The Soft Landing Blog » PVC Free Products

Download Our Free Ebook to Find Out Why Avoiding Toxic Plastic is More Important Than Ever

Alicia — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:50:17 +0000

The Environmental Working Group just released the results of a 2 year study where the umbilical cord blood of 10 random infants was tested for chemical pollutants. BPA was detected for the first time ever – but it wasn’t the only offender – 231 other contaminants were found as well. This research demonstrates that industrial chemicals are able to cross the placenta in large numbers to contaminate a baby before birth. We have more confirmation now than ever before that avoiding industrial chemicals whenever possible is extremely important for both children and pregnant moms.

The tough part is making your way through multitudes of unlabeled products to make safer choices – but don’t worry, we summarized our own experience with toxins in eating gear and toys to help you out! Click the image below to download our new ebook “Avoiding Toxic Plastic” to use as a getting started guide.

What’s Included in the Guide

Three common chemicals that have been linked to endocrine-disrupting health damage
Clues to identifying them in household products
Tips to help you avoid them with ease
Resources for more in-depth reading
Action steps for demanding change in U.S. chemical policies

It’s free so you’re welcome to email it, print it, or upload it to your website so long as you give us credit for the work.

>> Add a thumbnail and link to your website:

Spotlight on Dad Invented Products: Sprig Toys

Alicia — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:51:11 +0000

I’ve heard so much about the very unique Sprig Toys, but never had a chance to talk with them until I ran across their booth at the ABC Kids Show this month. I learned a lot of great tidbits about the company’s background and decided right then to do a spotlight on their Dad-invented products!

Getting to know Sprig’s team via Twitter has been a pleasure too. It’s easy to see that they’ve got quality people behind quality products. Their ingenuity is continuous and their materials non-toxic and eco-friendly. They’ll be launching a whole new line of baby/toddler toys soon which we will be happily adding to The Soft Landing! For now, my all-time favorite Sprig Toy is the Dolphin Explorer Boat Set which can be used in the bath tub or outside in rain puddles.

When did you begin developing the Sprig Toys concept and what gave you the inspiration to take a risk and just go for it?

The endless energy of a four year-old child can be credited as the inspiration for both Sprig and our initial product line. Co-Founders Justin Discoe, Chris Clemmer and Dave Bowen had set up a design studio in the machine shop of Justin’s farm where they were designing toys for just about everyone you can think of in the toy industry. Justin’s son Charlie LOVED hanging out with the guys and ran circles around them while they worked, serving as both distraction and inspiration. The guys started kicking around the idea of how to harness the energy of a child and from that, the Adventure Series and Sprig Toys were born.

How did you go about choosing such uniquely eco-friendly and non-toxic materials?

Once we had found a way to create a battery-free electronic toy, we started kicking around other ways of reducing the impact our product might have on the planet and the landfills. On a web search for recycled materials, we came across what eventually became “Sprigwood”, a mixture of recycled plastic and sawdust. We liked the idea that not only would we be giving a second life to materials that would otherwise be thrown away, but that we were minimizing the use of plastic by incorporating sawdust that would likely end up burned as waste. Once we caught a whiff of that wood smell, we were hooked!

Sprig is very conscientious in choosing the materials for use in our toys. We will not use PVC which tends to be one of the worst plastics for additives like phthalates or lead. Our plastics of choice are: HDPE, polypropylene and TPE. TPE provides us with the rubbery textured products and can be more easily recycled than rubber. The HDPE and polypro are used for the main bodies and structural components of our toys. When using recycled plastics we find sources with well defined chains of custody for the materials.

The wood is a by product of the sawing process at lumber plants and is used to reduce the amount of petroleum based material in our toys, as well as provide a warmth in appearance and texture in our toys. The sawdust we get comes from trees being made into dimension lumber and furniture products. We do not cut trees simply to make our sawdust. The sawdust is processed a second time after it is collected, essentially it is ground to a consistent particle size so that we can use it in our production. Most of this wood flour is actually used as a filler for cattle feed.

Was the production of your product a difficult process, especially considering that you found a factory in North America?

