Green Toys dazzled us last year with their pastel-colored Cookware and Dining Set and Tea Set, both fortuitously launched shortly after the Great Lead Awakening of Christmas 2007. A sand play set and indoor gardening kit rounded out their first big round of toy releases, and the range of products had us wondering what they'd think of next.

Their latest round of toy releases brings their mission into sharp focus: Green Toys is out to recast the classics from recycled HDPE plastic. This would be a laudable enough goal on its own, but they're making many of them better in the process. They recently came out with a toy tool set, toy vehicles, a jump rope, and a flying disc.

The best evidence yet is in Green Toys' new line of recycled plastic trucks. We asked them to send us the iconic Recycling Truck, which features a dumping recycling chamber and flip-up back door. All it lacks is some recyclables - but you can make your own with scraps of newspaper and plastic water bottle caps.


Along with a snub-nosed, brilliantly colored Dump Truck, these vehicles put to rest any earlier fears we had that Green Toys wouldn't figure out how to get rich colors safely into recycled PET.


Aren't these gorgeous?

Everything about the recycling truck functions smoothly and pleasingly. The trucks are all-plastic, with cleverly-designed wheel components that offer a smooth ride without metal axles. An adult can take off the wheels in a couple of quick steps, but a child isn't likely to be able to at all, and even the recessed screws that hold together the vehicles' main bodies have user-friendly Philips' heads. Taking off the wheels will be a boon when giving these trucks a good rinse after a day spent in sandboxes and mud puddles.

All we wish is that they'd left a little more open room in the cab so we could wedge in some of Z's random toy friends as drivers and passengers, and I once even pined for openable doors; but for a rugged outdoor play toy, the fewer delicate parts, the better.

You can get Green Toys' Recycling Truck and Dump Truck on Amazon.com now for about $20 each, on sale from their list of $25. Considering the vehicles' size, durability, Made in the USA status and 100% recycled plastic free of lead, phthalates, and BPA, we think they're a bargain.

We'll review Green Toys' new Tool Set and Jump Rope in the next week or so - one of them is a ZRecs Top Pick, and the other left us lukewarm. Find out which is which on Z Recommends!

Green Toys, a California-based startup that launched a line of recycled-plastic kids' toys in February, sent us their Cookware & Dining Set to review at our request. The concept is irresistible (Kids' play cooking gear made from recycled milk jugs? Can you say "instant media celebrity"? Well, in our world, anyway.) so we wanted to know how good they really were. As it turns out, very.

The set features four generous place settings, complete with cups, bowls, plates, and all three standard utensils, as well as a pot and pan thrown in for good measure. All of the parts are of a very high quality - well designed, easy to handle. The colors, which are part of the plastic and thus eliminate the need for any paints, tend towards the pastel but are bright enough to have real character.


Since these are made entirely in California - which offers clear quality control benefits - the production cost is understandably a bit higher than if they were produced in China. Green Toys did a very savvy thing making their set so large - it effectively splits that cost with the consumer by offering so many more dishes than a cheaper set like this one, helping to deflect some of what would otherwise be direct competition and adding value. Combined with the "Made in USA" label, the safety pedigree (all their products are extensively tested for lead and phthalates and are BPA-free), and the environmental acumen (recycled toys really do make a difference) we think these toys represent a $40 investment many parents are willing to make. The huge pile of utensils that poured out of the box was really a surprise to us, and the added pieces make a big difference - setting a full table vs. just having a spoon, and having four place settings rather than four, opens up a lot of possibilities for Z's pretend play that a smaller set wouldn't.


We'll be phasing out Z's previous, unsourced, very shiny plastic play tableware in the days to come - it's probably made of PVC, and thus probably contains phthalates. In other words, we are pretty much the exact target market Green Toys is trying to reach: Parents who generally buy fewer toys but are prepared to pay for quality when they do, and are willing to consider all kinds of external factors when making purchases - environmental cost, potential health impacts, workers' rights, and quality - especially when those factors are presented to them as an affirmative consumer choice rather than as a form of self-denial. The pedigree is worth a lot; for this audience you pretty much have to bat 1.000 to earn the sales. Green Toys has done it.

The company also makes a cute play tea set for $25, a $20 set of sandbox toys, and an indoor gardening kit for $30.

Like what you see? Buy it on Amazon, or head to ZRecs sister blog Gardenaut for a review of Green Toys' Indoor Gardening Kit.

