ZRecommends

Three inspired Lego projects

2009-11-06T14:09:58-06:00

I saved my personal favorite for last.

Making safe homemade moon sand

2009-11-05T03:16:52-06:00

Z and I adapted instructions from the craft blog Skip to My Lou and made homemade "moon sand" the other day. It was easy to make, and given Z's enthusiastic use of it for the hour or so after we made it, this stuff could give our homemade play dough a serious run for its money.

Most "play sand" is made of pulverized quartz rock. The problem with this form of sand is that it contains crystallized silica, which is a known carcinogen that is nasty for little lungs to breathe in during play sessions. That's why most play sand has a Prop 65 warning on it, required for it to be sold in California. Some play sand also contains a fibrous form of tremolite similar in structure to asbestos that some consumer groups argue is potentially as harmful.

More than you probably wanted to know about sand. One easy alternative is Safe Sand, which is made of feldspathic rock and does not contain crystallized silica. We bought a sample pack of variously colored sand and decided to try it out for our moon sand project.

To make a small batch of moon sand, mix one cup of sand with 1/3 cup cornstarch. Add a quarter cup of water, stir, and add a tiny bit more to get the right consistency, so it can be packed together like sand you'd like to make a sand castle out of. I've never used brand-name Moon Sand before, but that's what I assume it's like.

Z chose to use her sand to make little sand castles. Kinderville cups make great sand castle molds.

You can buy ready-made Moon Sand from Fat Brain Toys or Amazon.com, Safe Sand at Safe Sand's website, and cornstarch at your local grocery store.

Class action lawsuit filed against Gaiam for BPA in aluminum water bottles

2009-11-03T21:21:34-06:00

Lawyers in Gaiam's home state of Colorado filed suit last week seeking class-action status for a lawsuit against Gaiam for BPA in their aluminum water bottles. ZRecs broke the story accusing Gaiam of hiding BPA in their water bottles, followed it up by breaking the story of Gaiam's admission of BPA at far greater levels than SIGG, and have continued to follow the story as Gaiam has released testing data and cleaned up their own website.

After Caddell & Chapman filed its lawsuit against SIGG in October (we also did most of the original reporting on that story), multiple firms' lawyers were racing to be first to bring Gaiam to court, and C&C got beat out. Perhaps as a result of this hasty process, there are a couple of errors in the filing by Chimicles & Tikellis LLP that will need correcting. I'm not sure how that process works, but we'll relay them here rather than contacting the lawyers directly, in order to make it clear that we have had and will continue to have no connection with this lawsuit.

The complaint cites Gaiam bottles as containing levels of BPA "ten times larger than the levels of BPA that SIGG reported in its own bottles." In fact, it is approximately ten times larger than the method detection limit used in SIGG's internal testing, which was 2 parts per billion. In those tests, however, SIGG did not show any detectable leaching (i.e. leaching occurred at levels below that testing threshold).

Multiple references are made to the bottles being made of stainless steel. They are in fact made of aluminum. Gaiam does also sell stainless steel water bottles, but these are highly unlikely to contain BPA, as stainless steel water bottles do not need to be lined, as aluminum does.

When lawyers come calling...

It's worth taking a moment to outline how we interact with lawyers when they come calling. We believe Gaiam should be held accountable for its deceptive marketing and its executives' refusal to come clean on an issue that was a high consumer priority until we proved beyond any reasonable doubt that they were hiding something. Class action lawsuits are, for better and for worse, the primary forum our government provides for seeing these issues resolved. But participating in that process isn't our role. It wasn't with Carter's, it wasn't with SIGG, and it won't be with Gaiam.

There's even a chance that you could be a loyal reader of Z Recommends and never have heard about the class action lawsuits moving forward against Carter's and SIGG, both of which were filed during the periods in which we aggressively covered the issue. That's because we make a rule of not publishing posts seeking to help firms who are looking for plaintiffs for their lawsuits, or to publish comments from lawyers doing the same. You see, owning an issue like this, which can be lucrative for a business litigation firm, typically centers around which team of lawyers can find a suitable individual or individuals to be named as plaintiffs and get to the courthouse first. There are so many potential conflicts of interest in our allowing them to conduct their search on Z Recommends - not to mention the spam-tinged unpleasantness for our regular readers - that we will never let it happen, even though it means rejecting comments from lawyers who may express a passion for seeing real justice done.

When lawyers contact us, we sometimes discuss information that was provided to us on the record for publication, or which we discovered in our own research. We do not share information that was provided to us off the record, we do not share information relevant to stories we are still developing, and we do not name sources who have requested to remain anonymous.

If you are aware of any other companies we should investigate for their marketing claims or product safety, get in touch with us. Our email address is editors (at) zrecs (dot) com.

Recent family photos

2009-11-02T13:41:33-06:00

Z was a fairy princess riding a unicorn for Halloween. Jenni made the cape (it has wings attached) and we had planned to retrofit her cowgirl horse to unicorn status, but it was looking awfully brown and we found a pink unicorn at Target on sale a few days before Halloween, so we sprung for it. We spent the evening "trick-or-treating" at a local church carnival.

A few more photos from the last few weeks:

At the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, a few weeks ago.

It was warm. Still is, some days, here in central Texas.

Yesterday we went bowling with some friends. It was Z and her four-year-old friend's first time, although Z has played a video-game version of bowling before.

The Britax Blink: A nice compact stroller at a great price point

2009-10-29T13:24:13-06:00

We've been playing with Britax's new compact, lightweight stroller, the Blink, for a few months now, and are ready to share our impressions with you. We're also ready to experiment with more video reviewing, so today's post is a combination of the two. I'll share a few highlights about the Blink in text form, drop in our video demo review, and follow up with a few things you'll see us tweak as we get further into this video reviewing thing.

What Britax does for $150 is impressive. The Blink's basic bone structure is nearly identical to the MacLaren Triumph, but at about $40 less MSRP and with bigger wheels. The canopy is generously sized, it has a pocket I didn't mention in the demo below, and it has a five-point harness. Overall, it's the most lightweight and maneuverable feel you'll get out a stroller built with what also feels like very durable construction. We love how smooth and functional the seat recline is - that plus the five-point harness are two factors that make this stroller truly useful for younger kids - yet this stroller's weight limit tops out at 55 pounds. Z is very tall for her five years, and fits very comfortably in this stroller. (We took it with us to the ABC Kids' Expo in Las Vegas in September. It travels great, too.) The Blink's wheels also have some sort of internal suspension system; we didn't notice this specifically but it does have a smooth ride. Our only real complaint about the stroller is mentioned in the video.

My tripod was an eight-foot ladder, so in choosing between step 4 and 5 I know I didn't necessarily get the best angle on the action. More broadly, we'll try to incorporate still photo details and/or multiple camera angles into these reviews so we can cover things in better technical detail. We'll also do some video reviews of things that don't really need any technical detail, and we'll use multiple camera angles or takes to keep them fresh. We probably won't do much scripting, either, so we'll focus our video reviewing on the products we've had the most experience with and can easily speak about off the cuff. To that end, our videos will probably always be supplemented by some additional information in a blog post, although I'm not sure how best to point people to that post if they're watching the video off-site (on YouTube, embedded in someone else's blog, etc.). Any thoughts on this would be welcome!

Hopefully this model for video reviews can prepare us for even more interesting and personalized video segments soon. And of course, we'll still be doing a lot of text-and-photo reviewing in the format you're used to seeing on ZRecs.

The Britax Blink sells for $150 on Amazon.com and elsewhere. We recommend it for those who want a compact stroller that has a sturdy and open feel, a great child size and age range, and good portability at a very reasonable price point. (You can also outsmart that one design flaw with a pen shoved between one of the pairs of rear wheels.)

The Britax Blink stroller in this review was sent to us by the manufacturer. We will be donating it to charity.

