Many parents today have a lot of concerns about the toys they give their children. With all the concerns and publicity about global warming and importance of conserving energy, socially conscience parents also want to buys toys that don’t have a negative impact on the environment. Finding Green Toys does not have to be an impossible task. We have done some research and found two companies that deserve a lot of credit in their efforts by creating environmentally friendly toys. Green Toys and Play toys have both taken going Green to a new level.

The best example of a Green Toys company is aptly names Green Toys. This new company has combined all aspects that parents look for when trying to find safe toys for their kids. The line currently only has 4 products but they are all winners. Their current collection includes a Sand Play Set, Cookware and Dining Set, Indoor Gardening Kit, and the soon to be released Tea Set. These toys are manufactured, assembled and tested in the USA so parents don’t need to worry about any potential risks associated with Chinese factories. Green Toys makes sure that their products contain no phthalates, BPA or lead, and that they meet FDA requirements for food contact.

Green Toys makes all their products from curbside collected plastic milk. These plastic containers are collected at your curb by a local recycling company, who then sorts them from all the other types of plastic. The milk containers are then reprocessed into super clean fresh plastic called high-density polyethylene (or HDPE). This material is considered one of the safest, cleanest plastics around.

The environmental mission of Green Toys also extends to their packaging. They strive to minimize packaging so all their boxes use as little material as possible. Green Toys only uses recycled corrugated boxes with no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties, and are 100% recyclable. Green toys tries to take every precaution to make sure that their products and packaging won’t end up adding to land fills.

Many parents today are looking for toys made in the USA and Green Toys is happy to oblige. Making toys in California has a lot of other added bonuses for parents and the environment. California is a state known for strict toy safety and environmental laws. This makes the toys that much safer for your children. Another added bonus is that transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses. By making toys in California a lot less fuel is used in the transportation of the toys before they get to shelves in your local store. Every step in the process, from milk container recycling to toy production to final assembly, occurs in California. This way the raw materials and toys are not shipped from overseas. This saves a lot of energy and thus reduces greenhouse gasses. Parents can feel good about buying products made by Green Toys. These American made toys are non-toxic, save energy, reduce landfill waste and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Although few companies have gone Green as well as the Green Toys company we highly recommend the products made by Plan Toys. This fantastic Thailand based toy company has initiated a Green Concept as part of its overall Mission Statement. Their efforts start with environmentally friendly materials. PlanToys® makes their href=”http://www.sensoryedge.com/plan-toys.html”>educational toys and products from clean, natural rubberwood. Rubber trees are used to create latex but once they can no longer be used for this purpose they are often cut for wood to make toys and furniture. Plan No fertilizer is added so that the wood stays chemical free. Moreover, to stabilize the wood, PlanToys® uses a time consuming chemical-free kiln drying process.

Many problems have been found in the glue and paints used in children’s toys. To circumvent this problem Play Toys assembles their products by using a proprietary non-formaldehyde glue instead of the traditional toxic wood glue. This proprietary glue is E-Zero which means it contains no Formaldehyde emission. They also use non-toxic, water based dyes to add accent colors to products instead of paint. This color contains no heavy metal elements such as lead or mercury.

In addition to keeping with their green concept PlanToys® uses recycled and recyclable material to minimize their impact on the environment. They also use soy ink & water based ink on printed materials. This ink decomposes faster than regular chemical ink and can be recycled more efficiently. PlanToys® integrates alternative energy, e.g. solar cell and biomass or wood scrap which can be used to generate energy for machinery that kiln- dry the wood and the paint. Every effort is made throughout the manufacturing process to make their toys safe for kids and the environment.

Looking closely at biodiesel, we find that its physical and chemical properties are very similar to petroleum based diesel fuel in terms of operation in compression ignition engines (diesel engines). Therefore, biodiesel can be used in diesel engines without expensive alterations to the engine or fuel system.

When it comes to listing the advantages of biodiesel, there are many and advocates say these include low emissions, better scent, and higher lubricity. According to a DOE report, biodiesel has a lower energy content than regular diesel, but performs as well as diesel when mixed with diesel in blends of up to 20 percent.

The possibility of bio-diesel has been around for a long while, but it is only now, as oil appears scarcer and less secure that people are starting to invest in the possibilities which exist for it as an automotive fuel.

As the transport sector is likely to be the fastest growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions for most of this century, and diesel prices climbing steadily, that the advantages of biodiesel are being appreciated by governments around the world.

However, there is as yet no source of biodiesel that is cheap and plentiful enough to meet the potential demand. The advantages of biodiesel are many; it is renewable, domestic, clean and can be based on a variety of vegetable feed stocks. Some early fleet reviews have also indicated long term maintenance reductions, but stay tuned for more on this. The advantages of biodiesel are; it is a renewable fuel, carbon dioxide neutral, low sulphur, non-toxic, biodegradable, produced locally in the UK, and when used it usually reduces emissions. Thus, overall biodiesel offers a range of environmental benefits unrivalled by any other alternative transport fuel.

Most research indicates that the gradual start of combustion which is a feature of biodiesel when used, also helps to decrease NOx emissions. In quantities up to 5 percent, bioethanol fuel can be blended with conventional petroleum fuel without the need for any engine modification. Bioethanol is produced using familiar methods, such as fermentation, and it can be distributed using the same petrol forecourts and transportation systems as before. Since pure biodiesel leaves no deposits of its own, this results in increased engine life. It is estimated that a biodiesel blend of just 1% could increase fuel lubricity by as much as 65% (U.S. source).

If a vehicle uses traditional diesel, the vehicle emits black, stinky smoke. With biodiesel, the smoke becomes very clean indeed. A good example is the US government implemented rules that mandates the use of alternative fuels in federal vehicles. B20 was adopted for use in moat national parks. If biodiesel is used to fuel all transport vehicles, amazingly it has been claimed that smog will become a thing of the past.

You can also make biodiesel from tallow (animal fats), fish oil, seaweed and algae. In fact, it was recently reported that in an extraordinary show of dedication to the project, the skipper, Pete Bethune, underwent liposuction, and the fat (all 100ml) was used to make a small amount of Biodiesel for Earthrace!

Biodiesel can also be made from imported feedstocks, such as palm oil, from around the globe in an effort to further ensure lower cost supply. Overall, the more diversified feedstock source fuel will be more resilient to market swings in feedstock pricing and supply, that could render the standard biodiesel from bio cropping production model non-viable. While soybean oil has provided a good starting point for biodiesel in the United States, it has yield limitations that will hinder biodiesel growth in the future.

Recently a friend who knows that my enthusiasm is great for biodiesel asked me whether I was investing in it. This was the first time I had thought of investing in biodiesel stocks, and although just a short 18 months back I would have thought him pretty crazy. This time I said that he had a point, and since then I have been seriously considering making some investment into that market quite soon.

So, biodiesel is a good fossil fuel substitute as long as done sensibly up to the recommended percentages. By-products created during its manufacture will also provide a whole range of new materials that can easily replace very many not so friendly materials, and leaving coal as a commodity that could be used for other optional safe and useful manufacturing processes that do not pollute our atmosphere.

A real tangible and global win-win solution exists for biodiesel users currently. As far as “tax subsidies” go, developed countries such as European Union members impose heavy diesel taxes whereas biodiesel is generally tax-exempt. This form of subsidy has provided cost advantages to biodiesel suppliers. So, all in all, the picture looks rosy for biodiesel.