It was definitely a challenge, but we were committed to manufacturing close to home for a variety of reasons. First, we love the idea of being a few hours from the manufacturing line. It allows us the opportunity to see the challenges of the people on the assembly line and quickly catch any problems as they occur. Secondly, it reduces both our transit time and our fuel usage. The difficulty is in working around the higher labor costs comparative to China and we have found some pretty innovative ways to reduce the labor steps in our process. First, most of our assembly is done with snap fits. This reduces the number of people with screwdrivers putting our product together and in some cases allows us to minimize our packaging size by relying on the parents to do some of the easier snap assemblies. Second, the byproduct our conscious choice to not use paints in any of our products means that we don’t have the labor intensive (and potentially harmful) paint applications that most toys have.

What makes Sprig Toys stand out from others?

We view ourselves as Toymakers first. Our designers collectively have over 40 years of experience designing toys for just about every company you can think of in the industry. While we get a lot of attention for our commitment to making toys that parents feel are safe for their kids in a way that reduces our impact on the earth, our first priority is to make toys that kids love to play with and while we always think we can do better, we are very pleased at what we’ve accomplished so far.

I saw some amazing new Sprig Toys for toddlers at the ABC Kids Show. Do you have plans for more future products?

Absolutely. Having three designers and an engineer as co-founders means that we are never wanting for new ideas! We know what a big responsibility it is to produce product for toddlers and we are excited about making toys that not only help their early development in a fun and engaging way but do it safely and without paint.

Locating PVC Free Splat Mats for Baby Isn’t Easy

Alicia — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:55:11 +0000

Finding PVC-free splat mats has turned out to be another one of those time-consuming and mostly unfruitful searches. 85% of the splat mats we researched were either made from PVC or were laminated with it. All of the mats we checked on were free of BPA and phthalates. We did locate a few PVC-free gems out there though

Jaq Jaq Bird Splatmats by Sam and Bellie are 48″ x 48″ and made of non-toxic EVA, which has the same look and feel PVC does. They’re reversible and perfect for under high chairs or play tables and also great for picnics and beaches, too. The slick surface is stain resistant, easy to wipe clean and UV resistant.

Mimi the Sardine Splashmats are made from organic cotton and laminated with acrylic. They measure 36″ x 46″, can be wiped down or machine washed. And they’re great looking too!

Neat Solutions offers the disposable Floor Topper which is made of polyethylene. It’s 38″ x 38″ and comes in a 5 pack. It’s easy to wipe clean and can be reused a few times. We’re not too excited about its disposable nature, but is good for on the go emergencies.

Throughout our communication with slews of splat mat manufacturers, we encouraged them to consider developing PVC-free options. Do you know of any other safe brands we’ve missed? Please share!

Twitter Tuesday Giveaway: Thermos Funtainer Insulated Straw Bottle

Alicia — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:24:52 +0000

We won’t even try to hide our prejudice toward Thermos Funtainers! There is just nothing like it for older kids who have out-grown the sippy cup phase.

CHEJ just released their PVC-free Back to School Guide, and you can bet that you’ll find Funtainer straw bottles and food jars listed there as a top choice for kids’ toxin-free lunch gear! Be sure to download their handy Pocket Guide too for shopping trips.

Our Favorite Funtainer Features:

Made from durable stainless steel – it’s the only straw-based bottle for older kids available.
Insulated double-wall design keeps drink cold for up to 12 hours – no more warm, spoiled milk at lunchtime!
Perfect size for lunchboxes.
Completely leak-proof when lid is snapped closed.
Cool character designs for kids who have outgrown the old standby preschool characters.
BPA, PVC and phthalate-free

We have a brand new shipment of new Funtainer designs that you won’t find anywhere else, and we’re ready to share the FUN with you! Thermos just recently began offering the straw bottles and food jars individually, so we can offer them outside the sets to you too.

Today we’re giving away one Thermos Funtainer Straw Bottle via Twitter at 3pm EST today and one via our 2nd Chance Drawing here on the blog. You’ll have your choice of the any of the individually stocked Funtainers (excluding Tinker Bell, as they’ve been backordered).

Congrats to our winners: @TheMinnesotan (via Twitter) and Gina (via 2nd Chance Drawing)

How to enter via Twitter (#TuesGiveaway)

Join Twitter (if you haven’t already)
Follow us on Twitter @thesoftlanding
We’ll send out a contest announcement on Twitter at 3pm EST, and you’ll be entered automatically when you copy/paste that announcement and re-tweet it. Our tweet will look something like this: “RT to WIN: @thesoftlanding is giving away XYZ to the 50th person to tweet this!”
Those people who send out the lucky tweet will win! We’ll notify everyone with a message broadcast on Twitter containing the winner(s) Twitter ID when the contest is ends.
The winners will contact us at info@thesoftlanding.com with their full name and shipping address to claim their prize.
Please note: our Twitter Tuesday Giveaway is very popular, so it’s usually over and done by 3:15pm EST.
If you’ve won in the last 30 days, you will not be eligible to win today.

