NATURAL wooden toys could be the new fad for children.

It appears a lot of toy companies are looking to make wooden toys instead of plastic to save the environment.

Natural wooden toys have been around for many centuries, be it a child’s rocking horse or the spinning top, just for examples.

Now that the environment is at the forefront of the news, being at least once a week, the natural wooden toys have clear advantages over plastic.

The trees that are felled for the natural wooden toys are replaced by sustainable forest and are managed to this end. Where as plastics made from oil based bi-products, have high impact in manufacture for the environment and the oil cannot be replaced.

Wooden toys can also be passed on from generation to generation. Whereas plastic can get mangled and break over time.

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When the sales hit on Boxing Day and all you’re thinking about is stocking up on a new wardrobe, think about giving your pre-loved items to those less fortunate.

Give your pre-loved clothing to respected charities in your local suburb including St Vincent de Paul Society and the Salvation Army.
These charities take in moderate quality shoes, clothing, homewares, jewellery, books, furniture, toys and much much more.

Tireless staff spend dozens of hours every morning sorting through voluntary given goods left by good Samaritans at the front door.

Less fortunate families rely on the good will of charities. These charities – which run low on stock this time of year - can only rely on your help this Christmas.

So do a great deed this Christmas and bring cheer and smiles to those who are less fortunate. It will also bring smiles to thousands of kids’ faces on Christmas morning.

And you will be helping out the environment through recycling.

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Customers are invited to round up any used or discarded plastic shopping bags they can find, and place them in new recycling bins in all Coles stores nationwide. Not only will this help the environment by keeping plastic bags out of landfill and waterways, it will raise money for Junior Landcare in the process.

Schools, businesses and individuals can register online at http://juniorlandcarechallenge.com/Coles/bags.htm to participate in the Plastic Bag Challenge, which runs until Friday, 16 October. There are prizes to be won for the most bags collected.

Coles General Manager for Customer Service, Sioned Rees-Thomas, said last year’s plastic bag amnesty received a strong response from schools and customers Australia-wide, so the idea of a challenge seemed a natural next step: “Last year’s Plastic into Plants program was highly successful. Schools were actually telling us how many bags they collected and this is where the idea to create a challenge came from,” Ms Rees-Thomas said. “The challenge is a fun and engaging way for everyone to get involved in improving the environment,” added
Ms Rees-Thomas.

Coles will donate all proceeds from recycling the bags brought to its stores during the challenge to Junior Landcare and the Coles School Gardens Grants Program. Coles has funded the Coles School Garden Grants Program in partnership with Junior Landcare since
2008. This has enabled funding for over 450 schools around Australia to establish native, waterwise and vegetable gardens as part of their environmental studies.

Landcare National Projects Development and Grant Manager, Sheena Martin, said she was grateful to Coles for its support and was looking forward to the Plastic Bag Challenge. “An alarming 7,000 recyclable plastic bags are thrown away every minute in Australia, amounting to more than 420,000 dumped in landfill every hour. Hopefully the Plastic Bag Challenge and the work Coles is doing to provide reusable options will help to educate people about the alternatives and the importance of recycling,” Ms Martin said.

The launch of the Plastic Bag Challenge coincides with the release of a new Natural Bag this month at Coles, which is made from natural fibres and available in stores for $2.99 each. Coles will donate 10c from each Natural Bag to support Junior Landcare and the development of community bush tucker gardens, maintaining the tradition of indigenous Australians.

Visit the Coles Plastic Bag Challenge http://juniorlandcarechallenge.com/Coles/bags.htm to watch the bag tally grow.

