Nya byggsatser

We now have a new range of wooden construction kits! Not only that we have selected them from a nearby producer - a small French company with over 50 year of experience from handicraft, but these kits are made of wood from sustainably managed forests in Jura (Eastern France) and are coloured with non-toxic paint. As we all know, kids love to build because it is so much fun. However there is much more behind the simple enjoyment and hours of assembling.


Construction-kit play benefits children in many ways, such as:

• learning to create buildings and other structures, and to design imaginary things based on their own ideas;
• helps to build strength in fingers and hands, and improve eye-hand coordination;
• develop social relationships with other children, which can be valuable when groups of children are sharing toys;
• helps to expand language abilities as children talk about sizes, shapes, colors, comparisons and other aspects of building;
• adds experience in science and physics when experimenting with gravity, weight, balance, and stability;
• gives a sense of achievement when finalizing a construction.
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Gröna evenemang i sommar

It is nice to be back!



In case you are still home and have no plans so far for your summer green trip, here are some ideas where to go to. Check out these Earth-friendly events and see-learn-enjoy, and (in case you cannot resist to shopping) be a sustainable consumer at:




24-26 July - Mossagårdsfestival,Veberöd

21-22 August - Eco Now Fair, Kista

22-23 August - Miljöfest, Götenborg

Have fun! Read more...

På semester...

Not easy nowadays to pack for vacation! But, we are finally fully "equipped" and ready to go! Back on 15th of July and until then, enjoy summer! Read more...

Klicka ett träd - initiativet

Act against climate change: Plant a Tree!

The "Click a Tree" challenge is open to EU residents from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the UK between 14-29 years of age. 10 participants of the competition will be chosen through a public voting system. The winners will then be invited to an environmental learning camp.


To raise awareness among young European citizens and to act for the climate, the European Commission has launched a competition with a tree theme. To participate in the initiative "Click a Tree", one should plant a tree and post a picture of the tree on the internet site of this initiative. One can also find a place where a tree has been planted through "tree cards".

And for those who do not know how to plant a tree, the site provides lot of information such as type of species, sites, seasons, care...

Just to remind you that forests are key elements of the phenomen of climate change. In fact, trees absorb and stock CO2 from air and in return produce oxygen. Reversed, when decomposing, they release the stocked CO2 to the atmosphere. Thus every year nine billion tons of CO2 are being absorbed by trees... but at the same time, approximately two billions are being released through deforestation.
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Leksaker - Barn - Klimatförändring

Being interested in climate change and reading various articles, I was wondering what kind of relation there is (which must be) between the toy industry and climate change. I am confident, when we buy toys for our children, we do not think much, if at all, about the impact the toys have on our climate. As climate aware consumers, we look for advices/ways on how our choices can have as little impact on climate change as possible and rarely one can read that toys can make a difference too. Well, it does!


Based on the research by the “Climate Counts” NGO, producers of toys and kids equipment do NOT, or very little, really care about our children’s future – or, more precisely, about climate change. Since beginning of its work in 2007, the “Climate Counts” organization has been researching/scoring 106 companies across 13 different sectors, and the toy and children’s equipment sector scored the absolutely lowest! None of toy companies scored more than 40 (out of 100), and eight companies scored zero.

The survey took into account 22 criteria that measure a company’s efforts to address its climate footprint, reduce emissions, support (or block) progress on climate legislation and communicate climate change efforts clearly to consumers. Just as an example, Hasbro scored 40 points, well above its closest rival, Mattel, with 18 points. Lego scored 13 points. All other surveyed companies scored below 4 points...

