PaperlessKitchen Blog

5 Great Green Gifts for Babies

Babies are always hard to shop for at the holiday season, as it can be difficult to know just what they might benefit from. This year, simplify shopping by selecting practical green gifts that Mom and Dad will appreciate and that Baby can help open. Here are five green gift ideas for infants:

1. Bambu Baby Feeding Starter Set

This set includes two infant feeding spoons and a bowl made out of nontoxic organic bamboo. The packaging makes the gift charming, particularly if you finish it with a pretty ribbon.

2. thinkbaby All in One

With this unique feeding system, Mom and Dad can assemble pieces to create two baby bottles, two sippy cups and two straw bottles. The components are made out of nontoxic silicone and polypropylene and were designed with the help of pediatricians.

3. thinkbaby Blue Feeding Set

This set includes essentials for packing snacks for Baby while on the go and enjoying meals at home. Mom and Dad will get two infant feeding spoons, a bento box, two cereal bowls and a mug. All of the materials are nontoxic, including the storage lids.

4. thinkbaby Blue Bento Box

This bento box makes a great stocking stuffer and is perfect for families that are always on the go. Mom and Dad can keep using it for packing lunches when their little one grows.

5. Wean Green Wean Cubes Garden Pack

If you know a Mom or Dad who makes their own baby food, this set of nontoxic glass storage containers is sure to come in handy.

New Green Toys Products Waiting to Be Discovered

We've carried Green Toys recycled plastic toys since we opened, and we've heard plenty of great feedback about the quality of these nontoxic alternatives to the ordinary toys on the market. Recently, we had the opportunity to expand our line of Green Toys products, and we're pleased to unveil the new items:

- Green Toys Green Eats Divided Plates - These nontoxic recycled plastic plates are ideal paper plate alternatives that can be washed and reused multiple times. The plates are sold in 2-packs and come in four colors.

- Green Toys Green Eats Dinnerware Sets - The cup, bowl and plate in this three-piece set are each designed for little hands. The plastic is nontoxic and recycled.

- Green Toys Pizza Parlor Set - A great holiday gift idea, this food-safe, nontoxic set lets kids imagine their own pizza parlors. The set even comes with a pizza box, a slicer and order forms for pretend play.

You can check out these in all of our other Green Toys products on our brand homepage.

Six Fun Things to Do with Halloween Candy Wrappers

After trick-or-treating, you and your kids will have a mountain of candy to enjoy, and when that's been enjoyed, you'll have a massive stash of wrappers on your hands. Instead of throwing them away, try one of these fun Halloween candy wrapper crafts.

1. Candy Environments - Blog Me Mom has an adorable candy landscape project that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. This craft also incorporates candies, so you can put any of those items that your kids aren't keen to munch to good use, too.

2. Candy Wrapper Flowers - Kimberly Burkard at Ganondagan has a tutorial for making gorgeous flowers for an arrangement out of old candy wrappers.

3. Candy Belt - Stop over at Lil Blue Boo to learn how to incorporate candy wrappers with a boring belt to create a one-of-a-kind accessory.

4. Candy Wrapper Bracelet - Erin Bassett has a cute charm bracelet idea on the Imaginisce Blog that is perfect for making with kids.

5. Candy Wrapper Button Earrings - Expand you or your daughter's jewelry collection with these adorable earrings on Creative Itch.

6. Candy Wrapper House - Leave it to Martha Stewart to create an adorable play house out of candy wrappers.

There you have it; a round up of six projects to put that candy wrapper waste to good use. Have a favorite from another site? Post a link in the "Comments" section.  

How to Keep Your Child Safe from Toxic Halloween Face Paints

Face paints and cosmetics are the perfect way to put the perfect finishing touches on a Halloween costume, but unfortunately, many of the Halloween cosmetics and even everyday cosmetics are packed with chemicals. To help you protect your kiddos,  here are the worst toxins found in cosmetics that you’ll want to avoid this holiday.

1. Sulfates - Beware of ingredient names that consist of three words and end with "sulfate" like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate, as sulfates are irritants and believed by some environmental experts to be highly toxic. 

2. Phthalates - In animal studies, these chemicals have been shown to cause severe damage to several organ systems, and one study connected the chemical to premature breast development in girls.

3. Artificial fragrances - Many artificial fragrances are allergens and also potential toxins. Look for face paint and cosmetics that are labeled as "fragrance-free."

4. Butylated hydroxyanisole - Sometimes called "BHA," this chemical is listed as "reasonably a carcinogen" by the National Toxicology Program.

5. Parabens - Some studies have linked those ingredients that end in suffix "-ben" with endocrine and reproductive dysfunction. The preservatives are also common allergens.

One of the easiest ways to avoid these types of ingredients is to opt for organic face paints and cosmetics this Halloween. Have a favorite brand? Share it with us in the “Comments” section.

How to Keep Your Child Safe from Toxic Halloween Costumes

It's Halloween season again, and it's definitely time to start putting together your child's Halloween costume. Although we normally focus on paper conservation issues and ways to help you ditch paper towels, we're going to do a two-part series on keeping kids safe from toxins this Halloween.

Costumes are one of the most fun parts of the Holiday season, but recently a scary story out of Seattle has pointed to the fact that we all need to be vigilant about what we're giving our kids to wear this Halloween. On October 15, the Customs and Border Protection Officers and Consumer Product Safety Investigators confiscated a $10,000 shipment of Halloween costumes from China that contained up to 11 times the amount of the legal U.S. limits for lead.

While most costumes aren't so blatantly toxic, many costumes that have plastic pieces can contain BPA, phthalates and other known toxins that you ordinarily wouldn't want your child to be around. To reduce their exposure, try the follow tips:

 - Make your own costumes. Even if you're not crafty, you can shop thrift stores and use pieces from your closet to create costumes. Or check out some of the handmade costumes on Etsy. 

