Christmas 2009 | Eco Trend Spotter

Happy Mais Insects and Monsters

Happy Mais brings us a simple yet revolutionary toy which encourages creative play and a great deal of fun. It’s sure to delight every eco-conscious child, and is guaranteed to be one of those toys which bigger kids and adults are dying to get their hands on too!

The Insects and Monsters Happy Mais kit contains 7 litres of Happy Mais pieces of different colours and sizes. The pieces feel great to the touch, but just wet them slightly and let the real fun begin.

As the building blocks are made from cornstarch material, it only takes a little moisture and the pieces will magically stick together to create all sorts of two and three dimensional colourful sculpted creations – pop up Insect and Monster shapes and decorations are included in the box, but the only real limit is the imagination.

Happy Mais is made from fully biodegradable and compostable GM free cornstarch, dyed with non-toxic food colourings, all of which makes this a truly eco-friendly toy.

And even better, for every box sold, the manufacturer makes a donation to the Earth Fund Association, which protects and conserves large areas of tropical rain forest.

* Box contains 7 litres of Happy Mais, plastic modelling knife, stickers, templates and a sponge to moisten the corn starch.

>>> Available from Natural Collection

>>> Price £15.95 + earn £1.08 MoreEco cash back

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Fairtrade and Natural Baby Blankets from Babi Pur

Babi Pur’s aim is to make eco shopping for babies fun and ethical at the same time.
Babi Pur is a family run eco shopping business based on the edge of Snowdonia. The founders Children are the inspiration for their products which is why the main theme is Faitrade. Everything on sale at Babi Pur has been carefully researched to ensure that Fair trade standards and environmental impact are always the highest priority.

These gorgeous baby blankets are fairtrade and natural, they’re incredibly soft and with so many patterns to choose from there is something for everyone! Make sure to check out the full selection at Babi Pur!

Organic Baby Clothing from Little Shrimp – Alpine Baby Blanket

Fabulous winter alpine blanket in green red and blue stripes with snow scenes on the reverse side. Super soft organic cotton, perfect for keeping warm and stylish this winter!

Incredibly soft and high quality organic cotton baby clothing in gorgeous alpine inspired colours by ‘Little Shrimp’. Shore and seawear that’s comfortable and easy to wash and wear.

>>> Price £19.99 + earn £1.60 cash back with MoreEco

Organic and Fairtrade Stripy baby blanket by Piccalilly

A luxuriously thick yarn dyed organic cotton baby blanket, perfect for wrapping a newborn baby in. These blankets make great gifts for newborn babies and they are bound to become a favourite. They look super stylish wrapped around a newborn or on a baby’s lap when going for walks in the pram.

Fairtrade Certified Cotton, 100% Organic Cotton certified by Ecocert and Control Union to GOTS standard. Organic cotton, good for your baby, good for the environment and good for the cotton farmer! Measures 75 x 75 cm

>>> Price £19.99 + earn £1.60 cash back with MoreEco

Piccalilly Hot Cotton Fair Trade Certified Organic Spotty Baby Blanket

Fantastic and colourful spotty baby blanket made from Fairtrade Certified Organic cotton. What better to wrap your new baby up in than this gorgeous, stylish and ethical blanket. A continuation of the wonderful spotty range from Piccalilly.

>>> Price £19.99 + earn £1.60 cash back with MoreEco

>>> Available from Babi Pur

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Paperpod Aeroplane

The Paperpod Aeroplane is a fantastic resource to encourage role-play and stimulate your child’s imagination. Your young pilots can decorate it to their own design before taking off into the skies to bank, climb, dive and loop the loop!

Paperpod products are produced from a tough corrugated cardboard, which should allow it to be assembled and taken apart a good number of times during its lifetime. It comes in its own cardboard storage box to allow it to be flat packed away once it has been dismantled.

The designs are surprisingly strong once it is erected, and have closing doors and windows. They have spacious interiors and are easily large enough to accommodate at least two small children. A great feature of the product is that it has an unfinished surface, which enables your child to get creative and decorate the outside using paints, crayons, pens and stickers etc.

