Weekend Getaway gift set from Good Clean Love – awesome company!

Why natural lube:

If you’re going to go through the cost and hassle of locating eco-friendly sex toys, why on earth would you top off your toys with a toxic, chemical laden lube? In fact, Time Magazine notes, “Most of the personal lubricants in the U.S. — drugstores sold $82 million worth of them last year — contain chemicals found in oven cleaner, brake fluid and antifreeze.” AND you want to put them where?!

You have lots of other, greener, safer options.

You can choose silicone lubes, but they’re not as good as water based. Silicone is man made, but can’t be absorbed into your skin or mucus membranes so it’s safer than a major chemical lube. Still you’ll want to look for fragrance free, color free, and so on to avoid other chemicals. Oil based lubes can be harmful for women trapping bacteria under a coat of oil, plus these lubes can break down condoms. If you’re looking for organic lubes you’ll have the most luck with water based products. Water-based personal lubricants are the safest for the planet BUT also the most easily absorbed by you, so you have to look for 100% natural and organic products. Also note that while water based lubes have pros they also need to be reapplied more frequently – if you think that reapplying is fun, it’s easier to handle.

Some natural choices:

Firefly Organics makes a 100% natural moisturizing lubricant with pure plant butters like natural Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter. The lube does not contain glycerin, silicone or petroleum, is preservative-free, and safe for use with silicone, rubber or polyurethane accessories and toys. The company does not test on animals and the packaging is fully recyclable.

Yes makes an certified organic water-based lube with organic Aloe Vera, organic Flax extract, three synergistic plant based gums – guar, locust bean and xanthan. Food grade preservatives are included, and citric acid to buffer the pH. Yes is also Vegetarian Society trusted which means products are approved as free from animal derived and GMO ingredients, as well as cruelty free.

Sliquid Organics Natural Lube – is a water-based lube that’s both glycerin and paraben free, the use of plant cellulose as a thickening agent makes it last longer than most glycerin-free lubes. Product contains organic botanical extracts that are independently certified by Quality Certification Services in compliance with the USDA National Organic Program.

Many other companies make eco-friendly lube though and you can even find all natural men’s stroke cream and organic massage oils.  For more organic and natural options check out…

• Sliquid Organics Stimulating O Gel
• Evergreen organic soy candles – which can be applied as massage rub.
• Good Clean Love
• Rub Me Massage Bar
• Sensua Organic
• Discreet Organic Lubricant

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Organic & Natural Personal Lubricants

I Rub My Duckie: Bondage a phthalate-free little guy from Big Teaze Toys

JUST THE BASICS:

The first step is to avoid the baddies. This means toys made of plastics which may contain phthalates and other icky chemicals – which are bad enough in bottled water products but to put them you know where, well… Look for sex toys made of medical-grade and body-safe materials that can be recycled. Wood, glass, and silicone are some options. You also can look for sex toys that are rechargeable, use rechargeable batteries, or even find unique hand-cranked, organic, or solar-powered erotic toys.

SILICONE SEX TOYS:

Vixen Creations is a woman owned sex toy company making hand-crafted adult toys with eco-friendly silicone. Silicone has many advantages when used in sex toys. Silicone is flexible and naturally warms up to your body temperature. It’s a toxin free material, vibrates smoothly, cleans easily and silicone sex toys come in a wide array of colors and shapes – enough to please just about everyone. Vixen even offers a great lifetime guarantee on all their silicone sex toys.

You can also shop at sex toy king Good Vibrations through their earth-friendly Ecorotic collection which includes silicone toys as well as many other all-natural and organic sex fun products.

WOODEN SEX TOYS:

Wooden sex toys have the disadvantage of being inflexible BUT are beautiful when well made and long lasting. Plus, if made in an eco-friendly manner won’t contain any of the icky chemicals found in plastic.

NobEssence makes wooden sex toys, or “sculptures” as they call them with hand selected wood and then carve and polish with care using state-of-the-art bio-compatible Lubrosity. Lubrosity coatings and processes meet USP Class IV and VI Medical Standards can be soaked in water, have zero odor, and have no petroleum distillates. Because of the hand crafted process, each sculpture has it’s own unique color, shape, texture and grain.