This post from the ZRecs Archives was originally published on April 21, 2008.

It's hard for eco-friendly toys to get a bad review these days, both because we all want to see mainstream toy companies clean up their act, and because we want to see these upstarts take over if (when?) they don't. This would only be a true Cinderella story if everyone in Fairyland had been calling her a beauty even when she slept in the fireplace. But for the sake of our story, let's pretend that even when Cinderella can't get a date to save her life, everyone in the kingdom is abuzz with how brightly she makes her wicked stepmother's marble floors shine.

We've been rooting for Sprig Toys ever since we heard about their first line of toy vehicles about a year ago. They're one of the standout companies that are recasting classic kids' toys for a greener age. With their new Sprig Hollow line, the company has truly lived up to its promise. But before I tell you how great Sprig Hollow is - in fact, because the line is so great - I first have to speak to anyone who might be disinclined to give the company a second chance, or who are debating between one of the toys from their early Adventure series and those in their new line.

Blends of recycled plastic and reclaimed wood have been used for years by the plastic lumber industry, and is a meaningful sign of construction technology running a tighter ship and reducing waste while capitalizing on new technology. Bringing this same material to the toy industry was an epiphany just waiting for the right company to capitalize on it.

But when Sprig sent us their Discover Rig and Baja Scout Side Kick vehicles to test drive last year, we were disappointed. The toy's "Sprigwood" material is attractive, with look both clean and "eco" communicated by rich colors and flecks of wood visible in the composite material. And we loved the concept - a USB-linked figure plugs into the vehicle, and the child's pushing (Discover Rig) or pumping (Side Kick) energy powers headlights and triggers sounds and stories. But the USB connection worked erratically from the get-go, neither had a battery to sock away even the few seconds of kinetic energy needed to offer smooth functioning with a child's erratic movements. If that wasn't bad enough, the sound quality was poor, making the USB-powered effects both a novelty and a nuisance. Ultimately, the toy's chunky, durable design virtually guaranteed that we'd treat it as an outdoor toy, which soon disabled its electronics.

All this for list prices of $60 and $25? We considered these toys a failure, and never reviewed them.

Despite our displeasure, the Discover Rig was nominated for three Toy of the Year Awards by the Toy Industry Association in advance of the NY Toy Fair: Most Innovative, Best Boy's Toy, and Best Specialty Toy. (They didn't win any of them.) We thought they needed to go back to the drawing board. With a high price tag and so-so features, Sprig's first line of toys had too many quirks borne of experimentation that just didn't pan out.

Later last year Sprig came out with a line of "Eco-Trucks" that went through a couple of drafts, and came out looking like pretty handsome, durable toy vehicles. They feature big chunky handles for kids to grab onto and use their toys like the tools they really are - the kind of "a-ha!" moment toy designers (and reviewers) live for. They also brought the price down to $15 a vehicle, which means they can actually compete with similar toys and beat them in the kind of obvious and compelling ways that make people ditch well-established brand names.

But even that couldn't have prepared us for Sprig Hollow. These toys are just plain brilliant.

Sprig Hollow is a world of agriculturally-employed "bugs" whose current operating capital include a couple of farm trucks, a helicopter, and a gadget-rich farm that are a little hard to describe. They snap together quickly and easily, but they are not building toys; they are full-featured, three-dimensional toys for an age of resource consciousness and, yes, scarcity. But they are designed in ways that turn their leanness into assets. The barn is lightweight and thus easy for our four-year-old Z to carry, and its permeable walls and lack of a roof don't bother her in the least - in fact, the skeletal design just offers her more access points. The only misstep is the farm's funnel and chute, which is supposed to clip together through a slot in the barn's planks but quickly slips apart every time. It's a casting or a materials issue - one that can be expected from a new company working with new materials, but that makes a component of the set frustratingly non-functional nonetheless.

The figures are small, unassuming achievements in their own right, consisting of brightly-colored SprigWood bodies and rubbery pieces that combine a unique facial expression (presented on a button-shaped knob that pushes through the head) and a pair of one-of-a-kind wings. The faces and wings are interchangeable, and the faces have been designed with eyes only, meaning they can also be rotated 180 degrees for a dramatically different expression (angry/frustrated becomes sad, etc.). It's a ton of good design packed into an astonishingly small bit of plastic, and the characters speak volumes about Sprig's commitment to thoughtful product design. The figures have a gap between their legs that matches slots on the various vehicles.