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• If your child isn’t potty trained, try to using fewer disposable nappies (well, when you can). You could even try using the old-fashioned cloth nappies, which can be washed and reused (also very economical, if not a little stinky!) There is also a practice called Elimination Communication (EC), it involves training your baby to communicate with you when they need to go to the toilet, so you can take them to the real toilet every now and then, thus reducing their dependency on disposable nappies.
• Try and make all your meals at home, thus reducing packaging waste and it also enables you to know exactly what you’re feeding your child. If you really want to go the whole nine yards then why not try to grown a vegetable garden, good for the family and economy, plus it help your children to appreciate food and where it comes from.
• Make your kids love the environment by letting them play and explore it. Let them roll around in the mud, look for creapy crawlies and try and find out what’s on offer in your local community. It’s also a great way to have family time.
• Make recycling fun by making it a game rather than a chore. They’ll learn how to do it and hopefully it become part of their everyday habits.
• There are some great green companies and products out there, so buy them green/eco-toys and books.
• Your little ones will always look up to you (except maybe in those terrible teenager years!) So you need to teach by example, so by living a green life you’ll automatically setting them good habits. Point out what and why you’re doing it when they’re young and hopefully it’ll seep in.

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The 475-page paperback is made of 100% post-consumer-waste recycled paper, and the production process is also environmentally friendly; the paper was produced free of chlorine chemistry and biogas energy was used during manufacturing.

 
Not only are the boy scouts going all eco on us but they’re going digital as well as the guidebook will not only be available in paperback but also in digital form. Supplementary material will be available online for the first time on the Boy Scout Handbook website: www.scouting.org. Videos, expanded information and resource links compliment the handbook. The Scouts are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year but they’re certainly not falling behind the times.  

 
To provide a vintage look, art from previous handbooks is combined with modern photographs and illustrations in the new version. “It helps them see themselves as part of these hundred years of history because of these old handbook illustrations,” said Dan Zaccara, national training chairman for the Boy Scouts.
Similar to the first edition in 1911, the new handbook is divided into three sections:

• Scoutcraft
• Woodcraft
• Campcraft

However, unlike the original edition the new one will have new information in it covering internet safety, fiscal management and nutrition. To make this even more 21st century there will be an additional iPhone application and a Spanish version!

 
“The Handbook – like our organization – adopts new and modern methods while maintaining the message of preparedness, responsibility and self-reliance,” said Boy Scouts of America Chief Scout Executive Robert Mazzuca. “Earlier Scouts earned merit badges in bee farming, blacksmithing and signaling, but now our Scouts work on 21st century subjects like composite materials, nuclear science and oceanography.”

 
Early practices that will sustain them throughout life.

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More and more companies are turning green and using organic products. This is certainly true from the fashion industry and many are producing some very good, high fashion, quality products. Dunlop has jumped on board by giving its iconic Volley a green makeover – the first planet-friendly children’s trainer! Perfect for tiny fashionistas with big consciences, it features planet friendly materials with an organic cotton upper and recycled rubber outsole.

Dunlop has said that “organic cotton is softer, more comfortable, smells cleaner and is less likely to trigger children’s allergies, which is important in the day to day life of your family.” The materials have been “grown and harvested in an environmentally sensitive way without the use of toxic chemicals, organic cotton is safer for farmers, for you, for your children and for the environment.”

Your little ones might not fully comprehend their environmental and fashion statement, but incorporating environmentally friendly choices into your family’s lifestyle is a fantastic way to teach and introduce your children to sustainable skills and practices that will stay with them for life. With the current trend toward eco-living it’s important for children to learn about healthy lifestyles, biodiversity and protecting natural resources from an early age, as this will be common throughout their lifetime. With sizes starting from infancy the First ‘Green’ Volley is accessible at every age making educating your child on the importance of green living as easy as slipping on a shoe.

For stockists call 1800 700 227, $15

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Outdoor opportunities-
There are some simple ways parents can help children understand the importance of the environment. Giving children the opportunity to learn about the environment outdoors is a good way for them to understand its importance.

Doing activities like gardening and explaining to them why it is necessary for the environment, will help them appreciate the need for keeping it clean. Allow them to watch the plants grow and observe the wildlife that surrounds them.

