While it’s great to buy eco-friendly, sustainably-made toys, the ultimate eco-friendly toy is the one that is not new and has not used up any resources – sustainable or not – to produce it. Reusing old games and toys is also a great lesson to children in our “throw away” society that many items can be fixed if broken, given to those less fortunate if no longer used, and vice-versa, can be purchased or borrowed used instead of always buying new. Think about how much waste could be avoided if we acquired many of our children’s toys used versus always buying a new one – not only in producing the toy itself but all the packaging that goes along with it. You can find good used toys at children’s consignment shops like Sweet Pea in Cotati, on Craig’s List, and at garage sales and thrift stores. The Rohnert Park Cotati library has a great used book store with a selection of children’s books. Another idea is doing a “toy swap” among friends.

An added bonus – you’ll be saving money too…not a bad idea in this economy!