A Serving of Mealtime Eco-Savers for Earth Day Celebrations

This year’s Earth Day, April 22, marked the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. The first Earth Day was truly bipartisan with support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city dwellers and farmers, business tycoons and labor leaders that led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Since then, environmental concerns have grown and more young families are trying to make a difference through the products they buy and daily practices to recycle, renew and reuse.

Help your customers and the environment by offering goods that are planet-friendly and help lead to a sustainable future. You, your shoppers and the people they shop for are all in this movement together. Get on board to help make the world a greener, healthier, better place. Here are a few brand suggestions that can help you go “green” in more ways than one: Lifefactory, Itzy Ritzy, Dandelion, and Kids Konserve.

Lifefactory Helps Ditch Plastic for Glass

Plastic clogs landfills and messes with our ecosystem. If ever there was a time to lose it in favor of reusable, easy-to-clean and care for glass, it’s now. That’s why Lifefactory makes BPA-free glass baby bottles with patent-pending silicone sleeves. The designs fuse modern sensibility, eco-friendly composition and exceptional utility to produce glass baby bottles, beverage bottles, and teethers free of known harmful chemicals including BPA, phthalates, and PVC.

The nine-ounce baby bottle can go from freezer to boiling water and fits into a silicone sleeve so it’s protected from the inevitable drop off a stroller or highchair. When baby finishes, the bottle pops right into the dishwasher. Better yet, it grows with the child as the included clear cover converts to an easy-hold first cup later on. The bottle sleeves are available in a range of colors, from spring green, to bright yellow and lilac.

There is also a four-ounce baby bottle for littler ones in the same range of vibrant colors. When a child moves to the toddler stage, it’s time for a glass sippy cup that’s leak resistant and has steady flow control, in the same cheery silicone sleeve colors. Customers will also respond to Lifefactory’s nine-ounce flat cap glass bottles that can go in lunch boxes or be toted so that hydration is always at the ready.

Performance meets purity at www.lifefactory.com

Itzy Ritzy Takes an Eco Angle to Snack Attacks

What shopper doesn’t appreciate an item for kids that’s reusable and easy to clean? The Snack Happened Mini from Itzy Ritzy, a company that’s wowing both celeb and non-boldface names, is the perfect size for little hands, useful for picnics, school lunches and holding small items such as keys or crayons. The lead-free YKK quiet zipper top keeps crumbs, drips and contents securely inside. The outside is 100% cotton designer fabric with a thick, lush PVC-free waterproof lining interior. The bags are made in the U.S.A.

The mini, sized at 7”x3 1/3”, comes as a two pack in the same fabric. Patterns are as jazzy as the entire concept including pink and green Little Miss Zig Zag, Urban Jungle in Pink or Blue with animal silhouettes, multicolored Cupcake Couture and Preppy Plaid, a riff on madras.

A 7”x7” Snack Happened is available in the same range of knock-out patterns and colors and is big enough to hold a banana, potentially the source of a giant snack mess. These snack bags have won numerous awards including a 2012 Cribsie, and are an ideal alternative to eco-dreadful plastic bags.

Show off practical reusable bags from www.itzyritzy.com

Corn Lends an Ear to Dandelion Feeding Items

The dandelion is a symbol of the sweet innocence of summer — hardy, adaptable and man, can it grow anywhere. Dandelion brand products are healthy, environmentally friendly and use recycled packaging. Natural tableware including plates, bowls and eating utensils are lightweight, reusable and made from a unique corn (PLA) formula. Instead of conventional plastic, largely made from petroleum, Dandelion eating ware uses far fewer fossil resources and generates lots less green house gases. Plus, corn is a renewable and sustainable resource.

Display infant feeding spoons in packages of six along with divided feeding bowls in sets of two; an innovative, eco-approach to baby feeding with a tab that makes it easy for an adult hand to grasp. Larger reusable bowls have flared tab edges so they are easy to hold and the deep sides keep food inside — extra assistance for messy beginners who are just learning to feed themselves. Spoons and forks are shaped for the sometimes-clumsy grasp of little ones, and the spoon has a deep bowl so food makes it all the way to the mouth. Award-winning spoons and forks are packaged in sets of eight so they can be packed and sent off with the lunch-box set with plenty to keep on hand at home.

Eat it up naturally: www.dandelionforbaby.com

Put Kids Konserve Waste-Free Lunch Kits on Your Menu

Waste-free lunch kits are fun, stylish, and easy for kids to use while offering maximum convenience and flexibility for parents. Reusable products from Kids Konserve give customers the convenience of coordinated lunch kit components that can be used together or packed into the lunch box of their choice.

Lunch Totes include folds-into-itself, reusable shopping bags in pink, brown or green as well as insulated Lunch Sacks handmade of 100% recycled cotton printed using plant based inks in solids and chic prints appropriate for tots and adults alike.

Get rid of plastic baggies and stock up on Food Kozies in a new, larger size that can wrap generous sandwiches, tortilla roll-ups, apple slices or any food that needs to be wrapped to tote. BPA, phthalates, PVC and lead-free Kozies are also useful as refrigerator storage bags for cut meats and veggies. The larger Kozies are clear; smaller ones come in orange, green and magenta.

16” x 16” cotton napkins in sets of four come in butterfly, squiggle and caterpillar-patterned prints as a waste-free alternative to paper and can double as a placemat.

Complete Waste Free Lunch Kits include a recycled cotton sack, cloth napkin, stainless steel beverage bottle, food Kozy and two stainless steel 8-ounce containers. Help shoppers quit generating trash with kid-tested, non-toxic, non-leaching products from Kids Konserve. www.kidskonserve.com