Young hosts can brew up an imaginary pot of tea while doing something really good for the earth with the worlds' most environmentally friendly tea set.
This 17 piece set includes a tea pot with lid, sugar bowl with lid, creamer, 4 cups, 4 saucers and 4 teaspoons.
Using recycled milk jugs and other environmentally friendly materials, Green Toys products save energy and reduce greenhouse gases. These safe toys are manufactured, assembled and tested in the USA, and are a total blast to play with!
Recommended age: 3+
Why is this product Very Cool?
Here is at least part of why we decided to rank the Green Toys 17 Piece Tea Set as a Very Cool Toy.
Safe, Quality Product Made in USA
The Green Toys line is made in the U.S.A. of a durable plastic made from recycled milk jugs. This is not the cheap, brittle plastic that is so common in the toy tea set you see today, but rather a very thick, durable, porous feeling plastic that is like, well, a plastic milk jug, but thicker. The edges are rounded and smooth with no burs along the seams. The tea set is non-toxic, meets FDA requirements for food contact and is manufactured, assembled, and tested in the United States.
Environmentally Friendly
Green Toys are made from recycled milk jugs, that is 100% curbside collected, recycled plastic. The company states that a pound of recycled milk jugs translates to an average energy savings equivalent to 3,000 AAA batteries, electricity to power a TV set for 3 weeks, electricity to run a laptop computer for a month.
Color
The colors used in the Green Toys Tea Set are very nice. They are not traditional kid colors like the pale pastels and primary colors but a more sophisticated color pallet. A neutral, earthy pink and yellow, medium blue, spring green and a nice medium lavender are the colors used for the tea set. It's hard to describe but the colors are saturated and vibrant without being over done. Colors you might see in a real stoneware set.
I know it seems like a little thing, but aside from it appealing to me personally I noticed some interesting reactions from the kids. As part of our testing I pulled the set out and had a tea party with my 7 year old nephew, Jesse, and my 10 year old niece, Holly. Jesse is at the age now where he wants nothing to do with girl stuff and I was actually a little surprised that he was even interested in joining the party. I'm fairly certain if the color scheme had been bright pink he would have wanted no part what so ever. As it was, the neutral colors made it okay for him to play along. On the other hand, Holly is at the age where she wants to be more grown up and has no interest in "little kid" toys. The more sophisticate color pallet of the tea set made it feel more like a "grown up" activity.
Size
The size of the Green Toys Tea Set is good, not too small. The tea pot measures 7 inches across including the handle and the spout (about 4 inches across just the main body). It is 3.5 inches tall, 4 inches if you count the lid, and has a capacity of about 1.5 cups. The tea cups are 1.75 inches tall with a 2 inch diameter, the creamer is about the same size as the cups. The plates are about 4 inches in diameter. The sugar bowl is a little over 1.25 inches high, an additional inch with the lid, and just under 3 inches in diameter.
Price
Okay, the Green Toys Tea Set is a little bit pricey, which is why we rank it Very Cool instead of Super Cool. But, the extra cost can easily be justified as a good cause. Making a product in the U.S.A. AND making it environmentally friendly has it's costs. If these qualities are important to you then it's well worth spending a little extra to encourage this kind of manufacturing process.
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