*NOTE: Please be considerate of others by keeping your Twitter entries at a reasonable level (4-5 tweets is fine). That way everyone will have a chance to enter, as our popular contest go VERY quickly

How to Enter the Blog Contest

Don’t worry if you can’t make it to our Twitter Tuesday Giveaway today, because you can enter here on our blog too for a chance to win another Funtainer Straw Bottle! Simply leave a comment here on this blog post by midnight on August 6, 2009 (this contest is much shorter than normal – so hurry!).

PVC-free EcoRaft Provides a Unique Way to Reuse 2 Liter Soda Bottles

Alicia — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:56:20 +0000

Thanks to a tip from one of our awesome readers, we were introduced to an ingenious alternative to chemical-laden PVC pool floaties. The EcoRaft is unique in so many ways that I hardly know where to start!

Features Like No Other

PVC and phthalate-free outer shell is constructed of a durable polyester duc canvas
Canvas is extra durable for use by the whole family including the family dog and is sure to last beyond the inflatable PVC air mattresses that end up in the landfill
Looks like an ordinary blow-up air mattress, but it’s filled with 26 empty 2-liter bottles to make it float
Comfortable, UV resistant and can be used almost anywhere – even with pets
Tested to remain bouyant at 300Lbs
Made in the U.S.A.

It’s easy to use, and just think – no more blowing until you pass out either! You just unzip and insert your empty two liter bottles into the polyester shell, and you have an eco-friendly air mattress.

It’s also a money-saver in the long run. With cheap PVC floaties, the initial low cost doesn’t translate to value. When the air mattress is punctured or tears it’s tossed into the landfill, then we run out and buy another low-quality product and the cycle is continued. It becomes an inconvenience, while increasing waste, cost and exposing children to toxic chemicals in the process.

The EcoRaft is available online at Green Bottle USA and even has a little sibling called the EcoFloat. We’ve been told by the company that new eco-friendly pool and beach products are in the works

Twitter Tuesday Giveaway: Boon’s PVC Free Odd Ducks

Alicia — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:57:07 +0000

Let’s face it, PVC-free duckies are really hard to find (kind of like PVC-free pool toys!). There are plenty of companies out there touting phthalate-free duckies, but that doesn’t eliminate the other toxic aspects of PVC. Boon, Inc. has recently added the snazzy Odd Ducks to their ever-growing list of children’s innovations. Yes, they have hip, mod graphics and bold colors, but these ducks are more than just fashionable – they’re completely BPA, PVC and phthalate-free!

Twitter Tuesday Giveaway+ Extra Chance to Win Here on the Blog (CONTEST CLOSED)

CONGRATS to our Winners! @luckytoddler, @sweepsmommy and Single Mama!

It’s time for more Twitter Tuesday excitement! We’ll be giving away a set of Odd Ducks (Bob and Jane) to two Tweeters at 3pm EST today (see details on how to enter below).

>> And don’t worry if you can’t make it to our Twitter Tuesday Giveaway today, because you can enter here on our blog too for a chance to win another set of Odd Ducks! Simply leave a comment here on this blog post by midnight on July 9, 2009 (this contest is much shorter than normal – so hurry!).

How to enter via Twitter (#TuesGiveaway)

Join Twitter (if you haven’t already)
Follow us on Twitter @thesoftlanding
We’ll send out a contest announcement on Twitter at 3pm EST, and you’ll be entered automatically when you copy/paste that announcement and re-tweet it. Our tweet will look something like this: “Follow @thesoftlanding & RT to win: We’re giving away XYZ to the 50th person to tweet this!”
Those people who tweet at the right time will win! We’ll notify everyone with a message broadcast on Twitter containing the winner(s) Twitter ID when the contest is ends
The winners will contact us at info@thesoftlanding.com with their full name and shipping address to claim their prize
Don’t worry if you don’t win, because there’s always next week’s Twitter Tuesday!

Ask TSL: Do You Know of Any PVC-free Pools and Toys?

