When I first saw the name “NatureBotts“, I figured a new toy line had been released allowing kids to fight polluters with animatronic, green robots. Sigh. As indicated by the title, however, we’re instead treated to some beautifully green biodegradable wipes for your little baby’s bum.

The UK company — which also has an extensive store of green baby clothing and other accessories — has recently been accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council for using only paper in their wipes taken from managed forests. According to the website, they are also they are 100% free from alcohol, fragrance and color, are dermatologically tested and are also pH balanced. As expected, the wipes also were not tested on animals. You can pick a box for £2.84 here.

Obviously, this is a great product for those living in the UK. If you’re Stateside like me, I would highly recommend Seventh Generation’s Biodegradable Baby Wipes. Jump here to view more.

Green architecture activist Kamal Meattle recently gave a presentation at TED regarding three plants he would recommend for improved health and air quality. It’s a great video and worth watching — but it got me thinking about adding these plants to our own nursery. After all, as a paranoid father that wants only the best for his kid — and with the full knowledge that indoor air quality during the winter months is often poor — why not try something “organic”?

So, let’s look at the three plants recommended by Kamal Meattle!

Areca Palm: “The Living Room Plant”
These palms release copious amounts of water into the air, and remove chemical toxins too. They are consistently rated among the best houseplants for removing all indoor toxins tested. According to online info, the plant is non-toxic.

Mother-in-law’s Tongue: “The Bedroom Plant”
This is a truly perfect plant for anyone that is really terrible at growing plants. It grows well in low-light and requires little watering (only once or twice during the winter months!) According to the book “Baby Safe Houseplants and Cut Flowers”, the plant is mildly toxic — but only if your kid was eat something like 10% of his/her body weight of it. The general opinion over on GardenWeb is that your kids will be fine. Just teach them not to eat it — probably a good idea in general! This plant specializes in capturing CO2 at night and the converting it to Oxygen in the day.

Money Plant: “The Specialist Plant”
This plant does the job of filtering out removing Formaldehyde and other VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds). It doesn’t require much care. Hardy and extremely tolerant of low light and dryness. Bonus: It is the most popular plant for “feng shui” because it creates positive energy (chi). Your baby will be super happy! (grin.)

Becoming a parent is a hard switch — not just because there’s suddenly another person in your life to love and care for — but because you’re also inundated with warnings from every angle on products you never thought twice about. It’s easy to become stressed out — but choosing all-natural or organic products is a good way to avoid a lot of the nasties out there.

A recent study from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics revealed some disturbing information about some of America’s favorite “clean” and “pure” baby products; 61% of the largest, most popular brands (including Johnson & Johnson) contained ingredients like 1, 4 dioxane and formaldehyde, which are known carcinogens. The No More Toxic Tub report states:

“While a single product might not be cause for concern, the reality is that babies may be exposed to several products at bath time, several times a week, in addition to other chemical exposures in the home and environment. Those small exposures add up and may contribute to later-life disease.”

In response to this study, the website Greenopia put together a list of the Top 10 Non-Toxic Baby Shampoos. Some of their organic choices include Erbaorganics Organic Baby Shampoo (at least 77% organic), Organic Blessings Baby Shampoo and Body Wash and Nature’s Paradise Baby Shampoo & Body Wash, Unscented. You can view the full list here.

Do you have a favorite not on this list that you would recommend?

Here on the rattle, we talk a lot about how going green can benefit the health of children everwhere. From BPA-free toys to organic formula to non-toxic finishes and paint — but often times, we also forget about those products that come in contact with our kids’ eco-friendly swag — particularly dish soap and other household cleaners. The two women behind Dapple were obviously thinking the same thing — and their line of cleaners tailor-made for households with young children are an excellent solution to avoiding conventional products. From their website,

All Dapple products use natural-based ingredients that are environmentally-safe, biodegradable, and free of parabens, SLES, and phthalates, as well as synthetic dyes or fragrances. Our flagship products, Dapple Dish Liquid and Dapple Dishwasher Powder, and the just-introduced Dapple Toy Cleaner, now available in spray and wipes.

One of our favorite online stores, SkipHop, is currently having a giveaway of Dapple on their website. Just purchase any feeding item on the site, and you’ll receive a free travel size Dapple baby bottle & dish liquid!

My web-browsing eyes spied some great eco-friendly bath toys today. I especially like the first one, want the second one, and own (and love) the third!

Moby Bath-Spout Cover | $13.00

I can attest to the pain of knocking one’s head against the bathtub faucet — something that would have been avoidable if I had a rubber whale guard. Granted, I was 5-years old at the time — but still, thanks a lot Mom and Dad. I won’t let Indy suffer the same fate! What’s especially cool about this Moby Bath Cover is that it’s also BPA Free, Phthalate-free, PVC-free. Sadly, the water comes out under his chin instead of through the blowhole, but I imagine that might make things a bit messy. Check it out over on Skip*Hop!

Rubberband-Powered Paddle Boat | $5.99

If you have boys, you probably don’t want them necessarily playing with rubber bands just yet. However, with adult supervision, this rubberband-powered paddle boat from KinderKram would make a cool acccessory to bathtime. It’s completely non-toxic, handmade in Germany, and suitable for ages 3 and up. Just make sure the rubberbands aren’t turned into rockets. Available on Amazon.