GLASS SEX TOYS:

Of course the major concern with glass sex toys is breakage – what a way to ruin a fun night right?! Glass sex toys are also, like wood, inflexible and won’t warm in the same natural way that wood and silicone will. However, there are advantages. According to Glass Dildo Me, makers of all things glass and sexy, “Pyrex, Borosilicate glass is hypoallergenic, odor free, and non-deteriorating.” You can also heat or cool glass sex toys manually with warm water or ice water.

Kaleidoscope by Glass Dildo Me shown above

Other advantages of glass include easy recycling and beauty. Glass can be blown in amazing shapes and colors (see above), although for this sort of gorgeous work a downside is cost. Good quality glass sex toys will cost more than other eco-friendly sex toys, and if they don’t you should actually look elsewhere. PS at Glass Dildo Me you can even design your own glass dildo.

OTHER PLACES TO SHOP:

• JuicyLogic makes the only solar-powered vibrator on the market – the Sola Vibe and also carries a wide array of other eco-friendly sex treats.
• Babeland has many eco-friendly sex toys and their website is chock full of sex advice, reviews, and more.
• Jimmyjane offers patented non-toxic vibes that come housed in their own clever recharging cases.
• If bondage is your game, then check out Madame Butterfly for greener ropes made of raw silk and bamboo plus you’ve got a natural dye option. Twisted Monk offers an eco-friendly bondage rope as well made with hemp PLUS has handy bondage safety and use videos to view.
• Big Teaze Toys offers adorable and fun AND phthalate-free little duckie vibes; among other items.
• Smitten Kitten has an array of nice green sex toys to browse.

Coming up soon some extra tips including ideas for eco-friendly lube, eco sex books, and where to recycle those toys.

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Find the best eco-sex toys

• Number of vibrators sold in 2006 at Babeland: 167,250 (and that’s just the vibrators and way back in 2006)!
• Various sources note that U.S. consumers spend about $1.2 billion dollars on sex toys annually, although that’s considered a conservative estimate by many. Especially when companies like the ever popular Good Vibrations made $11.9 million in 2006 alone.
• The Sinful Body Pleasures Sex Toy Talk boards are hopping busy, as are other sex toy boards.

No matter which estimates you believe, sex toys are selling like hot cakes, and many are not so eco-friendly. Many traditional sex toys contain all sorts of icky junk, among that junk are chemicals called phthalates, which is cool because it softens PVC and provides a soft jelly feeling for sex toys, but bad because phthalates are toxic and pose health risks.

TreeHugger suggests looking for toys made from “glass, metal, silicone, hard plastics, or elastomers” and if you’re not sure about the safety of your sex toy, placing a condom on it (if it’s that sort of sex toy) TreeHugger also has a smart tip about using rechargeable batteries for powered sex toys or you can look for a rechargeable vibe.

WHERE TO SHOP FOR GREEN SEX TOYS

• Earth Erotics
• Babeland – look for items like… Eco Delight Kit, Eco-Sexy Kit, Fling, Babeland Lickable Oil, the Pfun Plug and more.
• Good Vibrations: Look at their brand new planet-friendly Ecorotic collection.
• See more hot spots for green sex toys and tools.

RECYCLE THOSE TOYS!

Lastly, remember that sex toys can now be recycled! Yay! I mean, don’t toss them out in your bins, unless you’re looking to shock the recycling team, but do read this handy guide: Where to recycle your ‘personal massager’.

Bonus link: Ecosexuals do it greener; Violet Blue shows how to have hot eco-friendly sex (excellent read!)

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Liven up the bedroom with green sex toys

Guess again: “Sex is part of our lives, so any issue that concerns us out of the bedroom has implications inside it: if we recycle, buy local produce, watch our carbon use, and think ecologically in other ways, it makes sense to
do the same when we make sexual choices. Our well-being and that of the earth are connected, so consider where you can go Ecorotic!” says  Dr. Carol Queen, Good Vibrations‘ staff sexologist.

Just in time for Earth Day (cause it’s ALWAYS time for good toys), Good Vibrations has a new earth-friendly Ecorotic collection of all-natural and organic products, like the awesome Ooh La La Kit, shown at left.

