Green Toys Review

I rarely buy my kidlets toys made of plastic, as most are shipped from overseas, and many contain dangerous ingredients such as BPA, PVC, Phthalates, and even Lead. I’ve also found the majority of plastic toys are poorly made and break easily, which essentially means another piece of plastic ending up in the landfill. So when I first came across Green Toys, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. What do you think, can plastic toys really be green?

I’m excited to say the answer is YES!

Green Toys Inc. doesn’t mess around when it comes to being green, in fact, recycled milk containers are the main ingredient in all of their toys. You can even visit the Green Toys Inc. website and see just how many milk cartons they’ve recycled to date, which is currently 8,162,121! The plastic material Green Toys Inc. uses from the milk cartons is called high-density polyethylene (or HDPE). This material is considered one of the safest plastics around. It’s safe enough to store milk in, and most importantly, safe enough for little ones to put in their mouth.

All Green Toys are made in the USA, right here in my home state of California. Nothing is shipped from overseas, meaning less energy wasted, less greenhouse emissions and they must to live up to all of California’s strict toy safety and environmental laws. Green Toys are tested by independent, third-party labs here in the US, and contain no traceable amounts of Phthalates or BPA. Green Toys are also created without any external coatings, which means you don’t have to worry about lead paint, or any other yucky coatings that could be harmful to little ones.

I was recently sent the Green Toys School Bus to review along with my two helpers Hailey (5) and Kyliana (13 months). The first thing that caught my eye was the wonderful, eco-friendly packaging. I was excited to discover there were no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties to deal with like most toys, and the kidlets were excited it didn’t take mommy 5 minutes just to get the toy out of the box! I also love how the box is covered with great information about why Green Toys Inc. are Earth-friendly, and what makes them safe. All of the information on the box makes Green Toys a really neat gift to give a friend with children who has not yet considered the importance of going green.

So, now that we know Green Toys are safe & eco-friendly, there’s just one more important quality every good toy should have- fun! Of course kidlets are always excited to play with a toy when it’s new, but whether they’ll still play with it weeks, months and even years later is what matters. We’ve had our Green Toys School Bus for a little over 2 weeks, and I’m thrilled to say Kyliana (my 13 month old) has hardly set it down. My 5 year old also enjoys playing with it, and that tells me this is something Kyliana will enjoy for years to come. My 8 year old son even had a bit of fun with the school bus, teaching his sisters how to roll it down the slide.

I’ve loved watching my children explore the toy freely, without battery operated music and noises to get in the way of their endless imaginations. They’ve had great fun singing their own songs (the wheels on the bus go round and round), and the bus has traveled everywhere from Disneyland to the jungle and back! Kyliana even learned to make car sounds for the first time while playing with the bus, which may not have happened
(this early), had it made the noises for her.

Buy It!

If you’re looking for a fun, imagination-powered toy to put under the tree this year, the Green Toys School Bus will not disappoint! You can check out the entire product line of Green Toys at www.GreenToys.com, which includes other Vehicles, Tea Sets, Tool Sets, Play Food and many other high quality, eco-friendly toys your kidlets are sure to love. You can also follow Green Toys Inc. on Facebookand Twitter, or join the Green Toys Mailing List to keep up with all of the latest products, promotions and more!

Win It! (Ended)

Green Toys Inc. has generously offered to giveaway a Green Toys School Bus to one lucky eco-crazy reader! You can enter to win this prize, along with two other fantastic eco-friendly prizes on my Green Christmas Giveaway Hop post now through November 18th, 2011.

Bonus Entry: Leave a comment below telling me what you love most about Green Toys! Be sure to click on “Green Toys Bonus Entry” in the Rafflecopter form on the giveaway post and click “I Did This” to claim your entry.

Disclosure: I received one or more products to review and share with you in exchange for writing this post. I was not given any monetary compensation for writing this post, and all opinions are purely my own.

Terri
For more eco-crazy tips follow Eco-Crazy Mom on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow my blog and join my mailing list to be the first to know about new posts, giveaways and the latest eco-crazy news!

Did you find this information interesting or helpful? Please help spread the word! Give this post a +1 or share it on your favorite social media site using the buttons below.