Organic Cotton Hooded Towel Set | $22.95

For our bathtime routine, we regularly take Indy out of the tub and straight into one of these organic towels. The hoodie is perfect for keeping his little head warm while we transfer to the couch for his nightime clothes. The generous size of this towel also means that there’s plenty of material to wrap his little wet body up in. The set also includes a small organic wsah cloth. Pick it up over at Earthbaby!

Boon, creator of kid’s toys that will brighten up just about any situation, has released a new line of bath toys with “Water Bugs” and “Splat”. Each of the items is BpA-free, Phthalate-free, and PVC-free.

The Water Bugs set allows your kid to scoop up some “water-spider-looking” floating shapes with a mesh net — while Splat is a floating ring-toss game. The company is also well-known for its colorful line of interchangeable “Scrubbles” for kids. On the business end, Boon donates 10% of profits to children’s charities — with most recent donations going towards Helping Orphans Worldwide and the Child Crisis Center in Arizona.

To view their full range of awesome toys – jump here.

To help kick-off our birth to the public, we’ve hooked up with Kiss My Face to offer up their complete, “obsessively natural”, kids collection. These products are a wonderful arsenal to have on hand for any child — and are free of things like parabens, phthalates, PEG’s, SLS, dyes, or fragrances. They are also scented with natural, essential oils and are 100% biodegradable.

The winner will receive everything in the above photo — as well as a few additional items related the line. All you have to do is say hello to us in the comments below — we’re eager to make some new friends! One person will be selected at random to win. Please — only those living in the United States or Canada should enter this contest.

And don’t worry Moms — we’ve got a giveaway for just you coming up. The complete line of Kiss My Face’s new all-natural skincare line will be offered later in the week. Welcome to Ecorattle!

One of the reasons why I love using gDiapers is the benefit of chucking those urine-stained diapers directly into my compost pile. I only wish I could do the same with those containing feces — but my home compost pile (like many others) isn’t efficient enough to break down the waste safely. A fairly-new diaper service serving the California Bay Area called Earth Baby seeks to change all that by providing compostable diapers that are truly compostable. The only difference is, you don’t do a thing. Instead, for $24.99 per month, the company picks up your dirty nappies (and baby wipes) and breaks them down in an industrial composting facility. From the site,

Composting human waste is safe, but only when done properly. Our diapers are composted at elevated temperatures to ensure that any harmful bacteria or pathogens such as salmonella are destroyed during the composting process.

Earth Baby also makes sure their products are sustainable — with eco-friendly diapers, chlorine and fragrance free wipes, and a host of other all-natural products. Deliveries even arrive to your door in a recycled paper bag. Just one more way for parents to fight the disposable diaper battle — while feeling good that all of those dirty nappies are building soil quickly, instead of sitting in a landfill for decades.

To see if Earth Baby serves your area, jump here.

Anyways, the company is announcing that not only have they gone carbon-neutral with help from CarfonFund.org, but the packaging for their products is now much greener. “We’ve always used all-natural, earth friendly ingredients for our baby care products so updating our packaging to more earth friendly materials made sense,” said Andrea Salisbury, President and founder.

The company has added Fiberstone — a tree-free, low carbon footprint material made from natural minerals. According to the release, “One ton of FiberStone, which is made from calcium carbonate (natural “chalk”), saves 16,000 gallons of water, 9,000 BTU’s of energy, and 20 trees! FiberStone™ papers can also be used for labels, tags, unit cartons, boxes, brochures, catalogs, banners, and many other printed products.”

Nice work, CC! You can check out the rest of their bath and body line — as well as their great selection of toddler and kid gear here.

There are a ton of great eco-baby deals out there for those looking — but we thought we might help narrow the search with a few great ones we found while scouring. Check ‘em out:

Little Nut Baby Beanie | Regular Price: An insane $54 | Sale Price: $29.99
Everyone loves making their newborns look like pieces of fruit, woodland creatures, or, well, nuts. Halloween is everyday for most kids — which is why its a good thing none of us can really remember the humiliation. But we can pass it on — which is why this Little Nut Baby Beanie from Gaiam is awesome. Hand-crocheted of undyed, pure organic cotton.

Eco-Me Baby Kit | Regular Price: $55 | Sale Price: $18.00
The Eco-Me Baby Kit from Organic Authority is one of those gifts perfect for parents that are into blending their own cleaning products. You supply the white vinegar and water — and this kit hooks you up with its 100% natural essential oils to mix in. Also comes with ingredients and directions to make your own baby clean wipes and baby diaper freshener.

Green to Grow Regular Neck Baby Bottle | Regular Price: $9.39 | Sale Price: $4.49
BPA-free is a big selling point for baby products these days — and this bottle from Green to Grow is proud to be sporting the label, as well as free of lead and PVC. It also comes in 100% recycled packaging. The 5oz should be enough to get you through the first 1-2 months of your newborn’s life.

Pup Onesie From Bohmo | Regular Price: $22.00 | Sale Price: $12.00
Not a bad price for a onesie from Speesees. 100% Organic Cotton with low impact, herbal based dyes. Yarn is Skal certified and the knitting, dyeing, stitching, and printing processes are Agreco certified. Garments are sweatshop-free and fair trade.