Kermit said it best. But I wonder: was the superstar stitched from synthetic blend or all natural cotton? And what about those plastic eyes? Those sad lovelies must’ve been swimming in Bisphenol-A. I wouldn’t let my daughter within 10 feet of dear old toxic Kermie! Would you?
Therein lies the reason my daughter has no rug in her room. For some reason, this fact shamed me recently when a friend and her small son visited. We’d just bought our house and I was proud to show it off as we wended our way through the hardwood living and dining room, the marmoleum-tiled kitchen. Finally we came to Lucy’s room where, unlike the other rooms, her own wood floor stuck out like a sore thumb. The bare, empty space seemed to amplify the room’s lack of toys (intended) and vanilla-colored walls (still shopping VOC-free paints). I found myself apologizing—“we haven’t decided on colors yet; we’ve been busy.” I should’ve stopped there. But curtailing diatribes is not my strong suit. In no time at all, I’d hopped up on my soapbox, lecturing my friend on the perils of pesticide-treated cotton. I’m sure I sounded paranoid; worse, sanctimonious. But I couldn’t help it—the Great Rug Debate had been raging (in my mind, at least) since we moved in. After all, who doesn’t want to see their baby sitting comfy and plush while trying to get that triangle to fit through the oval-shaped hole? But what to do when that meant adding yet one more toxin into their environment?
The good news is there’s a booming market for organic rugs, available in an impressive array of natural materials such as wool, hemp, untreated cotton and even bamboo. Here are just a few of the websites offering natural floor coverings for little ones:
http://www.kushtush.com/organiccottonrugs.htm
http://www.rawganique.com/
http://www.crispina.com/collections/collections_rugs.html
As for Lucy, her floor remains bare—I decided I liked it and besides, winter is almost over. Maybe next fall I’ll get around to buying something…
---Janet Freeman
Comments