Maybe this is something we could have in mind when going next time to a toy store? Up to each of us, but after all WE are the one making the choices!
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Play the Planet - MokuZoku

I know, the weather is finally great, we feel-smell-enjoy the beauty of the summer, and here I write about computer games... Well, this computer game seems different, with no intention to glue our kids to the screen, on the contrary, rather to motivate kids to get out and play. Maybe you can check out the MokuZoku site, with your kids on a rainy day? Just an idea, a green and a great one, I think :-)


About the game (from MokuZoku site): “MokuZoku is tackling a growing problem facing childhood development– too much time in front of computer and television screens, and not enough unstructured outdoor play. MokuZoku is revolutionizing how kids learn and play by creating an interactive world where online games motivate kids to get outside and learn about their environment. In doing so, we hope to stimulate a movement back to a simpler, healthier form of play and adventure that extends far beyond their computer. By partaking in our unique hybrid of online gaming and outdoor activity, children develop the connection with nature that is so essential to human mental and physical development.”

MokuZoku has only recently been launched, and more great things are still to be seen on their site. For the kids to be able to participate in outdoor challenges to earn "MokuBerries", an outdoor component will be added to the games, with outdoor gaming gear that provides an access code to the website. This is the main difference to other online children games: MokuZoku game gives an incentive to get out and play, by getting credit for outside activities.

About the company: MokuZoku "parents" are Joshua Baylin and Scott Pardo. The company
is forming partnerships with organizations and companies devoted to sustainability and social action, such as the Pollinator Partnership by donating 10% of its profits to the animals (and their habitats) featured in the MokuZoku games.

The company also volunteers with World Camp, a non-profit organization utilizing education as a tool to empower children in impoverished communities around the world. They traveled to Malawi, Africa to feed over 2,000 schoolchildren and to teach them about issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention, nutrition, gender equality, environmental awareness and human rights. MokuZoku also planted over 1,500 trees in Malawi, based on the points earned by kids playing the game (it added up to one tree planted for every two minutes that kids played the MokuZoku).

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Jorden festivalen

The World Earth Festival : Ecology, Solidarity and Peace. This is about 20 nations at 4 continents who have mobilised and are jointly expressing their engagement for Earth.


Two weeks (12-28 June) of actions, events and festivities to raise awareness about the need to respect and take care of our planet, to promote various local activities and to create a network of solidarity for these kind of actions.

Launched and coordinated by a French association Terralliance, the World Earth Festival is a world mobilisation event during which Activists for Environment Protection and International Solidarity organisations express their engagement for the planet. This world-wide action is a contribution to finding alternative energy solutions and new ways of consumption, more responsible and sustainable.

I have noticed that, unfortunately we/Sweden, are not among the participating countries for this initiative. Hopefully, next time!
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Slutligen färdigflyttade!

Seems like Touffie moved to its new home just in time for the Volvo Ocean Race! The spectacle was just amazing and we felt like in the middle of a high-way... on water! Read more...

Touffie flyttar till ett nytt hem!

We have lately been so busy organising and packing for our removal that no time was left for exploring and writing much more in our blog. Yes, it will take us few days (hopefully not few weeks...) before we all settle in our new home, but then we will be back with more green news and fun!

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Planeträddarna

Planeträddarna är ett spel baserat på frågesport (utgivare WWF och Söderenergi) för 10 till 12-åringar. Spännande och lärorikt (mycket fakta). Man kommer även, inom kort att ta fram en handledning för lärare som ger tips på hur spelet kan användas som verktyg i undervisningen.

Hur ska det gå för de fyra ungdomarna Nemi, Ming, Rosanna och Simon? Kommer de att kunna hjälpa jorden med hjälp av sin kunskap om energi och klimat?

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Människan är en apa som alla andra

The book "L'Homme est un singe commes les autres" by Emmanuelle Grundmann unveils the human face of apes and gives us the opportunity to discover our deep similarities. A beautiful book, with new and fantastic photos of apes, putting them in parallel with their cousin - Man: a disturbing and enthralling result showing how much the origins of our behaviour and our abilities are anchored in the world of apes. A work which is a plea to and a alarming cry warning about programmed dissapearances of and for emergency to act and save the apes.

