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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2008)
6 • The Southwest Portland Post HolIDay GuIDE December 2008 EarthTalk TM From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: Can you recom- mend some sources for toys and other holiday gifts that are both safe and not harmful to the environment? -- Tracy Gately, Marblehead, MA Given the massive recall of toys con- taminated with lead last year, let alone all the other bad news about chemicals seeping out of just about every other conceivable type of consumer item, it’s no wonder that people are nervous about what might be inside the wrap- ping paper this next holiday season. Luckily, growing environmental con- cerns—and consumer demand—means that plenty of safe and green-friendly items are available for those willing to do a little more than just walk around the closest shopping mall. For kids’ items, Oompa Toys (oom- pa.com) is hard to beat. The Wiscon- sin-based company offers thousands of child- and Earth-safe items. On Oompa’s easy-to-use website you can buy products ranging from toys, doll- houses and stuffed animals to learning games, musical instruments and art supplies to kitchen play accessories, kids’ furniture and tricycles, many items made with organic or recycled materials. Another interesting online source for kids’ toys is Washington-based Earthentree (earthentree.com), which sells dozens of pull toys, rattles, stack- ers and other goodies to stimulate young hands and minds. All of their products are handcrafted by “fair trade” (fairly compensated) artisans in India using sustainably harvested wood and natural vegeta- ble-based dyes. And Hazelnut Kids (hazelnutkids.com) specializes in natural, earth-friendly wooden and organic cotton toys for kids and babies, and even offers gift-wrapping with recycled and recyclable paper. For grown-up gifts, EcoArtware (eco-artware.com) sells a variety of items made from recycled and natu- ral materials, from bath and kitchen accessories to pet products to jewelry, including many hand-made items. Everybodygreen (everybodygreen. com) is another good source for green- friendly jewelry. The company’s No Plastic charm bracelets are made with corn starch-based resin, natural herbal tea dye and recycled brass. For those holiday parties you might be attending, wine aficionados might appreciate a bottle of Boisset Family Estates’ Yellow Jersey pinot noir (yel- lowjersywine.com) , which comes from France in a 100 percent recycled (and recyclable) plastic bottle. Looking for fair trade arts and crafts? Gifts with Humanity (giftswithhuman- ity.com) sells clothing, home décor, jewelry and more from artists in Asia, Africa and Central and South America. Organic Bug (organicbug.com) also sells fair trade items and other natural and organic products from clothing to home décor items to travel accessories. Other websites worth visiting for fair trade and/or green-friendly gifts OHSU Family Medicine at Gabriel Park We Specialize in You and Your Family • • • • • • • • • • • • • General medicine Pediatric care Lab Obstetrics and gynecology Family planning Office surgery Sports medicine Travel medicine X-ray Bone-density screening Orthopedics Acupuncture New on-site pharmacy Conveniently located across from the Southwest Community Center. Free Parking! To schedule an appointment, please call (503) 494-9992. {Hours} Monday through Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Oregon Health & Science University Gabriel Park Clinic 4411 SW Vermont Street Portland, OR 97219 Email: fmgp@ohsu.edu A child's snail pull-toy from Earthentree, is made from child-safe and eco-friendly ma- terials. (Photo courtesy Earthentree) include peacefulvalleygreetings.com, greenfeet.com, pristineplanet.com, nokiagreenstore.com, gaiam.com, aca- cia.com and vivaterra.com. A simple Google search for “green holiday gifts” will turn up many more. Another approach to the holidays, of course, for the sake of lessening one’s footprint and tightening the belt in a downturned economy, is to eschew traditional gift-giving in favor of donat- ing to a local or national environmental group in the name of a friend or loved one. This can be accomplished by visit- ing the websites of your favorite green groups and making your way to their “Donate” page, or by visiting justgive. org or worldofgood.com (by eBay), both which facilitate contributions to worthwhile charities. Editor’s Note: Be sure to try shopping first at Southwest Portland neighbor- hood business districts like Barbur Boulevard, Corbett Avenue, Garden Home, Hillsdale, Multnomah Village, Macadam Avenue, Raleigh Hills and South Burlingame. Did I miss any- body? You’re more likely to find eco- friendly and fair-trade gifts locally and help your community at the same time. — Don Snedecor GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/ thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emaga- zine.com. Read past columns at: www. emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives. php.