We've saved the best for last here: The trucks/ Bee and Butterfly's Farm, the largest set in the line (which retails for about $26), includes a flatbed truck, and Dune Bug's Sand Truck adds a pickup bed; both feature cabs that can be removed and used as shovels, while the Sand Truck's pickup bed and cap each double as independent play tools as well. The line also includes the fun Dragonfly's Heli-Scooper, with each separate vehicle selling for around $14 with a figure.

Here's a video of me putting a truck together - it's the flatbed truck, but I add the pickup bed and cap so you can see that these are interchangeable parts. Older kids may enjoy deconstructing and rebuilding these toys, but the most interesting thing about them is not in the building, it's in how they create the shape and strength of a one-piece, injection-molded plastic toy using smaller, lighter construction. Add to that the fact that this is recycled, wood/plastic composite material, and you're looking at a very environmentally-conscious take on "plastic" toys.


You can hit the ZRecs Archives for more of our thoughts on the nuances of what makes toys "green."

The company is planning new toys for the Sprig Hollow line, and we can't wait to see them.

We're naming the Sprig Hollow line a ZRecs Top Pick, and there's no hype about it. Sprig Hollow is one of the best new toy lines we've seen this year, and we believe that with it, the company has truly come into their own.

The Scootababy hands-free carrier caught our eye at a trade show due to its elegant and simple strap adjustments and the wide, stretchy shoulder strap and weight belt that are pretty intuitive advances in terms of weight distribution (the bite of a shoulder strap and poor weight distribution are what wear down many parents using hip carriers, and a wide shoulder area is one of the classic sling's greatest strengths). The carrier is designed to function best for children ages 4 months or so and up, and can carry children up to 37 pounds, making it one of the longest-lasting hip carriers on the market. Its contoured padded form and easy adjustment hardware make it a standout, and it's made in the U.S. with materials from U.S. suppliers. It retails for around $110-$120.

We were curious to know how the Scootababy would fare at the low end of this range, when parents are first considering their carrier options and are most likely to develop back problems by using a carrier that doesn't offer enough support.

So we sent a Scootababy to our sister-in-law Emily, a veteran of several types of slings, wraps, and child carriers with her first child, to try out over a six-month span with her second child. She and her husband (and Gardenaut contributor) Joshua saw how it fared as her new daughter grew from 13 pounds at a couple months old through seven months of age.

What we got back was a rave review with a couple small caveats. "We love the carrier," she wrote, and offered these details:

Pros:

• I'm able to get in and out of it without needing to put Lu down. Can't say that for many carriers. (Although Josh can't do it.)


• The carrier is very comfortable for the wearer, with great lumbar support. It distributes her weight well and the stretchy shoulder makes it easy to move around and work in. We usually last as long as Lu can remain happy in it (45 minutes to an hour).


• Lu is in prime location to take in any task we're undertaking. Thus, she has a pretty long attention span for it.


• At seven months old, Lu is in a really grabby stage. Unwanted grabbing hasn't been a problem with this carrier - pinning the arms is easy and not uncomfortable for her.


• Quick in and out.


• Lu was able to sleep in this carrier through about six months or so. At seven months, she's too big to do so, but the carrier still functions well and is easy on me. (The Scootababy is rated for children weighing from 12 to 37 pounds, and is thus designed to be a long-term carrier.)

Cons:

• For the perfect fit, it's best if a second adult can help spread out the strap fabric over the the entire shoulder area. Works okay if no second adult to help, but endurance fails sooner since the weight isn't distributed as effectively.


• Babies smaller than 13 pounds or so might not be tall enough for their heads to peek over the top to see; but maybe this is better for head support anyway for the wee ones. (Your baby must be able to hold his or her own head up before using the carrier, but even then it's can be nice to have the additional support.) It just didn't feel as secure to me when she was so small, and I felt compelled to keep an arm around her body at all times. I was worried she'd fall out the side.

"Overall," Emily wrote, "It's comfortable, Lu likes it, and it's relatively easy to get in and out of. The Scootababy is our first choice for housecleaning, partygoing, and light gardening (including tending chickens!). We prefer other carriers (Moby) for napping, long walks, and calming fussiness." We're naming the Scootababy a ZRecs Top Pick for its quality, design, and long-range functionality.