Links for 2009-10-28 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

NIEHS awards Recovery Act funds to address bisphenol A research gaps
"NIEHS will invest approximately $30 million over two years on BPA-related research. This includes existing grants, the newly awarded Recovery Act grants and supplements, in-house research and NTP projects. The NTP effort is part of a larger five-year commitment to collaborate with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's National Center for Toxicological Research to examine long-term health outcomes resulting from developmental exposures."

Strike two for Mia Moda: NHTSA recalls 5,500 car seats

2009-10-28T15:40:42-06:00

Note: This post has an update in progress. Be advised that further information may change.

Children's product manufacturer Lerado Success has been forced to recalled more than 5,500 Mia Moda infant car seats due to two ~~dramatic~~ inexcuseable defects. "The harness splitter plate located on the rear of the seat has sharp edges which can cut the harness," the NHTSA recall notice states. "Also, the base could crack in a crash."

The recall applies to both the Viva and Viva Supreme - seats with model numbers 5000, 5050, 5070, and 5080, and bases with model numbers 5001, 5051, 5071, and 5081. The company is offering a full refund.

There's no word yet on what portion of their product line these models represent, but the company's product recall page appears to be a work in progress, and makes no mention of the recall as of this writing.

The Viva Supreme was introduced to replace the Viva just this year, so it's notable that both car seat models are included in the recall - that means this has been an ongoing problem that persisted through the seat's redesign process, which doesn't speak well for the company's R&D.

It's also notable because this is the second recall of Mia Moda car seats in the company's brief history; in November 2007 NHTSA recalled nearly 1,000 Mia Moda car seats for problems with its LATCH system design that could cause the carrier to detach from its base, as well as for a pretty egregious oversight - failing to include product registration cards with the car seats, and thus eliminating the company's ability to alert Mia Moda car seat owners to just such a recall.

~~If Mia Moda wasn't the tip of a multinational iceberg, we'd speculate that a setback like this could sink a company that had entered the car seat market only recently. But~~ Mia Moda ~~is owned by~~ car seats were supplied by Lerado Success, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of China's Lerado Group, which manufactures a wide variety of children's products - everything from strollers, beds and playards to soft goods and battery-operated ride-on cars - for sale in the U.S. and China. The company may also produce parts or the whole enchilada for some cheaper car seats common on retail store shelves.

Viva and Viva Supreme car seats are also still widely available for purchase on shopping websites like Amazon.com. Buyer beware.

Links for 2009-10-26 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Smart Choices Labeling Gets the Axe
"After the FDA decided to bash some skulls over this blatantly misleading marketing efffort, the food industry players in charge of the initiative, including Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods and General Mills, have decided to call it all off for now. Smart Choices officials said that they will "postpone" the program and avoid encouraging any more use of the labels until the FDA makes a judgment."
Baby Bargains Book Blog: Baby Trend files for bankruptcy
" Baby Trend, the California baby gear company best known for its Snap N Go stroller frame, filed for bankruptcy reorganization earlier this month. As we predicted back in July, Baby Trend's bankruptcy was triggered by losing a lawsuit to former employee Rob Gardner. ... Since the court found Baby Trend committed fraud in the case, it isn't clear the company can escape paying the judgment in bankruptcy."
Sesame Street Fight! SW Calls BS On AA T's PR
"You know how a couple of weeks ago, everyone was scratching their heads and going, 'Really?? Sesame Workshop approached American Apparel for a Sesame Street throwback T-shirt licensing deal?? Can you guess which one just doesn't belong here?' I guess Sesame's been hearing about it, because they are sending out emails claiming they're not involved.

Flat-packed play, Part 1: FeltTales Storyboards

2009-10-26T19:20:34-06:00

It's easy to make assumptions about felt "storyboards" that don't hold up. They offer the same play options as the once-ubiquitous Colorforms, but that doesn't mean they're more natural; the fact is that almost all children's products made of "felt," unless they are the three-dimensional products purchased on handmade sites like Etsy, use a synthetic felt that is made primarily, if not entirely, of polyester. (Among other reasons, using real wool felt would be cost-prohibitive.) Felt storyboards help children tell stories, but the last time I checked, kids could tell stories just as easily with stuffed animals, action figures, or paper clips. They allow children to creatively compose scenes of activity, but so do paper and crayons. So what is it, exactly, that make felt storyboards like FeltTales attractive to so many parents?

Babalu makes colorful, attractive felt storyboard sets across a broad range of themes, so we asked the company to send us a couple so we could find out for ourselves. The company sent us samples of their Cinderella and Heroes to the Rescue storyboards for review.

The easiest starting point for a discussion of the value of FeltTales is in contrasting it with the product it seems designed to replace: Colorforms. The big difference between the two turns out not to be materials but the fact that Colorforms, with the exception of the highly-praised back-to-their roots "Original" shape set re-introduced by current Colorforms owner University Games, are overrun by licensed characters, and by overrun I mean that the company has near-zero interest in presenting characters or storytelling opportunity unless it is based on a current media property.

Kids' media watchdogs often complain that licensed-character toys leave less to children's imagination, but that hasn't been our experience; at five, our daughter is stilla far more interested in action - "what happens" - than in characters' personalities or stock motivations, beyond established good-guy/bad-guy distinctions. But we do believe that licensed characters have a couple of disadvantages, namely that they surround a child with characters who exist in a more hyperreal form in videos and TV shows they aren't but could be begging to be watching, and that these characters then confront them to zealously pitch other toys, clothing, breakfast cereals and convenience foods. We avoid licensed character toys because as soon as they step out of the books or television shows that launched them, they tend to go rogue.

Discarding that "imagination" argument against licensed characters while recognizing the capitalist pressures that make them such bad playdates is the only way to appreciate the historic value of "storyboards" in general, which are based literally on the idea of using a two-dimensional space to allow for the visual recreation of scenes from a beloved story. Freed from the requirement of designing an environment or its actors, children can re-enact, alter, and absorb classic stories that have timeless value, especially if we seek out and explore the traditional tales behind the Disney versions of many of these stories. (This line of reasoning also explains why we can get more excited about FeltTales' somewhat generic version of the Cinderella story than one that is infinitely replicable in sippy cup, sleepwear, and Polly Pocket form, without being insufferable snobs.)

FeltTales' Cinderella of "twenty-plus" felt pieces (sorry, we didn't count the exact number) features all of the figures, dresses, and accessories your child needs to do the basic story justice, although it lacks a full-sized coach or the means of setting any exterior scenes. We would have appreciated having all figures in the same pose, and removable clothes for the prince, so that Cinderella could have been the vaguely uniformed figure or the wicked stepmother, the sole character with arms folded, could have more than one dress option. But those are minor quibbles with a well-designed play set. Distinctions between Cinderella's home and the palace are cleverly represented by two window options, one of which shows a view of the castle, the other looking out on the pumpkin carriage. The set even includes a clock with a printed hour hand but a separate minute hand, to encourage the countdown to midnight:

FeltTales boards are sturdy and, at 11x14", big enough to set a scene but convenient for travel.

This is the only aspect of FeltTales' design that had us wondering what they were thinking. The pieces simply do not fit in the provided carrying pouch.

We didn't open the Heroes to the Rescue set, but would observe that it needs more fire. Waaaay more fire. There is also no credible way for the police officer to ride his or her own motorcycle.

There are environmental arguments for felt boards over Colorforms - the latter are made of PVC, after all, a plastic which (even in its phthalate-free form, as Colorforms are declared to be) is produced at a significant cost to the environment and to the health of workers - but if felt were the only criterion, Colorforms could still serve your needs, as they're getting into the felt storyboard market as well. Magnetic storyboards are also an options, from International Playthings and others. But it's FeltTales reliance on unbranded but evocative themes that makes them special. FeltTales makes storyboards with such varied themes as pirates, dinosaurs, ballet, forest fairies, dress-up dogs, the zoo, and the classic, idealized representation of life on the farm.