- Choose cloth. If you are buying a costume this year, look for costumes that are made from cloth, preferably 100 percent cotton.

- Go organic. Several stores offer organic Halloween costumes for babies and kids.

- And if you must go plastic... Keep an eye on your kids and don't let them put pieces in their mouths. Tell them to save room for all that candy.

How are you making sure your child's costume is nontoxic? Tell us your ideas in the comments section.

Paperless Kitchen Tested: thinkBaby Bento Box

Recently, I reviewed the thinkBaby Kids Cup, a product that we recently added as a part of our Back to School collection. I'm back this time with the thinkBaby Bento Box to see how it fares in my kitchen road test.

The Basics

The thinkBaby Bento Box is a BPA-free polypropylene snack container with a BPA-free stainless steel liner. I was sort of surprised by how small it is. I was envisioning something that I could put a sandwich in, but it's really more of a snack container. Even though Bento boxes are normally compartmentalized, this one does not have any dividers.

The Test

Although I was disappointed by the size of the bento box, I did find that it was the perfect size for carrots and apple slices. I packed up my box and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Then, I left it out for 2 hours to simulate being at school. The metal inside of the bento box was still a little cold to the touch, and my veggies and fruit were still delicious. The apple hadn't even browned that much the way it would in a plastic bag.

The Wash

The bento box was simple to clean in the dishwasher. I put it on the top rack, and it came out looking as good as new.

The Takeaway

The thinkBaby bento box is definitely made for little ones because of its size, but an adult could use it for snacks, especially for ones that you' like to keep cold. The lid is very easy to open, but it's also easy to lock in place. I imagine a child would have an easy time with it, and after turning it over, I can tell you that it doesn't leak when the lid is on as well as when one of the four flaps on the lid wasn't turned over. The only thing I don't like about the bento box is that the stainless steel has a bad smell that is more metallic than my cup. It seems to have diminished some since the first wash. I hope it continues to fade.

Paperless Kitchen Tested: thinkBaby BPA Free Kids Cup

As a part of introducing our Back to School collection on Paperless Kitchen, I've spent some time investigating some of our newer products. First up is the thinkBaby BPA Free Kids Cup.

The Basics

The thinkBaby BPA Free Kids Cup is a BPA-free drinking cup intended for children. It is outfitted with a removable stainless steel liner and has an orange plastic exterior with a handle. The cup holds about 9 ounces of fluid. When I first opened the package, I was struck by how heavy the cup is. You can tell that it's really solidly crafted. It doesn't have that chinsy, flimsy feeling in the handle that you find in a lot of plastic cups.

The Drink

Since I know of only one way to test a cup, I filled it up with some coffee. Even though the cup doesn't have a lid, I felt like my drink stayed a lot hotter than it did in an ordinary coffee cup. The cup also didn't feel hot to the touch, so it was easy to drink from. I was worried that the liner would move when I sipped because it lifts out really easily, but I was pleasantly surprised. It didn't move at all.

The Wash

I decided to give the cup a wash up in the sink and wash it in the dishwasher for my road test. It was really easy to clean both ways and looked good as new after washing it in the bottom rack of the dishwasher.

The Takeaway

I know this cup is for kids, but I intend to keep using it. It just says "Think" on the front, so I think I can get away with it. Even if I can't, it's too good of a cup to care.

Introducing...Fit & Fresh

As a part of our Back to School department, we've added some new brands to the Paperless Kitchen family. One such brand is Fit & Fresh, a company committed to limiting our exposure to the harmful toxin BPA.

We've added a few different Fit & Fresh products to our collection, including:

- Fit & Fresh Kids 1 Cup Chill Container - This plastic bag alternative has a built-in icepack to keep lunches cool.

- Fit and Fresh Kids Hot Lunch Container - Your kids will get a hot lunch without eating cafeteria food when you bring home this container. It even has a lower compartment for storing crackers for soup.

Be sure to check out these green lunchtime solutions and let us know what you think!

We're Sprouting New Products!

Paperless Kitchen has added a select number of green alternatives to our collection for Back to School. Green Sprouts is a company devoted to making nontoxic alternatives to everyday products that kids use. Our new Green Sprouts lineup includes:

- Green Sprouts Disposable Placemats can be used virtually anywhere to protect your kids from grimy tabletops. They're free of paper pulp and can be doodled on with the nontoxic soy crayons sold with the mats.

- Green Sprouts Safari Bento Boxes are colorful fun alternatives to plastic sandwich bags. There's a monkey, a lion and a crocodile from which to choose.

- Green Sprouts Snack Cups are a smart disposable plastic solution that can be used to replace sandwich bags. The snack cups can be washed in the dishwasher up to 10 times or used longer if you handwash them.

Take a minute to check out our Green Sprouts products and let us know what you think!

Introducing....thinkbaby!

Paperless Kitchen is pleased to announce a new brand in our inventory. We've recently added some products from the thinkbaby collection that can serve as alternative to plastic bags, paper cups and BPA-laden plastic food storage containers. thinkbaby products were developed by scientists and pediatricians and are completely free of toxins. The products are designed to be easy for kids to use and gentler to the planet.

Some of the new thinkbaby products that we're carrying include:

- thinkbaby Bento Boxes - Rectangular food storage containers with airtight lids

- thinkbaby Kid's Cup - A 7-ounce handled mug for hot or cold beverages

- thinkbaby Thinkster Kid's Straw Cup - A training cup designed to take kids from the sippy cup stage to drinking from a straw

- thinkbaby Feeding Sets - Four and six-piece sets that contain an array of essentials for mealtime and snacks

What do you think of the new thinkbaby collection? Tell us what you think in the "Comments" section.