When a child has had some creative input they hold a real sense of ownership and they take pride in their achievements. Alternatively artistic parents, nursery practitioners or party hosts can decorate and personalise the toys/furniture for the special little people in their lives.

This product can be dismantled and folded flat for storage. This also makes an ideal solution for playworkers who are working with mobile crèches and making home visits or for people running children’s’ parties as everything can be put into the boot of the car. It is not heavy to carry and does not take long to assemble on arrival.

The cardboard used is very robust and sturdy – it’s designer has over 20 years experience in the packaging industry and has been awarded for his work with major companies.

>>> Available from BigGreenSmile

>>> Price £22.95 each + earn £1.56 MoreEco Cash Back

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Recycled Stationery Set

The stationery set contains a wealth of colourful products manufactured using recycled CD cases, retail packaging, polystyrene packaging and car tyres.
Also included in the stationery set is a pack of colouring pencils sourced from well managed forests.

All products are UK manufactured using UK produced recycled materials.

Sets in Blue, Pink, & Black

>>> Available from ECOutlet

>>> Price £18.99 each + earn £1.29 MoreEco Cash Back

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Root Viewer

Teach your children where their food comes from with this ingenious product from Toyday.

The clever design allows the developing plants to be seen right from sprouting to full harvest, making it an educational kit for all ages.

The set includes three growing tubes, wooden stand, compost, seeds and full instructions to grow an onion, carrot and radish from the included seeds.

Includes journal, to document the growing process.

>>> Available from Natural Collection

>>> Price £7.95 + earn £0.54 MoreEco cash back

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Spaceman Puppet Kit

Contents of kit make one spaceman puppet. Kit contains everything you need to make the puppet yourself including brush, glue and 2 colours (black and silver) of paint.

Each kit comprises of custom made recycled cardboard & wooden parts. Once all the parts have been glued together and painted, they can easily be threaded together. Multiple colours of paint are also included with the kit so the creative part can be left to the recipient!

The Spaceman Puppet stands 35cm tall when assembled

All the cardboard used in these kits (in the tub and the body parts of each puppet) is made from recycled post consumer waste paper and cardboard. These parts can also be easily recycled once finished with!

Other kits available are;

Dinosaur Puppet Kit
Ballerina Puppet Kit
Giraffe Puppet Kit
Knight Puppet Kit
Fairy Princess Puppet Kit

>>> Available from ECOutlet

>>> Price £12.00 each + earn £0.82 MoreEco Cash Back

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Wind Up Toys – Nigel’s Eco Store

Want to introduce your kids to the benefit of going eco-friendly? Why not use these fun electronic and wind up toys from Nigel’s Eco Store? For everyone from your children to the kid inside of you these fantastic ethical toys will put a smile on everyone’s face!

Hearts-Radio-big

Wind Up Hearts Radio – listen without batteries, and look pretty in pink

A new twist on the wind up radio. This is a fully functioning AM/FM radio, with auto search station finder is not actually a toy. It’s ideal for anyone who likes pink, and hearts, and comes complete with mobile phone charging cable – wind the handle to charge your phone on the go. A perfect gift for young ladies.

There are lots of fun features to discover; – lights, sounds and much more to keep you entertained. But remember this radio’s special – you have to keep it charged and by simply winding the handle the lights and sound will keep on coming!

Vampire Bat Torch – don’t be caught in the dark without this fun wind up torch

Whether reading under the covers, making fun shapes on the wall or guiding your way in the dark every child should have a vampire bat torch. Perfect for Halloween, ’scary’ walks in the woods at night and ghost hunting with Scooby Doo.

But surely a torch with no batteries is useless? Not the Vampire Bat Eco Torch! This magical source of light doesn’t need any! Just give it a friendly squeeze and it’s ready to light your way into the night with its LED bulb. Truly illuminating!