You may notice that several of these options are really an alternative to paper dolls more than storytelling vehicles, but they are a welcome one. I tend to throw away paper doll clothes as I find them, and I find them all over the place at our house, while FeltTales are "stored" on their board even when they aren't put away in their carrying pouch. This also makes them a nice travel item, although I guess Colorforms meet that requirement, too.

The only two disadvantages I've noticed in comparing FeltTales storyboards with the Colorforms I played with in my own childhood are 1) felt figures don't stick to windows, and 2) fewer sets are cross-compatible, whereas many Colorform sets have figures that are similarly scaled and thus can be introduced into each others' worlds easily. (The latter is perhaps the best example of how eagerly children will break the conventions of licensed characters' scripted stories.) That said, there's something truly special about being able to introduce Cinderella and her sisters into the urban landscape as 25-foot behemoths to be subdued by emergency responders.

You can find the full complement of FeltTales storyboards all on Amazon.com for between $15 and $20.

The FeltTales sets we received from Babalu will be donated - the sealed "Heroes" set to charity, and the gently used Cinderella version to a location that accepts used children's goods - a doctor's waiting room, kids' gathering place, or barring that, a friend or acquantance who can make use of it.

Gaiam publishes test results, offers refunds

2009-10-23T16:48:01-06:00

Gaiam, again without public announcement, has made changes to its website to offer additional information about its BPA-containing aluminum bottles. The site's product pages for aluminum water bottles now include links to two tests - one for testing under "normal" conditions, and one under what the company has claimed are "extreme" conditions. Interestingly, the link to the "extreme" test results is currently broken, but you can find it here; here's a direct link to the "normal" test conditions, too.

The reports confirm what the company revealed last month after ZRecs accused the company of selling BPA-containing aluminum water bottles under the guise that they were BPA-free: That the bottles leach BPA at 23.8 parts per billion under standard BPA testing conditions, nearly 20 times that of BPA testing of SIGG bottles by a confidential source, and over 10 times that of the minimum detection level of 2 ppb in SIGG's internal testing of their own bottles, which turned up no BPA.

Additionally, product pages for Gaiam water bottles now have an added graphic at the top of the "Reviews" section of the page, reading: "100% Satisfaction Guarantee: If you are in any way dissatisfied with our product you ordered, we'll exchange it, replace it, or refund your money. Please call 1.877.6321 for details." Our assumption is that this policy is not new, but that it is simply being highlighted now to provide some recourse for frustrated consumers. The statement is repeated at the bottom of the review section.

Gaiam's reviews have been relatively quiet on the issue of BPA in the company's bottles. Gaiam requires reviewers to log into an account created with the company in order to post a review, and moderates reviews, and, according to its terms and conditions, "reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission for any reason."

Gaiam has refused to provide information to ZRecs regarding any plans to phase out BPA in their water bottle linings. If you own a Gaiam bottle, we encourage you to contact them and request a stainless steel water bottle to replace your aluminum one.

Playing near a broken water main

2009-10-22T11:00:36-06:00

On a recent visit to Houston, Z and I abandoned plans for a major museum visit when we drove by a broken water main and a driving lane full of water. Some scenes:

Love this kid.

Links for 2009-10-21 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Newsweek Attacks Black Toddler Calls her Hair “A Hot Mess”- Leave Zahara ALONE! | What About Our Daughters
This post is dedicated to every little Black girl that has been going along living her life freely when she encounters a fully grown Black woman spouting vitriolic hateful criticism because the little Black girl isn’t wearing the same shackles that are hanging around the neck of said fully grown Black woman. Apparently Newsweek ran out of things to report in the middle of a massive economic meltdown, a war in Afghanistan, and the rapid devaluation of the dollar, and decided to do a hit job on Zahara Jolie Pitt called Zahara Jolie-Pitt and the Politics of Uncombed Hair.
Prizey Halloween Giveaway Roundup
Here's a list of all the current giveaways we could find on PRIZEY that are Halloween-related. Don't miss any late additions at the end of the post!

Notes on preparations for Halloween 2009

2009-10-21T17:01:35-06:00

Are you ready to enjoy Halloween with your children? Here are a few Halloween announcements and notes from our family.

Halloween at our house

Z will be dressing up this year as a fairy riding a unicorn. It's a part-handmade, part DIY hack costume that makes use of the horse from her ladybug-cowgirl costume two years back and may end up incorporating elements from her hippo-princess costume last year.

We put up our Halloween decorations last night. These are all internal, as we live outside town and won't see any trick-or-treaters at our place. That means indoor lights (red/orange/yellow LED bulbs and a string of skeleton lights) and the decoration of a small purple fake Christmas tree with homemade Halloween ornaments (it also gets pulled out for Mardi Gras). As we decorated the tree, Z proudly noted each of the ornaments she had made, and asked which of us had made each of the others.

Win something Halloweeny

We've rounded up dozens of Halloween giveaways on PRIZEY. Most are still live, and users are adding last-minute ones to a rolling list. Take a look.

Great kids' media for Halloween

Jenna points us to a few great Halloween kids' books in an early Mini Media Mogul.

We're loving the DVD edition of A Very Brave Witch, which Scholastic sent to us at our request. The reason we asked for it, actually, was that it included the 1978 animated version of Tomi Ungerer's The Three Robbers, which you can see, for the moment at least, right here:

The premise of A Very Brave Witch, if you aren't familiar with it from the book by Alison McGhee and Harry Bliss, is that a witch has to be very brave to encounter non-witchy humans and their non-witchy ways. You can still get the book or the DVD on Amazon in time for Halloween. Or, you can put on a performance of your own.

Chronicle Books also has a sale in their own store - 30% off Halloween books with free shipping, through October 31. (That's an affiliate link there - we've joined their affiliate program to offer advertising on our sites, because we like so many of the kids' books they put out.)

Stay safe

The Consumer Products Safety Commission has some tips on keeping your kids safe on Halloween.

We love Halloween as the first of a fun-filled holiday season for kids and adults. We want to know how you're spending it. What will your child be dressing up as this year? Any Halloween traditions or events you're particularly looking forward to?

Ask ZRecs: Safer nail polish, BPA-free claims, cloth diapers, tagless rashes, and straw cup cleaning

2009-10-20T11:00:54-06:00

Welcome to Ask ZRecs! Today, we have answers to burning reader questions about safer nail polish for kids, cloth diapers that won't stay up, tagless rashes, curiously modest BPA-free claims, Munchkin straw cup cleaning, and bunnies on electric trains.

Safer nail polish for kids

Dear ZRecs,

I wonder if you have criteria for Z’s nail polish. There are so many chemicals in nail polish and L is still prone to keeping his fingers in his mouth. He would love to paint his nails, but I resisted because of the unknowns in the nail polish. Thoughts?

Carrie S

Carrie, Z has a variety of caregivers and compatriots who pay varying levels of attention and/or lip service to our product safety requests. I'm guessing that nail polish came from being treated at a nail place (nobody I know could do those polka dots) and that it was not a brand we'd consider to be "safer." As for a recommendation, we'd suggest Piggy Paint.

Droopy drawers

Dear ZRecs,

Can you give me any advice for keeping the diaper up on my extremely active 2 year old? It is really the first bump I've run into with cloth diapers that I can't seem to find an answer too. I'm using thirsty covers (I have v1 and v2) with prefolds. I do have some fitted diapers, but find they are more likely to wick on to her clothes if the diaper gets very full. I would argue that the velcro might be wearing out but it doesn't seem to matter. New and old fall down. Help!

