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Where to find safe, Green toys in 2007-Chinese Year of the Recall

10/23/07 - By Anna Fader

Safer Toy Guide 2007

A couple weeks ago The New York Times followed NYC parent blog demigods, Liz Gumbinner and Greg Allen, on toy shopping expeditions and interviewed them about the whole China-toy-recall-apalooza. In the article, Greg Allen who writes daddytypes.com says,
“I think people are kind of stunned because they don’t know what to do. You can’t just cut out every made-in-China toy. It’s just not realistic.�?
Liz Gumbinner, on the other hand, was not one of those stunned parents who didn't know what to do. She knew exactly what to do. Liz writes on a blog called Cool Mom Picks where a couple of savvy, stylin' moms post every day about the best stuff out there for babies and parents.

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They've been posting all along about the good stuff: clothes, toys and other products that are not the run-of-the-mill junk you find at the average mass retailers. On their site you'll find indie, fair-trade and homemade goods that we all now have even more reason to purchase. So it was a natural for them to throw together a safer toy guide to help those stunned parents. The Cool Mom Picks Safer Toy Guide is a best of the best list for every category, directing parents to companies that use safe practices in the manufacture of their toys. Toddlers don't really NEED toys, but we're going to buy them for them anyway. So might as well buy them a couple of really nice classic toys like the ones on the Cool Mom Picks list. You know they're just going to play with the box anyway.

About the Author

Anna Fader

Founder of Mommy Poppins

A fourth-generation Brooklynite, Anna started Mommy Poppins in 2007 to help families find the best things to do with kids in NYC, with a particular emphasis on sharing activities that are free, affordable, and enriching. The site, used by millions of families, has grown to become the ultimate resource for parents in the major US cities, plus travel guides for 100s of destinations.

Anna is a believer in the magic of summer camps, traveling with kids, and that you can raise kids on a budget and still have a rich life full of amazing memories. Anna's first Mommy Poppins book, The Young Traveler's Journal and Activity Book, published in 2025 and co-written with her daughter, Amelia Eigerman, brings that ethos to life, in addition to this website.

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