Toys with Integrity

I love these toys (I'm getting the nativity puzzle before Christmas this year!) Here's more information about them, from the Imagiplay website:

Kids are the future! If we’re to create a brighter future for our world, we need to instill environmental awareness in our children. Green toys teach kids to think about where things come from and where they’ll go—an early lesson in environmental responsibility and responsible buying.

ImagiPLAY is committed to the development and distribution of open-ended educational toys and children’s accessories that inspire their imaginations, introduce them to the wonders of the natural world around them, and nurture their sense of discovery. We are equally committed to producing only high-quality products using materials and processes that show respect for our planet and all the people and creatures upon it.

Every toy we produce is earth friendly, child safe and people kind. That is our commitment to our children and their planet.

Child Safety
Child safety is our highest priority. We test every material and paint in our products to insure it meets or exceeds US and European standards.

Our Toys are Made from What?
Everything we produce is made from renewable, sustainable materials.
Rubberwood
Our solid wood toys are made from plantation-grown, chemical-free rubberwood. Rubber tree plantations have existed for hundreds of years in tropical countries. Rubber trees produce a sap that is used to make latex products. At the end of their latex-producing years (generally 25-30 years) the trees are harvested and new ones planted. The wood used to be burned, until people realized these wonderful trees had one more gift to give, that of their beautiful hardwood, which we use to make our hardwood toys.
MDF (medium density fibreboard)
Some of our toys utilize MDF, which is an engineered wood product formed by breaking down softwood particles (sawdust) into wood fibres combining it with wax and resin, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure. In other words, compressed sawdust. Again we are utilizing the byproducts of another industry. MDF is similar to but denser than particleboard and we use it in some of our playsets to create play structures that are thin (lightweight), yet rigid. The MDF we use is formaldehyde free and tested for child safety.
Bamboo
Bamboo is a fast growing wood-like grass that is fast becoming popular in products ranging from cutting boards, bowls and plates to wood flooring. The beautiful natural look of bamboo is ideal for creating lovely keepsake storage boxes for some of our toys and our designers are busy developing it for use in children’s toys, for which it is ideal because it is lightweight, flexible and strong. Best of all, it shows our children that there are creative alternatives to ravaging our forests.
Other materials
We are constantly on the lookout for other environmentally friendly materials to develop into high quality toys. If you have any suggestions, please contact us at info@ImagiPLAY.com

Minimal carbon footprint
Every step of our toy production from seed to shelf is carefully thought out to minimize impact on the earth. Most wooden toys distributed in this country are made from Pine and made in China. The raw Pine is primarily produced in Canada, shipped to China where the toy is produced then shipped back to North America as a finished product! We see this excessive shipping as a senseless waste of natural resources. We select factories that are close to our raw materials to avoid this needless expenditure of gas, oil and greenhouse gases.

Our Toys are Made Where and by Whom?
We are proud to contribute to the growth of many developing nations by crafting our toys in small, mostly family run factories around Asia.

The rubberwood used to make our toys is grown in Southeast Asia, so our rubberwood toys are crafted in Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and some carefully selected factories in China. We have several factories in and around Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Our factories are placed close to the neighborhoods where our workers live. The majority of our factory workers walk or ride their bikes to work each day.

Bamboo is primarily grown in China, which is where we craft our bamboo boxes and toys and some of our Rubberwood toys.

We visit every factory to insure:
There is no child labor
Workers are paid a fair, living wage
Workers are provided with a clean, safe environment to work
Workers are treated with respect and dignity
Only local workers are utilized