Dana

To answer your question, Dana, we turned to Kim Rosas, who knows the ins and outs of cloth diapering and shares her expertise with readers of Dirty Diaper Laundry on a near-daily basis. (She's also doing a bunch of baby carrier reviews and giveaways all through the month of October.) Here's what Kim had to say:

I have a few ideas that will definitely help, but it depends on how much Dana wants to invest and also how much she wants to alter her routine.

One solution could be using a prefold belt. This is usually used for practicing Elimination Communication over just the prefold itself. It makes undoing the front flap easier for potty breaks. If you aren't willing to purchase anything new then maybe securing a belt around the cover and prefold will help keep the diaper from slipping off, especially if the Velcro is the culprit. You can find them from EC stores like this one.

Pull on covers that are a good tight fit will work well with an active toddler. Since a two year old can stand up on their own, sometimes it is even easier to use pull on covers for changes as well. Most pull-on covers are made of either fleece or wool. Either of these are great for heavy wetters and are especially good for nighttime. The drawback is that they are thicker than tradition PUL (polyurethane laminate) covers like Thirsties. They are even harder to fit clothing over.

For this reason, you can just buy pants that are fleece or wool. These function as clothing and diaper covers. Wool "longies" as they are called can either be hand-knit or sewn from wool interlock fabric, which is a weave just like T-shirt fabric, with lots of stretch. Interlock is much thinner than knit covers. Fleece is the least expensive option. In fact, some parents have had success with just buying fleece pants from places like Old Navy. The pants needs to fit snugly around the diaper. If you can't find any that would work or they don't work well for you, don't give up. Fleece longies are still relatively inexpensive. Wool longies out of interlock will cost between 30-70 dollars. Sustainable Babyish is a well known brand for Interlock Wool Longies. Fleece longies are around $15-30. You can also find lots of free patterns online if you can sew and would like to make your own. All of these will work well over prefolds.

The last option would be re-evaulating your current diapers and possibly switching brands. There are diapers that have gathered elastic around the back, and even some with gathered elastic at the front. These are going to have tighter waists. Some brands even boast that if you pre-set the size you can use them like "pull-ups." There is also a brand specifically made for that called Antsy Pants. Snap-EZ is a brand with both front and back elastic.

And of course, if you decide you like your old Thristies but they just need new Velcro, there are WAHM's who will replace the velcro for you. This service can cost $2-3.50 each plus shipping. The best way to find someone for this service is to hit up a diapering message board and search the WAHM forum. You might even have luck asking local moms.

Thanks, Kim! Hope it helps, Dana!

Tagless label irritation: Thinking beyond Carter's

Dear ZRecs,

My daughter, who has no other skin issues, is one of the unlucky children who gets a nasty rash from the tagless clothing. While I am so grateful that Carters is being called to the mat (I hope I used that phrase correctly), I am concerned about all the other companies who have gone tagless too. A few weeks ago I put a Circo/Target shirt on DD, which had a small stenciled tag. By the end of the day the tag-spot on her back looked like red sandpaper.

If tagless tags are the wave of the future, do I have to research each company’s tags to figure out if the inks are Oko-Tex certified? And can I be certain Oko-Tex certified shirts won’t cause a rash? I appreciate all the information that ZRecs has already gleaned and would be more than happy to support ZRecs tag-testing efforts.

Ava

Ava, you've just articulated one of the big reasons this issue continues to concern us. Ever since our first reporting on Carter's tagless onesies, we have heard a few reports of Gap, Old Navy, Circo, and other brands causing irritation in children. It seems that this was less widespread, but it is hard to know for sure how many parents might have had experiences with other brands but did not find the forum to share them in the same way that parents of children with Carter's brand clothing did.

We believe that the Carter's issue reflects a blind spot in consumer awareness about potentially harmful chemical exposure of their children. Our ultimate goal is not just to learn what might be in Carter's tagless labels - whether it be those from 2007 which appear to have caused the most widespread problems, or those from 2008 that appear to have caused some ongoing problems, or those in 2009 that are still not certified as being free of a wide range of harmful chemicals - but what might be in tagless labels in general that should concern us.

We have two posts planned on the Carter's tagless situation as we work on firm plans for testing; one of these posts will discuss how tagless inks are made and applied to clothing, and why certification standards are so important to protect not just highly sensitive children but all infants and toddlers from unnecessary exposure to sketchy chemicals we wouldn't dream of accepting in their toys, skin care products, or even the fabrics of their garments.

Help me take this thing apart

Dear ZRecs,

You mentioned in an earlier post that Munchkin straw cups were easy to take apart and clean, but I can't figure out how to disassemble it! Can you show us?

Stumped Mom

No problem, SM! The flip-top lid has a small nubbin on either side that fits into two indentations in the main lid. By putting a little pressure on the flip-top at the right angle, you can release it from these indentations, remove it, and get everywhere for cleaning. The trick is knowing which way to replace it - the cut-out for the straw should be oriented away from the hole the straw comes through from below. Here's a quick video demo:

OK, this next one is a reconstruction, because we lost the letter. You know who you are.

Rabbits on a train

Dear ZRecs,

I love the look of the Playmobil bunnies set, but my son or daughter will only be interested in it if the bunnies fit in Geotrax trains. They don't have to fit in the engines, but at least knowing that they fit in the open cars would be enough to make them a viable toy for my child. Can you tell me if they fit?

A Crazy Reader

Crazy Reader, you are in luck! They do fit in Geotrax train cars. They also can do something very fun in the Geotrax train station, which Z was very interested in showing you. Those photos are at the end of this slide show.

Telling it like it is* on BPA

Dear ZRecs,

Not new to zrecs BUT...had a question. Here's a new one...when buying Take N Toss cups with the Sesame Street characters on them, the packaging said "BPA Free*" with the asterisk. Looked a bit more closely and it says "*polycarbonate and epoxy free" so what exactly are they protecting themselves from with the "*"? Any ideas? I didn't buy them... just in case. This whole thing is so frustrating. You basically have to do enough research to support a senior thesis in order to buy cups! Thanks guys, as usual!

AJsMomma

Sharp eye, AJsMomma. Our suspicion is that The First Years has realized that there are potential lawsuits in making the statement that any product is "free" of any chemical. Given how long it takes products produced and packaged in a factory to actually make it onto store shelves, they were probably pretty prescient in taking the step they did; the asterisk covers the known sources of BPA used in production of plastics but also protects them from trace levels being found in, say, polypropylene.

You could look at this as a cynical ploy to sneak some BPA into our sippy cups, but we suspect this is probably a good faith effort on their part to make the claim they can reasonably make while protecting their brand from situations that are beyond the control of a company that wants to produce products at the volume, price point, and relative priority the company places on chemical savviness - in other words, high, cheap, and relatively low.

There are companies out there that have their finger more closely on the pulse of what exactly is happening chemically in their products - Thinkbaby, whose products were the only to test at non-detect levels in every study Health Canada did, are the most obvious example of this - so ultimately it becomes a question of what kind of a brand you want to be doing business with. I'd say if you need cheap products to have a bunch around, avoid brands you know are bad actors in this space first, and The First Years isn't the worst company to trust with your child's health. If you want to go further, get cozy with a BPA-free brand that knows their products' chemical makeup backwards and forwards and can vouch for it a little more aggressively.

Have a question you'd like us to answer? Email us at editors@zrecs.com with "Ask ZRecs" in the subject line, and we'll consider it for a future Q&A. Sign photo by Laura K. Gibbs, shared via Flickr.

Links for 2009-10-19 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax - Boy in the balloon - Gawker
"For the first time, 25-year-old researcher Robert Thomas reveals to Gawker how earlier this year he and Richard Heene drew up a master plan to generate a massive media controversy using a weather balloon. To get famous, of course."

