Something for XXXmas Shoppers, Sex Toys: The Green Consumer Guide

Naughty by Nature

Ever thought about the toxins in your sex toys?

By Emily Gertz


So you're an Enlightened Green Consumer. You buy organic food and carry it home from the local market in string bags. Your coffee is shade-grown and fair-trade, your water's solar-heated, and your car is a hybrid. But what about the playthings you're using for grown-up fun between those organic cotton sheets -- how healthy and environmentally sensitive are they?

Few eco-conscious shoppers consider the chemicals used to create their intimate devices. Yes, those things -- from vibrators resembling long-eared bunny rabbits to sleeves and rings in shapes ranging from faux female to flower power. If these seem like unmentionables, that's part of the problem: while some are made with unsafe materials, it's tough to talk about that like, well, adults.

But it's necessary. Unlike other plastic items that humans put to biologically intimate use -- like medical devices or chew-friendly children's toys -- sex toys go largely unregulated and untested. And some in the industry say it's time for that to change........