Mosaics and learning to recognize and repeat patterns are important for early math literacy, and I haven't seen many games that introduce the concept more beautifully than Haba's Mosaik Puzzle Game.


Most of pattern games I've seen include various shaped pieces and a picture that you are supposed to recreate with your pieces; this is fine for some children, but Z doesn't like to be confined to those images so she usually discards the suggested images and goes with her imagination. She did this to some extent with this game - incorporating it with other blocks for play - but she also started to grasp the concept of repeating images to form a visual whole.


The inclusion of a box to frame it and to contain it is important. We have puzzle toys from other companies that didn't have a box and if we didn't store the pieces in a bag, they'd be scattered to the four corners of our house. The beech frame measures approximately 8.5" x 8.5" and has 28 brightly painted pieces. As with all HABA toys, paints are non-toxic, and the beechwood is well-sanded. Z spends some time at her grandmother's house and they really enjoyed playing with the set.


Grandma reports: "This toy was challenging and fun for both Z and I. And I have to admit I used up more than my fair share of time playing with it. I loved the beautiful and vibrant pieces that fit together to form mosaics." We love games that intrigue adults and compel adults to play and interact with the kids. I mean, let's face it, there's only so much fun an adult can have with Polly Pocket, right? But these kind of games, where the adult is capable of making a more complex arrangement can teach the kid and also expose the child to more complex arrangements - allowing for subtle learning possibilities in the context of play." This would be an excellent addition to a block set or to a family coffee table - something fun for everyone to tinker with.

Last year, this lovely game sold for about $50 most places we looked. It has been a few months since we checked, but it's currently selling for about $37 on Amazon.com.

We invited Adrienne Jones of Baby Toolkit to test drive the Bumbleride Indie three-wheeled stroller with her two children to test its age range. What she found may surprise you - and prepare you to use the phrase "stroller physics" in conversation. Thanks, Adrienne!


The Bumbleride Indie is officially a "premium" stroller in my book at $460. But its good looks, the surprising number of accessories that come in the standard package, and variable front wheel (inline or free-rotating) help establish it as something of a pioneer, claiming a stylish middle ground between the expensive luxury brands and high-end traditional-design strollers.

We tested Bumbleride's Indie stroller with our three-year-old son and newborn daughter, challenging the Indie with a variety of settings and terrain including the zoo, local libraries, and a crowded street festival. Below, find out why we'd recommend it for kids up to age four, but advise against its use with an infant car carrier, making this stroller suitable for children through age four who can sit up independently.

Assembly

When Bumbleride's Indie appeared on my doorstep, I was surprised by the box's moderate dimensions. Even with assembly required, I had been expecting a much larger box.

The stroller seemed to have a lot parts, but it assembled easily in less than 20 minutes even with a huge pregnant belly while talking on the corded phone. No tools were required.

The manual was sparse in its instructions and images. I was left with two mystery straps after full assembly. One, the foot strap for a car carrier, was clearly identified later in the book. The other, which I currently believe to be a jogging safety leash, was never depicted in the manual.

Style

The Indie has nice lines and comes in great color schemes - Lava, Ruby, Seagrass, Spice and Vita. We went with Seagrass. This stroller attracted compliments and interest even from non-parents.

Maneuverability, Performance, and Portability

The stroller performs well on urban obstacles and rougher terrain. With the front wheel free or locked, the Indie had no problem climbing curbs and rolled easily over uneven concrete, grass, and gravel.

The mobile front wheel offers a short turning radius making it easy to maneuver in tight places like our public library stacks. The adjustable handlebar offer height options that will please most users and make maneuvering even easier.

The braking system is great. Its easy engagement and disengagement did not scratch my shoes or hurt my feet when wearing sandals. The long bar is easy to locate without looking, and the wheels lock firmly without requiring a lot of pressure.


The Bumbleride folds and has a quick release front wheel. Folded it can fit in my Honda station wagon, but it occupies much of the cargo area. It would probably be better suited for a family with larger vehicles or those who live in less automobile dependent regions.

The Indie's big miss: The car seat attachment

It is easy to admire the fact that the car seat adapter bar and safety belt come standard with the Indie rather than being an expensive add-on. Even better, the safety belt is easy to install - it snaps into a d-ring on the stroller's passenger harness. We were able to adjust it once, and have it retain the proper sizing from use to use.