Thoughts on BPA-free water bottles

2009-10-16T13:30:50-06:00

We commented on EWG's facebook page about some issues we've been thinking about relating to BPA-free water bottles. Head on over to see what we had to say. We'll be talking more about these issues on Z Recommends soon. Thanks EWG for sharing our post with your readers!

Checking in with Corduroy

2009-10-15T15:59:06-06:00

Celebrity bear Corduroy had chins wagging at a recent red carpet appearance, in which she wore a provocative toilet-paper-and-rubber-band gown by couture designer Zella McNichols.

Pundits agreed that the selection of colors coordinated well with Corduroy's trademark pink armband, a stubborn reminder of a 2008 injury that had tabloids prematurely announcing the star's death at the jaws of rapscallion daschund Harley Earl, who is still at large. "The somewhat bedraggled appearance of the gown is a testament to all Corduroy has been through since the pre-K heartthrob declared himself a woman after that injury," Page Six's Jarrett Brockington opined. "Between her frequent joyrides in the clothes dryer and the prominent eye scratches from her only haircut, Corduroy is a classic post-Brittany diva. She's managed to keep herself in the public eye with hard living and a decadent lifestyle despite not having worked in years."

Links for 2009-10-14 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Kashiwa Mystery Cafe
"The guys behind the counter and I immediately launched into a humorous, protracted, Englishanese attempt to understand what the hell just happened. Through judicious fumbling, and after a great deal of precise hand-waving and mangled pronouns, it turned out to be something like this: At this cafe, you get what the person before you ordered. The next person gets what you ordered."

Halloween candy you can feel awesome about, and three new ZRecs columns

2009-10-14T21:40:16-06:00

Today's agenda is simple. Announcements, then candy.

1. It's unfortunate that the term "biweekly" is so confusing

Anyway, we are starting up three new columns on ZRecs blogs, each appearing at least every two weeks, confusing terminology be damned. They are:

ZRecs Family: Licensed marriage and family therapist Terry McNichols will discuss family relationships and answer reader questions in ZRecs Family, our new advice and relationships column at The Tranquil Parent. Terry will cover the dynamics of relationships with your spouse or partner, children, in-laws, and parents, and she's opening the floor to reader questions for possible discussion and response in Q&A-style posts. You can submit your questions as anonymously as you'd like using our handy submission form, or read her first topical post tomorrow while she waits to hear from you about challenges you face in your family relationships.

Mini Media Mogul: Author and blogger Jenna Glatzer rounds up books and music for kids twice a month on Punnybop. So far she's been doing four reviews per column, ranking them from best to worst. We likey. Today's post (her second in the series, here's the first) takes a listen to (and shares video/music clips from four kids' CDs. Even her daughter gets in on the action...

Ask ZRecs: We're going to start publishing this once-occasional column on a weekly basis, because we get a lot of questions from readers about kids' products and how they work. We may play with the format and scheduling of this a bit, but we'd like to be responding to your questions in a more formal and regular way, so we're renewing our commitment to getting this going. Watch as we feel our way through it.

2. Lolly lolly lolly get your adverbs here

We got a few requests for information about HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) free treats in the survey responses from this month's ZRecs Network newsletter, which went out yesterday (if you haven't opened it, take a peek in your inbox - you have until midnight tonight to enter to win a free superhero outfit for your child from Little Capers!). We have some interesting recommendations we'll collect for a future Tranquil Parent post, but we saw this deal on Amazon today and, what with Halloween right around the corner, we knew someone would be interested in it.

If you know you need some kind of candy on hand for Halloween but hate buying the junk you'll see when you run to the store in the days before Halloween, or if you are the habit of keeping a drawer in your kitchen perpetually stuffed with sweets, you should take a look at YummyEarth's organic lollipops, which are on sale for about 50% off ($15 for about 350 pops).

I have never eaten a YummyEarth lollipop, and would even posit that the brand name itself is kind of an oxymoron unless you suffer from pica. But the fact that Z has never seen a lollipop she didn't like, and that these particular lollipops are free of so many things it isn't even funny, and have some pretty amazing flavor names, and are really cheap at the moment (they may be a Deal of the Day) conspired to make me mention them. They are vegan (no gelatin), declared to be wholly free of all kinds of allergens, they are organic, and they do not contain high-fructose corn syrup. And the four-cents-apiece price tag for organic candy makes my heart sing. Check them out on Amazon.com. And if you're the nothing-beats-chocolate type, we encourage you to buy Fair Trade. Children just like yours will be better off for it.

Carter’s tagless rashes update: Company admits some clothing still not Oko-Tex certified

2009-10-13T04:36:09-06:00

The tagless labels in Carter's infant and toddler clothing have been identified as the cause of rashes among infants that range from mild discomfort to weeks-long, "earlobes to ankles" rashes that are very unpleasant to look at, let alone imagine our own children suffering through. Carter's ongoing position has been that the problem affects only a small percentage of wearers; that reactions to the company's clothing are confined to their Fall 07 line, for which they have been processing refunds in the hundreds and even thousands of dollars from worried parents for almost a year, no receipt required; and that they strive to produce products that meet the most stringent quality and safety standards possible. While it's impossible for us to quantify the number of children who have suffered from a reaction, an argument against the second claim from Kristen O'Donnell (one of the several frustrated parents who have also taken their story to the TV news offered some unexpected insight into the third claim as well.

Both Carter's Senior Director of Consumer Affairs Janell Cleveland and CEO Michael Casey told ZRecs in October 2008 that they had switched to new Öko-Tex certified Avery-Dennison labels for their Spring 09 line. We trust Öko-Tex certification - it's a rigorous testing standard that proves that a material is free of all kinds of potentially harmful and irritating stuff, including not only phthalates and formaldehyde, but potentially irritating dyes and heavy metals. It is expensive, exhaustive, and constantly evolving. To us, this meant that Carter's had found a way to definitively end whatever exposure was causing whatever portion of their customers to break out in irritating rashes and, on occasion, dangerous secondary infections.

But then, several weeks ago, we got an email from Kristen because, she said, her son Jack had developed full-body rashes that persisted for a month from Carter's clothing, but had never been exposed to their Fall 07 line. When we followed up with her on the phone, things got even more interesting.

Kristen told us that a Carter's representative had stated to her that although she wasn't at liberty to name Carter's label suppliers, the company currently gets its labels from four different ones - Avery-Dennison was just one of them. We followed up with Carter's directly, because customer service reps say a lot of crazy things. Janell Cleveland herself told us that yes, in fact, they do use four different suppliers.

"You said you had switched to Avery-Dennison's ECO Heat Transfer Labels," I said. "That's what we wrote."

Yes, Cleveland said, they had - from the other Avery-Dennison labels. But that was just for those labels - they still used three other U.S.-based suppliers.

Let me interject here with the text that appears on Carter's website, in the "Message from Carter's" the company published to inform consumers about issues with their tagless labels.

What is in the Fall 2007 labels?
We purchase the tag-less labels directly from multiple U.S.-based label suppliers. The suppliers are aware of our quality and safety standards and have provided us with third-party test results that indicate that the labels are in compliance with all existing safety and quality standards. The label contains the standard ink formulation used by many companies on literally billions of garments in the United States. The label is applied by means of a standard screen transfer, similar to an iron-on screen print, the same type of technology used for many years and on many types of garments. The specific ingredients and relative percentages of the ink formula for the label vary depending on the colors and style of the particular label, but it is our understanding from the manufacturers that it is generally the same type of ink that has been used on clothing for many years ranging from children's clothing to adult intimate apparel.

It appears that a very small percentage of children can be allergic to one or more ingredients in the labels. The solid, rather than stenciled, background on the Fall 2007 labels appears to have produced a more pronounced and noticeable reaction among those children who are most allergic to the ink. For stylistic reasons, Carter’s has switched back to the smaller labels for our Spring and Fall 2008 line.