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5e juni - vi har alla en träff med planeten

On 5 June, we have a date with the Planet! That evening, the film Home, directed by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and produced by Luc Besson, will have its world premiere! The creed of Home is: “It’s too late to be pessimistic.”

The date is a symbolic one, World Environment Day, and Yann Arthus-Bertrand decided to mark the start in a profound way: For its world premiere, Home will be released simultaneously in more than 50 countries and in all existing media – TV, Internet, DVD and in theatres – in order to reach the widest audience.

The film Home speaks to its viewers that we all have a responsibility toward our planet.


The trailer of the film begins with these words: “Life, this miracle of the universe, appeared about 4 billion years ago…” After a pause, the voice resumes: “And we humans, only 200,000 years ago… yet we have succeeded in disrupting the balance…" Before the end of the century, this exploitation without measure will have exhausted almost all of the planet’s reserves. Thinking about what we still have left can help us to accept this new challenge and to convince us: all that you see is not only a landscape, it is the beloved face of our Earth.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a photographer as well as a writer, journalist and director. He also chairs the environmental association GoodPlanet, which works for sustainable development and in public education, particularly for young people. On 22 April he was named Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme. Here, he recounts the adventure of shooting Home, a film that was an obsession for him for two years. He talks about it in these words: “It is a film that has a mission and I believe that the people who worked on this film have no doubt worked more on this one than on another because they felt good, and that what we were doing was important, that the way it was going to be distributed, that what we were going to say was essential. I think it is a film unlike any other.”

The film Home is carbon offset, which means that all the CO2 emissions engendered by making the film are calculated and offset by sums of money that are used to provide clean energy to those who don’t have any. For the last 10 years, all the work of Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been carbon offset in this way. To watch the trailer of the film Home, click here: www.home-2009.com
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Paint4Planet - Children Call for Action

When looking for, and reading about, climate change (and how this can affect future generations) I came accross the initiative "International Children's Painting Competition - Paint for the Planet".

While we may be ready to colonise other planets, children continue to fall prey to climate-related disasters. According to a 2007 environment report from the UK, approximately 175 million children will be affected by natural disasters induced by climate change over the next decade. This is 50 million more than the past 10 years.


Children are hoping that adults might help with the solution to combat climate change. Young artists from around the world have lent their voice to the message through the 'Paint for the Planet' event. Youngsters sent in 200,000 entries to the recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)initiative.

On October 25th 2008, a selection of the winning paintings from the collection was auctioned out at the Harvard Club of New York City, to raise emergency funds for children affected by climate-related disasters. A statement from UNEP said that the proceeds would go to Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund. Prior to that, on October 23, an exhibition featuring more of the original artworks from the competition was opened to the world, at the UN headquarters in New York. The event 'Paint for the Planet' consisted of the exhibition and the auction.

After New York, the exhibition has been travelling around the world, with a final stop being the climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009.

Here are some key facts about children and climate change:

More than 46% of the world's population is now younger than 25 years old.

Approximately 175 million children will be affected by natural disasters induced by climate change, over the next decade. This is 50 million more than during the ten years to 2005.

Children are more likely than adults to perish during natural disasters or succumb to malnutrition, injuries or disease in their aftermath. Over 96% of all disaster-related deaths worldwide in recent years have occurred in developing countries.

Women and children account for more than 75% of displaced people following natural disasters. For instance, during the July 2007 floods in Bangladesh, 4.2 million children were affected, 300,000 of them under the age of five.

An estimated 650,000 people, of which 300,000 children, were affected by the back-to-back hurricanes in Haiti in 2008.

Factors that play a role in climate change, such as emissions from vehicles and factories, significantly harm children's health. Deaths from asthma, which is the most common chronic disease among children, are expected to increase by nearly 20% by 2016 unless urgent action is taken. Smoke in the home leads to the deaths of nearly 800,000 children each year.

Nearly 10 million children under the age of five die every year of largely preventable diseases. Malaria – which currently claims the lives of around 800,000 children every year – is sensitive to changes in temperature and rainfall and could become more common if weather patterns change.