Unfortunately, these elements are not without their design flaws. The adapter bar seemed smaller than necessary to get a tight fit with the Graco SnugRide car seat. Twice, I thought I had the seat snapped over the bar, but later found it was detached. In neither case was the seat fully dislodged (thanks to the safety belt), but the car seat's fit was looser than I like. (New instructions provide installation options that may reduce the looseness of your infant carrier.) Also, the three-wheeled design and free-rotating front wheel complicate the use of a rear-facing car carrier.

But then we started discovering what will be a dealbreaker for many parents. Testing the stroller with our SnugRide and the newest member of our family as its passenger, we noticed the stroller became prone to tipping when making turns or climbing curbs. The tipping was not dramatic, but required two-handed steering to control.

What's happening here involves some basic stroller physics. It's simple, and you can wow your friends with it later. It may also help you diagnose other stability issues in your baby's life, including other three-wheeled strollers designed to accept infant car carriers.

The center of gravity for a car seat carrier is very close to where the carrier's handles join to the carrier. The mass of the baby's weight rests approximately at the center of the car carrier. When the carrier faces backwards, the primary weight of the baby and carrier rests near the single front wheel rather than toward the twin rear wheels. This places the carrier's weight at one of the stroller's least stable points. With the car seat is raised above the seat level, the center of gravity is relatively high. These factors make the stroller more prone to tipping.

To illustrate, I've drawn straight lines from the point where each wheel contacts the ground (green or pink triangles). The majority of the stroller's weight must rest within this triangle to remain upright. From each side's midpoint, I drew a line through each opposing vertex (corner). The intersection point of these three lines (yellow x for locked front wheel, blue x for rear-pointing front wheel) shows the center of gravity where ideally the majority of the weight should rest.


Deviation from this center towards any side of the triangle creates instability. The closer the weight moves to any side of the triangle, the greater the instability. The higher up that center of gravity, the more the instability is magnified when the triangle is tilted.

Now let's add the chalk tub to represent the weight of the carrier.


The primary weight of the carrier rests above the stroller's center of gravity in the narrowest point of the triangle. This leaves little room for side-to-side tilting without resulting instability.

Another consideration in stability with car carrier use is the free rotating option on the front wheel. When the wheel is locked in an inline (jogging) position, the triangle is elongated, making it more stable. When the wheel is released to free rotation it tends to go under the seat closer to the axle. This position creates a smaller triangle than the jogging triangle and moves the center of gravity back approximately three additional inches.

When the wheel turns, it can be in any position represented by the orange circle. This creates an asymmetrical triangle and temporarily moves the center of gravity off the central axis (purple line). The car carrier remains over the centerline, creating temporary instability in turns.

We never tipped over, but the tippiness was a little unnerving, and it did require some extra muscle and coordination to keep it safely upright. For the precious cargo you're carrying, we'd advise you to select an alternative stroller if you need it to safely accommodate a car seat.

The manual makes no statement regarding whether the stroller could be used for jogging with the car carrier in place. I would not jog with the car carrier attached.

Note: The photo above shows an incorrect installation of the infant car carrier. See our update post for more details.

Notable "extras"

• Ample shade and weather protection are offered with both canopies in place. The coverage offered to a car carrier impresses me. The window atop the canopy offers a the ability for the stroller driver to see the occupant.


• The Indie also comes standard with a clear rain cover, a jogging strap (though it is unclear how to install it), an air pump (which we have never needed), and a padded bar which fits accross the seat and allows you to attach accessories like Bumbleride's snack pack.


• The cupholder expands enough to securely hold a large (BPA-free) Nalgene bottle. There is a zipper pocket on the removable canopy which is nice for keys, wallet, and cell phone. The under-seat basket is spacious with a fully open back that provides easy gear access.

Summary

We like the Indie's easy roll over a wide variety of terrain, and think it's a solid choice for use with toddlers and infants who can sit up independently. This stroller performs well indoors and outdoors - it has a nice turn radius for tight spaces, but its large wheels that roll well make the Indie my first choice to explore local parks or visit a hilly zoo.

But the loose fit of the infant car carrier and the tippiness with it in place, the Indie will not be my first choice for use with a car carrier. For an urban family, car carrier use might not be important, but for suburbanites who rely on auto travel, it's an important consideration in the first year.

Our abnormally tall son has outgrown the Indie lengthwise at 3.5 years old, but it would probably work through age 4 for most kids.

The Indie's recommended price is $459. You can purchase it directly from Bumbleride or on Amazon.com.