All natural toys and feeding: as soft, and safe, as a Dandelion

My kids are conditioned. Conditioned to hear the UPS truck arriving at our home. And just as Pavlov would have presumed, they hear it, they run to the door, they grab the package and they start drooling. And while its not always for them, they’re still happy to open any package that comes and throroughly examine the contents.
So yesterday’s package was, of course, addressed to me. The three-year-old raced to get it and claimed it his to open. Inside, he found, appropriate for Earth Day, Developmental toys and natural feeding products from Dandelion, an Earth-friendly company.
He, of course, grabbed the largest item in the box, the Organic Busy Block. A 6-inch cube that is completely machine washable each side has a unique texture, sound or surprise awaiting. Immediately, he began describing how much the baby will love to play with this new toy. His older brother grabbed the Organic Toy Ring, a soft, squishy rattling ring that’s more than big enough for a grasper to grab and hold onto. With sevearl tags and different textures, we determined this toy will be a great safe teether. (and I believe he’s likely right. both are filled with soft, natural corn fibers.)
Left for me was the less exciting Toddler bowls. Now, I’m wondering… why would a natural company like Dandelion send a set of plastic bowls? Ahh… but its a plastic made from corn. This is my first foray into natural plastics, really. I’m still learning. And what I didn’t know until reading the packaging is that unlike conventional plastic, which is largely made from petroleum … PLA [a unique corn formula] requires significantly less fossil resources, and generates far fewer green house gases than conventional plastic. And corn is a renewable and sustainable resource. Sounds like its time to pitch all the old plastic bowls of the past and replace them with these cool PLA bowls. Of course, there has to be a catch, right? The bowls are not microwave or dishwasher safe. Still, I’m pretty sure that my baby’s health (in that it will be eating off PLA and not petroleum) takes precedence over the ease of dumping into the dishwasher.