Mom I wanted to thank you publicly for the wonderful gift you gave Lois for Solstice.  The Bamboo Sunshine Dollhouse by Hape gives her hours of enjoyment, and us a new way to think about home.  You bought it knowing my sustainable preferences - a consideration that in itself I treasure.  To whit

• Bamboo construction: An oriental grass Bamboo grows twice as fast as hardwoods, sequesters twice as much CO2 and - get this - harvesting is actually healthy for the plant (it's grass after all).  It's lightweight, durable, and requires few if any pesticides.  Folks are building homes of the stuff -
  
• No volatile organic compounds: no benzene, methylene chloride, hexane, toluene, trichloroethane, styrene, heptane, and perchloroethylene was used in painting, polishing or finishing this house, much less in making the family figures, furniture etc.  Less plastic toys makes for less VOCs in Lois' air - that's good, considering their long term effects on health.  Wish I could say the same for my carpet..
• Recycled packaging: Almost all cardboard packaging with printing in soy based inks - a great way to eliminate your holiday carbon footprint.
• Solar powered LED lighting: Yes, the solar panel attached to the home does work.

HaPe claims such innovative products will help "shape the child's relationship to the world and its resources."  More to the point, such products help us parents to consider our interdependence with the natural world.  These Models encourage us by showing we can phase out VOCs in our homes, go solar (or at least in northern Illinois, solar thermal), and begin composting and recycling.  More to the point Mom, their availability demonstrates the world won't collapse if we don't use petroleum to make it.  Industry and commerce will continue to grow as we move away from our reliance on fossil fuels.  After all, little girls will always want doll houses.

So go ahead President Obama do your worst!  If you implement a carbon tax, we'll consue our way around it, and be HaPe doing so.

PS the Gen X side of me would have you note HaPe and most companies have a long way to go before becoming completely "green."  HaPe makes its products in China, a country notorious for its reliance on coal for heating and manufacturing energy - among other things.  And their model family of five will even under green conditions consume more resources than a family of three.  But you've got to start somewhere.  HaPe is off to a good start, pointing us in the right direction.