Mommy, Is My Toy Bad?

It's easier to go completely green with holiday toys if your children are small enough that basic toys such as blocks and puppets still keep them happy. It's harder to please those who are old enough to expect presents to wow with flashy colors, complex parts or lights and sounds.

It will also help if you and your kids are willing to forgo them playing with popular children's heroes. Eco toys are noticeably absent of references to Big Bird, Elmo, Curious George, Batman, Barbie and other characters whose likenesses are associated with at least one recalled toy.

Environmentally proactive Web sites such as Treehugger advise parents to eschew gadgets that require batteries or that are made from questionable plastics. Instead, they say, choose toys made from organic fabrics or sustainably harvested wood, and if they are sold through a fair trade organization, all the better. You can find companies that specialize in green toys through Co-op America's green pages.

I had some success finding environmentally responsible alternatives to some of the items recalled for lead paint or other toxins.

It would be easy to replace a $15 Curious George plush doll with a $25 Organic George puppet from the Peaceful Company. Your child is unlikely to notice that these colorful wooden stacking donut blocks, $17, don't carry the Elmo theme that their recalled plastic counterparts from Fisher Price do. A $13 set of wooden Mother Goose blocks would provide a passable if less cuddly alternative to a set of plush blocks for $10 to $13 from Baby Einstein.