Thanks for the great info PuppetLady. I think you will be a great asset to this forum. I never welcomed you properly when you first arrived, and i am glad that you are here. You will bring alot of valuablie tid bits of info and also questions to our group.

Thanks for your help,
Puppet hug,
SHould

Thanks!  I really like this forum.  I'm learning a bunch and have you all to thank!

There are a lot of things you can do to make your puppets greener, use thrift and charity stores to source material for clothes and bodies,  I once made a hand puppet dragon out of an old shirt.

Try other building methods, papier mache is a personal favourite and you can minimise your chemical impact by using flour and water paste and recycled paper. 
(use oil of cloves in your mix if you do, it prevents mildew and small creatures eating your pulp)

Sadly I have not found a glue that is not toxic in one form or other but you can sew as much as possible and glue less.  As I don't make puppets using foam I don't have many suggestions for you.  The best thing about trying to make puppets with recycled materials is that the experimentation is done with stuff already discarded so you have less worries about mistakes, it is cheaper too.

I'm gonna have to go with Charlotte here and say "think outside the box" - base your designs on biodegradable materials to start with and it won't be an issue. Wood, papier mache, organic fabrics, etc. Other recyclable materials like metals could also be useful.

Keeping stuff out of the landfill by reusing and repurposing it as puppet making materials also sounds great - even plastics and other synthetics. I love plastics myself. They truly are a miracle material, and our lives and civilization would be much different without them. There are definite environmental issues associated with many plastics, however I don't see their wise use as immoral or unethical.

My 2¢

Ron G.