Starting with the Spring 2009 line, we changed to new Halo-Free ECO Heat Transfer labels that meet Öko-Tex 100 Class 1 requirements. These requirements serve as the “gold standard” for international testing and certification for textile manufacturing to ensure that textile products are free from harmful levels of more than 100 substances that are known to be detrimental to human health. The certification is voluntary, is conducted by independent third-party laboratories, and requires annual testing to remain valid. The new labels are made up of water-based inks, are PVC-free and contain no Azo dyes, no formaldehyde, heavy metals or vinyl products. Additional information about the new labels can be found online at Avery Dennison’s (our primary supplier of labels) Web site or at the Öko-Tex 100 Web site.

Please reread the first sentence, and then that last paragraph again, and firm up, for yourself, what that means. Now, back to me and Janell:

Me: "Are those other three suppliers' labels Öko-Tex certified?"

No, Cleveland said, but "we hold all of our label suppliers up to the same high standards."

"But you're not," I said. "You're not holding them to the Öko-Tex standard, which is a third-party standard that tests and demonstrates that materials are free of the items on their list. So you may be holding them to some standard, but you aren't holding them to as high a standard."

"We wouldn't describe it that way," Cleveland said.

Upon further interrogation, Cleveland stated that "around ninety percent" of Carter's garments used the new Avery-Dennison labels, and thus that same 90% are Öko-Tex certified. Put another way, ten percent of their garments use the same ingredients they did in 2007. Carter's garment labels use less ink than they did in 2007 - this change came with their Spring 2008 line - but examples like Jack's challenge the claim that this has solved the problem. Carter's has never admitted to knowledge of what ingredient in any of their labels was causing reactions among children, and as Carter's has stated repeatedly to us that they have identified no correlation between a particular label vendor, country of origin, or garment type and the rate of infant reactions to their labels, there is, categorically, no defensible position from which to claim that the problem has been eliminated. That's what the Öko-Tex certification was supposed to do, and that, in our opinion, is why they positioned that change front and center, despite the fact that it was not being implemented across their entire line.

And that, sadly, is why this story is not yet over for some of the parents who, a full year after our original report on Carter's tagless irritants, buy and put their babies in newly-purchased Carter's clothing.

Of course, the story isn't over for Carter's, either. They're in the middle of a class-action lawsuit which, plaintiff's lawyers have been careful to point out, was not filed using language that would confine it to Carter's Fall 07 line. I asked Cleveland about Kristen O'Donnell. "We believe that one of her children may have worn one garment from the Fall 07 line," she said. "Sometimes it's unclear from what the parents have been able to identify what a child has been exposed to, and we believe her child may have worn an item from the Fall 07 line and then garments from the later line. But we believe in our conversations with Kristen we have been able to clear up the situation for her and that she is satisfied with how we have resolved the situation."

I followed up with Kristen over email and asked her if this rang true to her.

"Carter's has been well aware from the very first moment I spoke with Lisa Schweda in Consumer Affairs that the clothing both of my twins have worn has the new label design, and not the older label," she wrote in a lengthy response. "I am very well aware by now what the label design from the Fall '07 line looks like, and just to be perfectly clear, my children have never worn any clothes with this older label. Simply put, we have never owned and my children have never worn any article of clothing from Carter's that has that distinct older design. I have photographed every piece of Carter's clothing that I owned with close-ups of the labels, and it is quite clear we are only talking about a reaction to the newer 'stenciled' design."

Carter's has since agreed to pay Jack's medical expenses, but Kristen isn't finished yet. She wants to know what's in the labels, and it's not because she's idly curious.

"I would like Carter's to reveal to me, and the millions of other consumers, which chemicals are being used in their newer labels so that I can work to avoid Jack's future contact with these harmful materials," she wrote to us. "My alternative would be to go on a wild goose chase trying to identify anything Jack may be allergic to through painful and tedious allergy testing, which may not reveal his particular sensitivity; Jack has never had as much as a diaper rash prior to this incident, or afterward."

Kristen's desire is no doubt shared by other parents trying to protect their children from further exposures. Our own experience with monitoring chemicals in children's products gives us the nagging feeling that these "reactives" might be canaries in the coal mine - cases of hypersensitivity to chemicals that no one should be exposed to. Every time a commenter writes in that their child was fortunate enough not to have a reaction to Carter's clothing, we have to wonder: Are they really comfortable knowing that their baby was exposed to, and probably absorbed, some of the same ingredients that caused these reactions? Would that comfort level shift at all if the ingredient causing the problems had a name?

Kristen was kind enough to send us, at our request, two of the garments she suspected as being likely sources of the irritant for her son Jack. Both of them are clearly post-Fall 07 garments. ZRecs has also purchased three new garments from the Fall 07 line, with tags still attached, from eBay, the place where forgotten merchandise goes for a new lease on life.

Our job now is to leverage the expertise of our contacts and of testing labs we could work with to narrow down just what we should be doing with these product samples. Product testing costs money that no individual parent, however concerned, is likely to be able to spare. But what if we pooled it? What if parents - both those who have been directly affected by products like Carter's onesies, through the exposures of their children, and those who simply have an interest in seeing the truth come out - shared the costs of testing?

We'll be working up a proposal in the next couple of weeks, and present it to readers for consideration. If you want the testing done, we'll be prepared to make it happen.

Links for 2009-10-12 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Goodbye Halloween, Hello “Safety”
"Was there ever really a rash of candy killings? Joel Best, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, took it upon himself to find out. He studied crime reports from Halloween dating back as far as 1958, and guess exactly how many kids he found poisoned by a stranger’s candy?"
Consumer Confusion Comes From CPSC Guidance, Not the Media
"If Chairman Tenenbaum wants coats, toys, books and children's products to remain in thrift stores this Christmas season, she needs to stop being a mouthpiece for the authors of the legislation who claim the law is absolutely perfect. If she wants families to be able to sell their kids' old clothes and toys on the weekends and remain law abiding citizens, she must start being an advocate for a common sense approach to implementing CPSIA. If she wants consumers to still have access to handmade, natural or educational products, she needs to take a serious look at why this law is hampering their availability."

The quest for the spill-proof bowl: Could Vital Baby have broken the curse?

2009-10-10T11:00:05-06:00

We have never, ever seen a suction bowl that works. Oh, there are plenty out there. Munchkin, Boon, that weird one that comes with phone-cord utensils - it's enough to make parents of dish-flipping toddlers contemplate the obvious alternative. Ultimately, the best solutions we've seen have been those that give up on suction altogether in favor of a spill-resistant lip around the bottom edge of a dish - Baby Bjorn and Boon each have one of these.

Vital Baby, a UK company entering the U.S. market sometime soon, hasn't given up. And they have a pretty interesting new strategy to make suction bowls actually work.

The suction cup of this BPA-free, phthalate-free bowl is very strong, but we won't be completely convinced until we have a chance to do our own use testing. Watch for it soon on Z Recommends. We're still waiting for our sample.

Links for 2009-10-09 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Chemicals Leach From Packaging | Chemical & Engineering News
"Speak with anyone who produces, studies, or regulates packaging, and you will hear this point repeated: It is not a question of whether packaging components will leach into a product, it’s a question of how much. 'If you have a material in contact with food, and if it's not completely inert—and there are no completely inert materials—something in the packaging will end up in the food,' says Dimitrios Spyropoulos, a regulator at EFSA."

Catching thieves with Haba’s “Suitcase Detectives” game

2009-10-09T11:00:37-06:00

For the young child, there is no aspect of life that cannot be explored through the playing of a game. At five, Z has been displaying a passion for what she calls mysteries. When she does not know the answer to the question, she describes it as a "mystery." When she and I take our dog on walks down the quiet country road near our house and she picks up unusual objects that she cannot identify (a bit of moss or plant detritus), this too, is a "mystery," used as a noun. "Look, Daddy, a mystery!"