Alicia — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:32:07 +0000

We never dreamed how difficult it would be to answer this question! We’ve spent the last 2 months searching for PVC-free baby pools, floaties and toys - so you’d think we would have quite a long list of options – but that’s not the case. At this point, Summer’s here, so we’ve decided to go ahead and share our list along with tips for avoiding pool toys that are generally made from PVC.

Products Typically Made with PVC

Inflatable Pools, Floaties and Toys

We found that almost all inflatable toys are made from PVC (usually listed as Vinyl). In fact, we didn’t find a single one made from an alternative material, as there doesn’t seem to be a suitable substitute at this time. We also realize that it’s almost impossible to avoid them, so if you can’t find an alternative product to meet your needs, we suggest you consider buying them used. This gives them a chance to off-gas before using it with your children, and also helps reduce the use of PVC (which is regarded as the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics). Keep in mind that buying used doesn’t help with phthalates and other toxins common to PVC. We didn’t have the man (or woman!) power to research every single inflatable pool toy to find out which are phthalate-free, so you may want to contact the manufacturer before buying used items.

Please note that this category includes the spring style floats as seen here. We confirmed with several manufacturers that the inflatable ring inside the nylon casing is made of PVC.

Dense Foam Life Vests and Mats

Most dense foam kickboards, life vests and mats are made from closed-cell PVC foam and are covered in a layer of waterproof vinyl. Even the floaties made from non-PVC foam were mostly covered with a layer of PVC on the outside.

You can identify them by their shiny and slightly rubbery exterior. You can see an example of a PVC life vest here.

Life Vests with Neoprene or Nylon Covering

We were surprised to learn that most of our good old standby life vests were made with a PVC foam core. Their neoprene and nylon covering hides the interior, so be sure to contact the manufacturer to confirm what type of foam is used for buoyancy. Not all of them contain PVC foam, so it’s worthwhile to double check. You can se examples of neoprene covered PVC life jackets here.

This is another time where either buying used, or doing your own investigatioin with the manufacturer is definitely warranted.

PVC-free Pool Products

Polyethylene and EVA Foam Floaties, Noodles and Mats

Noodle style pool toys are usually made from polyethylene foam, which is PVC-free. This material is often used in packaging and as insulation as well. It can be identified by its more lightweight feel and porous appearance as compared to the dense, heavy PVC foam. Also, it typically doesn’t have an exterior covering like PVC foam does. You can find a giant list of great polyethylene foam toys here.

We also came across floaties and mats made from non-toxic EVA foam here, here and here.

Hard-sided Polyethylene Kid Pools

Thank goodness there are still old-fashioned molded pool made with PVC-free polyethylene around! They are getting harder to find, but we’ve seen them at Walmart, Target and Kids R Us this year. We found the one pictured to the right here, as well as the Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool here.

Be sure to look for recycling code #2, because some hard-sided pools like this one are made with with PVC.

Additional PVC-free Products

One company in particular was much more helpful in providing information than all of the others we contacted. Following is a list of all PVC-free toys offered by Swimways:

Kids Vests: Swim Sweater, Swim Vest and Power Swimmer
Toypedo Twister
Can ‘o Worms Sink ‘n Link Dive Game
Skip Disk
Lounge Chairs: Santa Cruz, Newporter Elite, Palm Bay and Captiva

We’ll continue to add to our list as we locate more PVC-free pool options!

In Search of PVC-free Bath Mats

Alicia — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:28:08 +0000

The hunt for PVC-free bath mats has been a long project, but we’ve finally been able to gather a nice assortment of options for you.

Now we’re not talking about just any old bath mat here – we were looking for the ever elusive “rubbery” mat with safety grip. We’ve come across many different styles of non-rubbery bath mats: recycled wood, bamboo and organic hemp that would be fine, but our goal was to find one that could be used with our kids to provide a non-slip surface.

Throughout our research, it was interesting to learn about the different types of materials used in bath maths. Take a look at what each of the following PVC and phthalate-free bath mats are made from (I’ve also included a link to purchase).

Rubbermaid Rubber Bath Mat: made from styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) which is a synthetic rubber copolymer that is latex-free as well.
Vita Futura Rubber Bath Mats (several styles): made from a natural rubber (from the sap of the genera Hevea and Ficus trees).
Extra Long Tub Safety Mat – also made from natural rubber.
The Manhole Bath Mat – made from silicone rubber, latex-free.
Ace Hardware Bath Mat – made from thermo-plastic elastomer (TPE), latex-free.