Going green has never been sexier!

Image: Goodvibes.com

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Having an Eco-Rotic Earth Day

I was recently told that the Easter bunny is itself a sign of fertility – thus the eggs – and we all know fertility is basically all about sex. So, why not celebrate Easter with…the best bunny of all time?

Everyone’s favorite sex toy is the Rabbit, which was made popular years ago on Sex and the City. What you may not know is that since then, it’s gone down a long and winding road of improvements, and now, if you walk into my favorite toy store, Babeland, you’ll see dozens! Just check out the variety they offer here.

Now, what is it that makes the rabbit so popular? It may be the dual action – it’s simultaneously a really powerful vibrator and tickles your most sensitive spots for super potency. Or maybe it’s just that, thanks to SATC, it became the first toy to go mainstream – and thus brought something we all enjoy, “out of the closet”.

Whatever the reason…we all love the rabbit! And, it’s the season of bunny love – so go give yours some extra attention today!

Image: Babeland

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Make Easter Extra Personal

Everything we do has an effect on the environment but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun and look out for Mother Nature. There are some easy ways to keep your eco-values alive when giving in to, er, human nature.

Here’s how.

Condoms

Ask a beach cleanup volunteer what they find littering the sands and the answer is likely to include used condoms. Condoms find their way onto beaches, into waterways and water treatment facilities when they are flushed down the toilet. Many sea creatures mistake condoms for jellyfish or other food sources and the results are deadly.

To keep it baby-free and protect wildlife, don’t flush condoms. Put them in the trash bin and send them direct to the landfill. It may sound counterintuitive but that’s where they will end up anyway. Just if you flush it someone else, like a waste treatment worker or biologist, will have to handle the job.

Sex Toys

Ok, maybe you’re not buying them but somebody is because sex toys make up an estimated $500 billion dollar market. Many sex toys are made with chemicals that are more than just a turn off, they’re dangerous.

PVC (yep, plumbing) and the phthalates used to soften it are commonly found in sex toys but are linked to diseases like cancer and reproductive disorders. These same compounds have been banned from other products, like baby toys, in the EU because of the associated health risks.

The Grist’s Emily Gertz explores the ins and outs (sorry!) of what to avoid and what to look for in a eco-friendly sex toy in Naughty by Nature: Ever thought about the toxins in your sex toys?. Along with a few good suppliers, just in case your “friend” is interested.

Flush

Not condoms! We’ve already covered that one. This time I’m referring to your system. Women are prone to urinary tract infections which can require treatment with antibiotics. Once again, anything that goes down the toilet makes its way to waterways, including ingested medications. To keep yourself and waterways free from antibiotics partake in a little post-sex pee to help flush the system and avoid a UTI.

Control or Contamination?

While we’re on the topic of medications in waterways…There is a growing concern about hormones and endocrine disruptors in waterways. Some of the contamination is from industrial pollution where certain chemicals in plastics, pesticides and other products have a molecular structure similar to estrogen. Another source of the contamination is from birth control pills.

These compounds cannot not be filtered by waste treatment processes and instead find there way into open water bodies. In the early 1980s, a WWF senior scientist named Theo Colborn discovered that many predators in the Great Lakes of North America were suffering from reproductive disorders. Her research linked chemical exposure to endocrine disorders, including diabetes.

Hormones or similar compounds in waterways disrupt the natural endocrine processes in both humans and wildlife. There may be a greener birth control that fits your lifestyle, like a diaphragm or IUD. If you’re interested, talk to your health care provider about the different options.

Resources

• How to Green Your Sex Life: everything from eco-undies to all natural aphrodisiacs at TreeHugger – there’s no such thing as TMI.
• The Endocrine Disruptor Exchange: research, studies and information on endocrine disruptors – founded by Dr. Theo Colborn.
• Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) FAQ on endocrine disruptors: quick reference with most important facts.
• What could be more natural?: All-natural and organic personal lubricants at Ideal Bite.
• Paging Dr. Love: fair trade, sustainable wood and recycled…are we still talking about sex toys?

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How to “Green” Your Sex Life