This initiated a search for interesting games for young children that take up the "mystery" genre, of which there are actually very few. Clue Jr. seemed an obvious choice, and we may break down and buy it, but one of our primary epiphanies in child-rearing has been that there are many, usually much more enjoyable games, than those made by the Parker Brothers and Hasbros of the world, especially for those who haven't yet reached an age where wordplay and reading and writing are natural tools for expression. Could Clue Jr. be an exception? (If it is, tell us!)

One game that meets the basic requirements of the genre is one we've been playing as we prepare to make some final decisions for our upcoming 2009 Holiday Gift Guide. (All ZRecs Gift Guide items are based on our own product testing - no window-shopping allowed.) Haba's The Suitcase Detectives proceeds from the shocking premise that a pickpocket has stolen items from a wide variety of suitcases, and although the players are powerless to stop him from doing so, the least we can do is open up the suitcases and help the poor owners identify what has been stolen.

When I explain it that way, it's actually pretty strange. Fortunately, this all makes perfect sense to a five-year-old, and it does to us when we are playing it.

This is probably because the game's design is distractingly ingenious. The box itself is an essential part of the gameplay, because in addition to holding all of the components of the game, it is a "suitcase" with a translucent bottom that reveals silhouetted objects in a shallow "secret compartment" (leave it alone - the logic failed long ago, so this is all just gravy) where the owner's possessions are stored.

Each turn, the active player covers their eyes while the player to the left of them takes two items from the drawer and hides them in a cloth bag. The closed suitcase is gently shaken, the lid is opened, and the player has the length of an hourglass to match as many of the items he or she can make out from the jumbled silhouettes to the set of shape-identifying cards they hold in their hand (everyone has the same, complete set). This bit of organizational help allows a young child to eliminate possibilities from the set, and when they run out of time, the suitcase is closed and the active player looks at whatever is left in their hand (hopefully it is at least two cards!) and makes a final decision regarding what two items they suspect the thief ("Percy Pilferer" or some such nonsense) has stolen from the suitcase.

The player then moves one, two, or zero spaces forward along a path of suitcases (?!), depending on how many items they correctly identified.

Now, we enjoy a round of Candyland as much as anybody. But our favorite kids' games are those that are engaging for adults to play as well, beyond the vicarious giddiness of the child's enjoyment and the real pleasure of their company, both of which a bad game can seem to detract from more than contribute to after the initial novelty of the game wears off. Two features that make a game more enjoyable for parents to play with young children are (1) the easy transitioning between cooperative and competitive play (i.e. the game can function well either way) and (2) the presence of interesting ways to make the game harder for adults without drawing attention to the fact that there is handicapping going on.

The Suitcase Detectives has both. In the first case, it's easy to help a child pick out the edges of objects if they need a little push, to lengthen the time allowed or eliminate the timer altogether, and it's also easy to engineer the display so that shapes are fairly well-defined and easier for a young child to identify. As for handicapping, Jenni and I found it was actually really fun to see which of us could make the objects pile most horrifically in a sublime singlarity of necklace-bowlerhat-Tshirt-teddybear-pictureframe-hornrimmedglasses presented for head-scratching identification. To keep things topsy-turvey, there are also five more objects and cards than are used in any game - you select five from the pile to exclude each time, and remove those cards from every deck.

Our only quibble with this game is one aspect of its physical construction, which is otherwise very well-made: The drawer, which is cardboard and has double-thick walls folded over at the top, sticks somewhat in the suitcase, and is hard for a child to pull out and close without risking damage to the box or the fury of a five-year-old scorned. When we play, the adults handle the drawer. Otherwise, this game is pretty much the only "I've been robbed, but I can't tell what was stolen" game you'll ever need. Labeled for six and up, our five-year-old is an old hand after a only a few plays through, and we suspect even younger children can get into the spirit of it with parental assistance. A ZRecs Top Pick for the ingenious use of materials and a repeatedly enjoyable gaming experience.

You can pick up The Suitcase Detectives on Amazon.com for about $15.

This product, like almost all products reviewed on Z Recommends, was sent to us for review by the company at our request. We'll be allowing Zella to select one game to keep from those we evaluate for our Holiday Gift Guide, and donating the value to charity in accordance with our Keep No Stuff policy. Until we've played through the dozen or so games in our queue, we have no idea if this will be it, but we can tell you that all the other games will all be given away.

Subscribe to the ZRecs newsletter for a chance at a super prize

2009-10-08T17:30:34-06:00

OK, you know if we're using the term "super" there is a pun involved. So sue me. But we're excited to tell you that our newsletter giveaway for the month of October is from Little Capers, a pretend-play favorite at ZRecs for their high-quality, non-commercial, non-violent superhero ensembles. We reviewed Little Capers in early 2008 and wrote about them again this year, making wildly unsubstantiated claims sure to draw the truth-in-advertising ire of the FTC. (That post is a parody, but the blog disclosure issue is not: We've been aggressive proponents and exemplars of transparent blog disclosure policies, have never received payment for a review, no longer keep any review samples, and will always clearly disclose any compensation for product mentions or promotions, as we are about to do right now.)

This giveaway is the first paid placement in our monthly newsletter, and it gives us warm fuzzies to see a company we love helping to support our site. ZRecs currently does not cover the time we invest in it by any rational measure, and we are trying to change that so that our game-changing investigations, unbiased and thoughtful product reviews, and in-depth product research can continue to come your way.

We also love, love, love how supportive our readers have been as we work to develop independent, integrity-driven ways to support our blogging. We got hundreds of comments in our quick survey last month that reflected overwhelming support for our work and faith in our ability to do this right. For those of you who offered detailed comments on what would work for you and what won't, we welcome that ongoing conversation. ZRecs readers, you rock.

If you work at a company that believes in what we do and is interested in stepping up to the plate, take a look at our advertising and service rate sheet. If you have any products currently in our review queue, please understand that paid services are offered independent of our reviewing process, and that the companies we turn to again and again for products to consider for review are those that welcome not only positive but mixed and negative reviews of their products. Still, we will disclose any current or future paid services at the time of our independent review. You stay classy, we stay classy, our readers trust us when we like what you do, and everybody wins.

If you don't currently subscribe to our monthly newsletter (last month we gave away a five-pack of ThinkSport water bottles) we invite you to sign up to receive it, and for a chance to be entered to win a great prize from Little Capers. Our monthly newsletter offers links to the best posts of the previous month across the ZRecs Network, a little inside information about what we've been up to or are working on, and a giveaway that is simple to enter and only open to newsletter subscribers. Add to that the fact that your interest in opening that newsletter offers us value we can sell to sponsors and thus support the ZRecs blogging you love, and it's win/win/win. Actually, I lose track of how many wins are involved. Once you're subscribed (and if you already are) you'll be eligible for our newsletter giveaways each and every month.

We'll send out the newsletter on Monday with a call for interest, and on Tuesday we'll draw winners from subscribers who raised their virtual hands to say "count me in."

Gaiam admits aluminum bottles leach BPA at nearly 20 times SIGG’s levels

2009-10-07T09:00:21-06:00

A week after Z Recommends published an exclusive report that provided extensive evidence that Gaiam water bottles previously marketed as "BPA-free" were likely to contain the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A, the company has quietly added information to its retail website which admits to independent lab test results showing leaching levels at 23.8 parts per billion. These findings are more than ten times the detection limit SIGG said revealed no leaching from their own bottles and over 18 times more than the leaching levels found in independent testing of SIGG bottles shared with ZRecs by an anonymous source.

