With new toy recalls hitting the news just about every day, deciding what to let your kids play with can be stressful. Plush toys, by nature, are fairly foolproof. You don’t have to worry about metal pieces that could contain lead, chunks of plastic that deplete our natural resources and leach toxic chemicals or wood that may come from endangered forests. If you do one better and choose organic cotton or recycled plush toys, you can be sure playtime will be safe and green. Add these five eco-friendly stuffed toys to your child’s menagerie.

Sckoon Organic Cotton Happy Lion Doll: Not only is this fun lion made of 100% certified organic cotton on the outside, but also it’s stuffed with organic cotton, too. And it’s dyed with safer, metal-free pigments. Babies and toddlers will love pulling on the lion’s mane.

Amigurumi Style Elephant Kit from Stich Paradise: If you’re up for a DIY project, you can let your kids fall in love with this endangered species. You’ll create the elephant, which is said to bring you good luck, in the Japanese style of crocheting called amigurumi using recycled, repurposed or reused materials.

Organic Cotton Puppy Dog: This sweet plush is velveteen soft, nearly as wonderful to pet as a real a real pup, but this dog’s coat is made from organic cotton. It gets its hint of color from low eco-impact dyes and natural cotton fill is found inside. Click here to read more

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Send your daughter back to school in eco-friendly style this year with a pair of green shoes. Earlier this week you saw the best eco-friendly shoes for boys and now from sweet Mary Janes to canvas sneakers, we’ve found the best eco-friendly girls shoes for back to school. Make sure your kid knows the difference by explaining what makes her kicks better for the earth before she laces up.

Sugar Kids Chakra Mary Janes: Basic black and white will look just as adorable with jeans at school as it will with a dress on Sunday. This pair gets an eco-friendly pat on the back for being made of natural materials, including a jute-wrapped midsole.

Simple Kids Skippies: Simple Shoes tagline is “Shoes for a happy planet,” and this pair has several features that back it up: the outsoles used to be car tires, the laces used to be plastic bottles and the upper and linings are made from 100% certified organic cotton.  Eco accolades aside, these striped Skippies are so fun that you can believe they’re “shoes for a happy kid,” too.

Camper Kids Mary Jane: These offbeat Mary Janes with are half canvas sneaker, too, but this style is created from organic cotton to give it an eco-friendly twist. Let your spunky toddler or preschooler rock red kicks and she’ll be ready to skip to school every day. Click here to read more

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All too soon your kids are going to have to trade in their airy sandals for school-worthy sneakers. When you go back-to-school shopping this year, use it as a teachable moment. Explain how they can make their carbon footprint smaller by choosing eco-friendly shoes. Here, our five favorite eco-friendly shoes for boys.

Ricosta Kids Paco: Let boys be boys in these daring skeleton-clad sneakers. The deep red and black colors are created without hazardous dyes and are almost entirely chemical-free. Factories are powered by renewable energy and the shoes can be recycled.

Simple Kids Kid’s Innertube: Plaid is all the rage for fall and this brings the adult trend down to size for kids. Simple Shoes is an eco-conscious brand. This pair is mostly made from certified organic cotton and is vegan-friendly as it’s free of all animal products. The rubbery spots like around hte heel are made from tire inner tubes (hence the name) and the special insole and outsole are both made from recycled car tires.

The North Face Kids Mountain Sneaker: This casual sneaker is perfect for boys who run from school to digging in the dirt or playing hide and sneak in the nearby forest. The lining is made of sustainable bamboo, the mid-sole is made in part of cork, another sustainable material, the outsole is made of 40% recycled rubber and even accents are made from recycled plastic bottles. Click here to read more

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The average child generates 67 pounds of lunchtime trash per year! Whether you send a brown paper bag filled with individually wrapped or baggied items or if your child buys a school lunch, when the lunch bell rings, a lot of waste heads to clog the landfills. Send your student back to school with a reusable lunch box or lunch bag to cut down on garbage. But be careful not to choose BPA-ridden plastic containers for food. Here, five favorite choices that are healthy for kids and the environment.

Laptop Lunch System: Swap brown-bagging for bento box style with this sustainable set (shown above). The insulated lunch box is filled with a variety of little containers to keep grapes separate from carrot sticks. You’ll also get a reusable water bottle and utensils–everything is dishwasher safe and recyclable. Not sure what to pack? Find ideas in the Laptop Lunch User’s Guide.

Built NY Munchler: Here’s an adorable lunch box line that will quiet any complaints about eco products being boring. Children’s book illustrator Stephen Savage created the collection of insulated polypropylene bags that unzip flat to transform into a place mat (genius!). They’ve been tested for lead and food safety to ensure a healthy lunch.

Fleurville Lunch Pack: You can always count on Fleurville to make trend-driven well-designed stuff and this reusable, insulated lunch bag is no exception. It’s PVC- and Teflon-free, but wipes clean easily. Kids will love that they can wear it like a backpack. Click here to read more

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Have you started your back to school shopping yet? This year, when you stock up on notebooks, pens, pencils and the like, look for green school supplies to lower your student’s impact. Fleurville, best known for their trendy diaper bags, created the Re-Run Beta Binder. While your generation had the Trapper Keeper, your kids can have a PVC-free binder that has an eco-friendly message behind it.

Like Fleurville’s Re-Run Diaper Bags, this 3-ring binder is made from recycled plastic bottle fabric–saving about three plastic bottles from living in a landfill forever. Your little study bug can fill this zip-up notebook with worksheets, essays and book reports without worrying about losing them. Sounds like no more excuses for “lost” homework! It also has room to secure six pens or pencils. Click here to read more

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