Mr Robot Head – wind up and ready to play ecotronic toy that’ll give kids a buzz

This tantalising buzz wire puzzle will certainly get you going! Every time you wind up Mr Robot Head, he’s ready to play, but can you meet his challenge? Move the wand along my antenna from one end to the other but careful as you go! Touch the sides and Mr Robot Head won’t be happy… his eyes will flash and he’ll buzz his disapproval.

Mr Robot Head doesn’t need batteries to keep him charged but remember to wind him regularly so you can practice and challenge your friends.

Blue Eco Duck – a fab pull along, wind up educational toy

This happy eco duck is quackers! Wind up action, flashing lights, geometric buttons and well known nursery rhymes all help to provide a genuine educational pull along duck. Press the buttons on its back and discover its lights and sounds, and if it loses its charge just flip over and wind it up and it’ll be ready to play again!

The Eco Duck has many features that will delight and entertain a young child whilst encouraging development of key areas such as hand eye co-ordination and fine motor control.

>>> Prices from £5.99 – £24.99 + earn up to £1.99 cash back

>>> Available at Nigel’s Eco Store

>>>Other Energy Saving Products

>>> Shops Selling Energy Saving Products

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Top Christmas Gifts Under £10

The team at EcoTrendSpotter have trawled through all the eco shops listed on MoreEco and have come up with their top ten eco Christmas gifts under £10. They are;

This Works Eyes – Christmas Cracker

Soapods Soapnts 190g

Zilka Recycled Hangers

H20 8 Digit Waterpowered Calculator With Replaceable Cell

The Mini Love Candle by Love Lula

Recycled Glass Candle

Plant in a Tin

Green Cards – an eco twist on a timeless game

Ecoescape UK

City Bird Organic Cotton Tea Towels

>>> View All Eco Christmas Lists

>>>Latest Eco Shopping Offers

This Works Eyes – Christmas Cracker

A soothing blend of Aloe Vera, Cucumber and Marine Extracts to reduce post-party puffiness and provide cooling, refreshing relief for tired eyes. Open up a party cracker for yourself or gift a friend with this great stocking stuffer!
It’s the morning after and you’re feeling and looking like you’ve had zero sleep… while that may be true, fool everyone into thinking otherwise with this works’ cracker Eyes! The soothing blend immediately brightens and refreshes the most tired-looking eyes while reducing the appearance of dark circles using a fusion of regenerating and moisturising Glycerin, Arnica, Aloe Vera and Cucumber.
The This Works Eyes Christmas Cracker contains an Eye Serum.
This Works Eyes Christmas Cracker key ingredients:

Glycerin – moisturises and softens the skin
Arnica – reduces puffiness with its anti-inflammatory properties
Aloe Vera – soothes and cools
Cucumber – provides a cooling, soothing and refreshing effect with anti- inflammatory and skin tightening properties; also acts as a humectant to lock in moisture
Marine Extracts – hydrates and firms the skin

>>> Available from Big Green Smile

>>> Price £8 + earn £0.64 cash back

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Soapods Soapnuts 190g

Soapods are the effective, completely natural and environmentally friendly way to wash your laundry.
A washing detergent that grows on treesàliterally, Soapods are nuts that are native to India and Nepal, where they have been used for centuries as a washing detergent.

Harvested from the Soapnut tree, the nuts contain the active natural washing ingredient saponin. Similar to soap, when the shells of the sooapnut come in contact with water the saponin is released and suds are produced. Soapods are sourced directly from India and have rigorous quality control procedures in place to ensure their product is of the highest standard.

Soapods are 100% natural unlike commercial washing products that add numerous chemicals, which can harm our health and pollute our environment. A resistance is growing towards chemicals in cleaning and washing products, as they are now widely believed to be the cause of the dramatic increases in skin allergies and a contributing factor in the causes of Eczema and Asthma.

Organic and biodegradable Soapods are also a sustainable, renewable primary product and a valuable contribution to the fight against environmental pollution.