SIGG's revelation of the use of BPA in their aluminum water bottles after years of obfuscation sent the company into a PR tailspin, despite their claims of no leaching, and their readiness with a new BPA-free alternative. In the case of Gaiam, the company itself has admitted to leaching at nearly twenty times that detected in SIGG bottles, in bottles currently being sold, after explicitly marketing them as BPA-free as recently as Spring 2009, claims Gaiam customer service representatives repeated to ZRecs less than a month ago.

Notes added to Gaiam's aluminum water bottle listings read, in part:

Single-use plastic water bottles and reusable plastic bottles made of certain types of hard polycarbonate plastic have been shown to leach toxins including BPA into the water inside the bottle under normal use and care conditions. ...

We also asked our water bottle manufacturer to comprehensively test our aluminum bottles for BPA, using industry-standard test methods. No detectable levels of BPA were found in the gasket, the cap or the coating material in testing under normal use and care conditions.

We also took additional steps to help ensure your safety via independent laboratory tests that go well beyond FDA requirements. An independent lab subjected our aluminum water bottles to continuous extreme heat - nearly 200 degrees Fahrenheit - in an environmental chamber for three days while the bottles were filled with water. Under these extreme conditions, a trace amount of BPA (23.8 parts per billion) was detected in the water inside the bottle. This test was performed under conditions outside the normal use and care conditions we recommend on our product packaging and shopping website. For example, we explain that the bottle should not be washed in a dishwasher or filled with any hot liquids.

(You can find the above statement, and a few other notes, added to listings like the one for the "Gold Medallion" water bottle design, the contents of which we documented with screen captures in our September 30 report.)

The third paragraph in the above excerpt, as well as the phrase "in testing under normal use and care conditions" peppered throughout, are the most significant additions to the text. As for the "extreme conditions" of Gaiam's testing, SIGG's independent lab testing also measured leaching in temperatures of "nearly 200 degrees" (90 degrees Celsius) over a three-day period, and this is no coincidence - testing at 90 degrees Celsius for a three-day window is a standard testing procedure commonly seen in BPA testing, and was likely part of a standard block of tests offered by the testing lab to Gaiam, as it is to other clients by reputable testing labs throughout the world, to provide a relative measure of potential BPA exposure. The relationship between these conditions and the occasional heat exposure any water bottle is likely to see - hand-washing in hot water, being left in a hot car or in the sun, or being dented or otherwise having its epoxy coating scratched or damaged - is unclear, as is Gaiam's position on whether these likely exposures fall under the proscribed "normal use and care" intended to protect the user from the endocrine-disrupting chemical Gaiam previously claimed was not present in its bottles.

Gaiam's admission - made without a press release, letter from the CEO, blog post, or tweet - should be of the greatest concern to pregnant women, many of whom assume Gaiam water bottles are a safe alternative to polycarbonate plastic during pregnancy. We don't often cite specific studies on the health effects from BPA exposure, as theories about specific health effects are still evolving. But the news that comes out in study after study is never good, and its greatest impact for adult users is likely to be in the fetal development of children whose lives may be permanently affected by in utero exposure. Here's some information from one recent study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine, as described in a report by Science Daily:

BPA has estrogen-like properties and in pregnant animals has been linked to female infertility.

"The big mystery is how does exposure to this estrogen-like substance during a brief period in pregnancy lead to a change in uterine function," said study co-author Hugh Taylor, MD, professor and chief of the reproductive endocrinology section at Yale University School of Medicine.

To find the answer to that question, Taylor and his co-workers at Yale injected pregnant mice with a low dose of BPA on pregnancy days 9 to 16. After the mice gave birth, the scientists analyzed the uterus of female offspring and extracted DNA.

They found that BPA exposure during pregnancy had a lasting effect on one of the genes that is responsible for uterine development and subsequent fertility in both mice and humans. Furthermore, these changes in the offspring's uterine DNA resulted in a permanent increase in estrogen sensitivity. ... The permanent DNA changes in the BPA-exposed offspring were not apparent in the offspring of mice that did not receive BPA injection (the controls). This finding demonstrates that the fetus is sensitive to BPA in mice and likely also in humans, Taylor said.

"We don't know what a safe level of BPA is, so pregnant women should avoid BPA exposure," Taylor said. "There is nothing to lose by avoiding items made with BPA—and maybe a lot to gain."

Why their admission of BPA leaching in bottles they claimed less than a year ago were "BPA-free" merits only a rewrite of their product descriptions and a mildly cautionary "comparison chart" [Update: They have now produced a standalone page compiling this information] is a question we'll leave to consumers and eager class-action lawyers to probe for themselves. But we have a few of our own, which we'll submit to Gaiam's public relations team and publish with a call for a company statement on Gaiam's plans.

Gaiam refused to cooperate with us for our initial story, and has to date declined to issue any public statement about our claims of BPA in their aluminum water bottles, or the company's previous marketing of these bottles as BPA-free.

Updated to add: Another oddity brought up to us by readers and competitors is that Gaiam's "comparison chart" has broadly classified aluminum water bottles as leaching BPA. It is now well-known that SIGG now produces an aluminum water bottle that appears to be BPA-free, and ZRecs has examined testing reports and materials certifications of bottles by LakenUSA that show that that company's own transition to a BPA-free liner for bottles its parent company produces for the U.S. market is complete. We've written about our disappointment with SIGG's new bottle, based both on the high number of bottles sent to market with the liner misapplied and, in our sister site The Tranquil Parent's BPA-Free Water Bottle Showdown, the functionality of their redesigned sport top. We'll discuss the case of LakenUSA, a company that made the transition to BPA-free bottles alongside SIGG but traveled a quite different path to get there, next week.

Updated to add: Gaiam has published some test results and is putting a greater emphasis on consumers' right to return products. Read about it here.

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Sprig Toys Eco-Trucks nearly 50% off, and even better than we expected

2009-10-06T11:00:26-06:00

We finally got our hands on some of last year's Eco-Trucks from Sprig Toys, for reasons we will write about soon. For some completely unrelated reason, the two we received are both nearly 50% off on Amazon at the moment.

Sprig has a conversation-starting innovation at the heart of their company - a more environmentally-friendly material with some of the attractive toy molding characteristics of plastic yet made of recycled polypropylene and reclaimed pine sawdust. For some companies, the rest of the business plan, and a product line extending years into the future, would be produced pretty much on autopilot. But we like writing about Sprig because they're driven to do something new and better and are unafraid to take risks in the process.

We've written in the past that we think this has led to some successes and some failures. But their products always make us think and frequently surprise us with a fresh take on a toy you'd previously assumed had been played out.

These Eco-Trucks are an example of how fine a product this process can produce. We love the mechanical functionality, the physical responsiveness to push and pull, yet fundamental simplicity of these construction vehicles. They are the hand tools of play. This dump truck makes me want to forget most of the toy dump trucks I have ever seen:

The Eco-Trucks Loader we received, however, had a problem with the clasp that holds the cab shut, a simple meeting of small plastic notches that don't fit together as they should. Watch me struggle with it:

The design of these latching parts is different between the dump truck and the loader. The dump truck's latch design works perfectly, and should have been used for both. But the loader actually has more finicky and less durable latching mechanism. As I played with the two latches a bit more in an attempt to understand why one worked so well and the other so poorly, the loader's latch broke just as I thought I might be getting the hang of the subtle flick of the wrist necessary to close it properly. Ironically, the cab now sits flush with the frame, and actually stays in place with no latch at all. So there's a second option that would have been better than the latch they used.

The packaging of these trucks is another story altogether. We'll write about that - and a couple of interesting new Sprig products - as soon as I can locate some truly horrendous packaging to compare its brilliance to. We're looking at you, Crayola.

You can buy Sprig's Eco-Trucks on Amazon.com, where their Dump Truck and Loader are each heavily discounted.

In accordance with our Keep No Stuff reviewing policy, we'll be passing on both of these lovely trucks to others who can use them.