As parents and owners of 99 Monkeys (Re)Pack and Play Toys we value imagination and creativity. We strive to simplify our children's experience in an over-stimulating world as often as we can. One small way we can do this is by taking used toys that are clean and safe, and repackaging them in 100% biodegradable and compostable materials for reuse rather than having them end up in a landfill.
Our Art Care facility, located within 99 Monkeys, also strives to decrease the stimulation present in the outside world. We all have the drive to keep our children entertained and involved but even the most active child does well while focusing energies on creative tasks. Green Bananas uses artists, fairy tales and world folk tales to provide creative inspiration while supplying artistic entertainment that supports fine and gross motor development and sparks imagination.
As Waldorf School parents, we understand the value of toys made of natural materials, and embrace that notion when it is practical. With that said, however, we feel very strongly about saving and reusing those non-natural materials toys that would end up cluttering the earth and floating in the ocean. We adhere to, and in fact, exceed the Federal requirements for consumer protection and safety in the selling of used toys in every way; and as such, do not sell recalled toys, toys that might pose a harm to children, and toys that are easily destroyed. Visit CPSC.gov.
The idea for 99 Monkeys came in stages. First was the concept of the story of The 100th Monkey that showed up in a Spring car trip conversation one day about the collective consciousness, and how "no one really has an original idea." This was just talk in a car to pass the time, but the 100th Monkey story kept coming up again and again in conversation over the next few months.
Then came the holiday season of that same year, and, being the parents of two at the time young children, our home was filled with gifts and packages sent from all over the United States from well-meaning family members. The day of opening arrived and there was packaging and plastic all over the house after the gifts were unwrapped. In fact, there were approximately nine large trash bags filled with what packing materials and theft protection packaging couldn't be recycled.
Our children's Gramma was visiting and happens to be the sustainability director for a major university- and she was appalled. In fact, she was so horrified and depressed that she began to explain to the children and to us, the parents, what these nine bags meant to the earth. The older of our two children was quite saddened by this knowledge, and actually didn't want to open anymore gifts.
Some might say "what a party pooper." And that's okay. We also momentarily felt that way, but our eyes had been opened. We had been given the gift of knowledge relative to the impact of buying new toys and games, and we had the images of waste freshly in our heads as the bags of trash sat for two weeks before we could get them all in the trash pickup rotation without paying an enormous additional sum to have them hauled away. It was then that we, like the story goes, became the 100th Monkey.
In addition to being parents the owners are licensed in the healthcare field, licensed foster parents, and wanna-be urban farmers in Seattle, Washington.