We would love to hear about other PVC-free bath mats you’ve found, so please feel free to leave us your thoughts

Photo Source: Generate

Which Dolls Contain PVC?

Alicia — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:54:09 +0000

Madame Alexander Sweet Baby Nursery Doll DOES Contain PVC

UPDATED 1/21/10 (see Madame Alexander)

After highlighting Safbaby’s research on PVC-free doll options, we had a lot of parents asking a more specific question, “What about the good old plastic dolls with hair instead of yarn? My daughter really wants to be able to brush and play with her doll’s hair.”

Because we love our readers, we started our search immediately. Just as quickly, we realized that the perfect safer doll would be yet another elusive challenge. Here’s what we found . . .

Fisher Price/Mattel

Q: Do the American Girl, Barbie, Talking Dora, Little Mommy dolls contain PVC?

A: All of our products meet or even exceed the standards recommended by the FDA (okay, by now we can repeat that tired old response in our sleep).

Q: So, do the dolls contain PVC?

A: Our material lists are proprietary.

MGA Entertainment

We’ve never had such a difficult time locating a number to reach such a large, widespread company.

Q: Do the Bratz, Bratz Babyz, Zapf Creation Baby dolls contain PVC?

A: We don’t use PVC in any of our dolls.

Q: You don’t use PVC at all, not just phthalate-free PVC in ANY of your dolls??

A: That’s correct.

We were so hopeful, but when we hopped over to HealthyToys.org, we found test results on a Bratz Kidz Jade doll in June 2007. They found PVC almost everywhere.

We’ll be following up with MGA again to see if we can talk with someone from their Q.A. Dept. to verify what the story is on their materials.

UPDATE 12/3/08: We found several more dolls in the new Healthy Toys 2008 Guide finding PVC here and here.

UPDATE 12/10/08: We had an interesting experience with a Nuby Nibbler testing positive for PVC in the Healthy Toys 2008 Guide. It turns out that the Nibbler doesn’t contain PVC after all, and we believe the whole issue has to do with PVC packaging and surface contamination. Read the full article here.

Hasbro

Q: Do the Baby Alive dolls contain PVC?

A: Yes, they do contain PVC in several areas.

How refreshing! We were bummed out, but at least we got an immediate and straightforward answer!

Carpatina

Q: Do Carpatina dolls contain PVC?

A: Our dolls are latex-free, but they definitely contain PVC.

Well, one more honest answer.

Madame Alexander

Q: Do Madame Alexander dolls contain PVC?

A: My information says that any of our dolls made with PVC are phthalate-free.

Q: Can you tell us which dolls contain PVC and which don’t?

A: Our Project Manager is out of the office, so I’ll have to refer it to him when he returns.

We’ll be checking back in soon and will update this brand as soon as possible.

*IMPORTANT UPDATE 1/21/10: On 12/3/08, we were told on two separate calls (speaking with different reps and eventually the Project Manager) that the entire line of Madame Alexander Sweet Baby Nursery dolls were specifically made without PVC (and thus phthalates) because they are meant for babies who will mouth the dolls. We were told that the other collector dolls may contain PVC, as they are not are not intended for young children who may chew on the dolls. They asked us to be clear about the fact that none of their lines (other than the Sweet Baby Nursery dolls) had been tested for PVC.

Today we received an email from a blog reader stating that they had been told that all Madame Alexander dolls are made with PVC. We made a follow up call today to re-confirm and were sadly disappointed to learn that this is true! The staff member we spoke to said emphatically, “There is no such thing as a PVC-free doll.” She did confirm that all of their dolls are phthalate-free.

If you have purchased a doll based on the information we provided here, we apologize. Please be sure to take all new vinyl dolls out of their boxes for an extended period of time to off-gas before giving them to your children.

Keptin-Jr

Q: Do the Tiny Baby Dolls with plastic head, hands and legs contain PVC?

A: Yes, they do contain phthalate-free PVC. They are also made with fair trade organic cotton bodies filled with polyester.

Keptin-Jr is definitely on the right track, but still not PVC-free.

Overall our search was unsuccessful. We’re still hoping to connect with several other companies, and we’ll update our list with any new findings. In the meantime, you may want to stick to the list of PVC-free dolls provided by Safbaby.

It’s our hope to see a major shift in the market next year as parents insist on more PVC-free options, just as we’ve witnessed with the decrease in use of BPA in baby feeding products.