to use, some safety pointers to help keep your risk, no matter how small, to a minimum:

  • Silicone is from a man made, chemically processed substance made from silicon, oxygen, and often other chemicals
  • Not a lot of studies have been officially done on the safety/long-term effects of Silicone, but it is deemed safe by the FDA
  • There are no official reports found of off-gassing or leaching in question
  • Has a high heat resistance
  • Breaks down easily in environment, often recyclable
  • Has thousands of uses including household and industrial

 

If you choose to use Silicone products here are a few safety tips:

  • Do not use in the oven or on high heat surfaces as the studies of off-gassing have not been thoroughly studied
    • Would include to hand wash silicone items as dishwashers can become quite hot
    • Do not use silicone products that contain fillers
      • Take your silicone and if you can, twist it in your hands…if the twist areas are white, it has fillers
      • Do not cut silicone such as in the case of silicone cutting boards/mats. They often contain very tiny pieces of fiberglass

Silicone has been a much better alternative to plastic in our world but, it is still a man-made product that has been altered and chemically processed in a plant to fit a variety of needs. It would be a good choice over plastic for many things however, like plastic it still has the opportunity to off gas when heated.

If you are interested in some articles that were found interesting including one explaining the science of silicone please look below!

http://www.livescience.com/37598-silicon-or-silicone-chips-implants.html

http://www.dowcorning.com/content/discover/facts.aspx?wt.svl=FS_readmore_home_FACT

http://www.symptomfind.com/health/is-baking-with-silicone-safe/

http://green.yourway.net/is-silicone-bakeware-really-safe/