Children’s toys are a billion dollar business.  Part of the market is nostalgia-based as parents try to give their children toys similar if not exactly the same as the beloved objects of their own childhood. Another popular aspect of today’s toy market is making earth-friendly toys. You may be a parent that shuns plastic toys for wooden alternatives or tries to ensure that each toy that enters your home is educational but the bottom line remains: kids need toys.

This month the 109th American International Toy Fair will be held over four days in New York City. The Toy Fair is the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere for members of the toy industry or any kid-oriented company to show off their products.

Today Pueri Elemental LLC announced they would debut their earth-friendly inflatable bop bag at this year’s Toy Fair. Their bop bag is called the Eco-Bonk and was born after the husband of the company’s president brought home an older bop bag for their toddler to play with. 

“We wanted to give our son the active-play experience that we remembered, but couldn't get past the environmental concerns," said Donna Brin, President and Co-Founder of Pueri Elemental LLC. 

The Eco-Bonk’s body is made from “ECM MasterBatch Pellets, a revolutionary additive technology that enables popular petroleum-based plastics to become part of the earth in 9 months to 5 years.” The plastics used in older bop bags do not naturally biodegrade the way the Eco-Bonk is designed to should it befall a tragic end at the hands of a child and need to be thrown away. The fabric used to cover the bag is made out of 100% organic cotton and screen printed with non-toxic ink to give each bag the characteristics of a bear, penguin, or elephant. The packaging is made out of 100% recycled paperboard which is made from recovered paper from recycling efforts.

Award winning Green Toys will also attend with their colorful line of non-toxic bath toys, trucks, and dishes made out of recycled plastic milk jugs and packaged in recycled cardboard. Their toys have received excellent reviews from parenting blogs and major magazines. Their tea set was even spotted on an episode of South Park!

Pueri Elemental and Green Toys are just two exhibitors out of an estimated 1,100 that will be at the Toy Fair. Approximately 250 or more will be exhibiting for the first time like Peuri.

The Toy Fair website lists about 50 companies that will show merchandise with healthy benefits for Earth and child. The fair is not open to the public or to their primary customer -kids- but you can expect well-received new toys to be highlighted in blogs and  the news during the fair. Those toys will hopefully work their way to a store near you and if not you can always give your kids some Bubble Wrap to play with.