In a 6-year study from Peru, researchers found an 8% increase in hospitalizations for diarrhea with every degree centigrade increase above the normal average temperature.

Every child will have safe water in the UK, but only 1 in 3 children in Ethiopia will. By 2020, it is projected that some 75-250 million people in Africa will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change. Forty-four percent of the continent's population is under the age of fifteen.

Developing countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America are forecast to see reductions in agricultural productivity of between 5 and 25% by 2080s due to climate change. In 2006, 1.6 million children under the age of five required major humanitarian assistance in drought-stricken areas of the Horn of Africa.

The number of children dying each year due to the effects of malnutrition – currently 3.5 million – is likely to increase as a result of climate change.

Climate change could cause an additional 40,000 to 160,000 child deaths per year in South Asia and sub- Saharan Africa through GDP losses alone by 2100.

Climate change can also have a significant impact on a child's ability to attend school. For instance, during the July 2007 floods in Sudan, nearly 200 schools were damaged, affecting nearly 45,000 children.

A survey conducted in 2005 by the UK Government found that 24% of the 1,000 10 to 18 year olds questioned believed climate change presented the greatest threat to the world's future. Read more...

Faktabank om vår planet

A GREAT way, for children (and ourselves :-), to learn about our planet! Check this out, I am sure you will enjoy. Read more...

Vattendroppar = Människor

"When the isolated drops meet, they share the majesty of the ocean to which they belong." - M.K.Gandhi Read more...

Tidig fostran för ett hållbart samhälle

I have always believed that best investment one can make is in education for children. And nowadays we speak so much about the need for creating a sustainable future for our children and generations to come. But what can we do, as a society, to help our children become earth-friendly citizens? When looking for answers I have found a publication which originates from the international workshop ‘The Role of Early Childhood Education for a Sustainable Society’, held in Göteborg, Sweden, in May 2007. Maybe too long for reading (only 135 pages :-) but worth having a look at, just to get an idea.


“The Contribution of Early Childhood Education to a Sustainable Society” report published in 2008, explains how to educate young children with the aim of preventing further degradation of our planet and contributing to a sustainable society where values of human rights, peace and justice are upheld.

The publication argues that as early childhood education is about laying a sound intellectual, psychological, emotional, social and physical foundation, it has an enormous potential in fostering values, attitudes and skills that support sustainable development.

There is a great deal in the traditions of early childhood pedagogies that align with education for sustainability for example, like use of the outdoors for learning and learning through real life projects.

The publication cites concrete case studies and best practices in Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, France, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

UNESCO is the lead agency for United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). Read more...

Välkomna till (den inte så underbara) Disneys värld

In 2008, the French non-governmental organisation Peuples Solidaires published a Report on toy production in China called "CHINE - BIENVENUE DANS LE MONDE (PAS SI) MERVEILLEUX DE DISNEY". Simultaneously the French NGO launched a campaign to raise awareness about the working conditions in Disney toy factories in China. According to Peuple Solidaire organisation, Disney is one of the world largest group for entertainment but when it comes to working conditions of Chinese in toy factories, there is no illusion about entertainement but, on the contrary - it seems like a nightmare.


Moreover, in the campain it says that the reports on toy production, written by SACOM (Students and Scolars agains corporate misbehaviour - Chinese organisation), clearly show the existence of basic violation of rights such as: wages below the guaranteed minimum, forced non-renumerated leave days, extremely long working hours (12h to 18h) and non-renumerated extra hours, no possibility of voluntary resignation, hygienic and safety problems, brutal methods and harassment, etc.

Just as an example, to give more "colour" to wages of chinese workers in the toy industry, in France a guaranteed daily minimum is 50 EUR net, while in China the daily average pay is 3,5 EUR - and the majority of workers are women.

It will be interesting to see if this campaign will have some positive and genuine impact (not only "cosmetic") in the Code of Conduct (social responsibilty and ethics) of Disney and other mega toy producers. Read more...