Nowadays children spend too much time indoors and would probably benefit from the time outdoors where they can actually experience the changes in the environment. They will more than likely get a better understanding of environmental issues if they experience it first hand.

Take the green lead-
One of the best ways to teach your child/ren about the environment is to be a good role model yourself. If you show respect for the environment, wildlife and nature then your child will be able to see that it is a good thing. If you show them how it is done, then they will follow the ‘green’ lead.

Here are some suggestions for you to help teach your child/ren about the environment.

Encourage outdoor learning when at home- although your child might get environmental lessons at school make sure you do something as a family at home. Tray and plant a garden or tree and watch it grow. Visit a local park and learn about the different plants that are there and how they grow. Make a birdhouse or bird feeder that will attract wildlife. Also have children collect different flowers in your backyard; teach them about the importance of keeping things green.

Take a weekend camping trip- head to a national park. Go for a hike, swim or canoe down the river or visit a rainforest, whatever you do spend time with your children to explain the plants and animals that live in that habitat. Allow them to draw pictures or take photos of what they see. Check out books about nature and let your children take them along.

Take part in community environmental activities- join in on recycle programs or competitions or take part in cleaning up your local park. Work with the parent school association and help your child’s school get green. Clean up the school grounds and take part in working bees.

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This award program is set up to help schools become sustainable and each school works with the children to achieve one of three awards; the bronze and silver awards which are self-accredited or the prestigious Green Flag Award which is externally assessed by an administrator.

The schools participating must elect a team or ‘eco-committee’ made up of a representative from each year level and a staff member. The eco team then carries out an environmental review of their school to see how well it shapes up in terms of environmental performance. This gives them a realistic view of their good environmental practices as well as areas that need improvement.

The eco-team review needs to include the nine key topics of the eco-schools program- water, biodiversity, energy, global perspectives, healthy living, litter, school grounds, transport and waste.

The team them consults with the school and the rest of the community which themes they wish to tackle. There may be one particular area they wish to address such as recycling, but it is up to the children to choose which they will choose.

Eco-school environmental review then becomes the foundation for the school’s environmental action plan. The eco-schools program is not just available in Australia, but operates in 40 countries worldwide. More than 40, 00o  schools have adopted the environmental program that gives children the change to explore environmentally friendly ideas.

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Like many other countries, Australian parents purchase clothes for their children that are only usually worn a few times and then placed in the bin, despite the life left in the clothing. There are some parents who always put their child in new clothing, no matter how much waste there is in the long term.

But using second-hand clothing is a good way to save money and our environment. If you don’t like the idea of your child wearing strangers’ clothes, see if you can get hand-me-downs from a family member or friend. At least then you can know where it has come from.

Once your child has gotten too big for their clothes, don’t just throw them in the bin. Instead, keep them for the next child or give them to a friend or family member. If you don’t know anyone expecting, give the clothes to a children’s charity or take them to a charity recycle bin.

You can even give old baby clothes to maternity wards of hospitals. They will be appreciative as there will always be parents who have rushed to hospital without their prepared bag.

But if you have to purchase new clothes consider purchasing organic cotton clothing. This type of baby clothing is more environmentally friendly than other types of fabric.

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Before you know it, you have many broken, well-loved plastic and wooden toys piled up. Instead of simply throwing the old toys away, think about how to recycle the kids toys you have.

Sort out the toys into sections. Some plastics and be recycled and made into different things. Check what can actually be recycled before you throw it away.

If you have wooden toys, these can also be recycled or burned, depending on the varnish . The best way to recycle old toys is to reuse them. If they are in perfect condition try giving them to an op shop or donating to a hospital. Children will be able to get use out of something, rather than you add to the waste pile.

Reusing old toys is the best way to recycle. Passing them down to other children of your own, or to other family members is the quickest and easiest way of recycling the pile. Remember before you buy toys- make sure you buy toys that are made from little or no plastic. These toys will easily break and are harder to break down, creating an environmental hazard.

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