Make eco-friendly toy decisions that will benefit the environment.
The busy world of parenting can make it virtually impossible to keep up with the latest news about the environment. Climate change, carbon emissions trading scheme, global warming, deforestation, renewable energy...
How can we – as individual parents - make small decisions that have a positive impact on the environment?
One such decision is buying a toy or game.
If you are keen to do what you can to maintain our natural environment, the first thing to consider is whether you really need to buy something new.
There are many unloved and unused toys and games in homes across Sydney. Rather than collecting dust, these might be donated to charity shops, sold at garage sales or Freecycled. When you next want to treat a child, you might consider collecting a toy from one of these sources.
Freecycle
Freecycle is an amazing on-line community initiative that allows people to give away items that are no longer being used. There are many local Freecycle communities around Sydney. Start by finding and joining the community closest to you (www.freecycle.org). Then watch the messages arrive in your in-box. People give away everything on these lists, from Harry Potter dolls to bicycles to doll’s houses. If you are interested in an item, email a reply and wait for an answer. The owner looks at all responses and then chooses a recipient. In turn Freecycle offers you a chance to create some more space in your own home and reduce the impact on the environment caused by excessive manufacturing and waste processing.
Toy libraries
In fact, consider if you even have to own a toy for your child to really enjoy it. Toy libraries are located all over Sydney, allowing parents to borrow toys that are suitable for a child’s development stage and then take it back so that another child can benefit from it as well. Ask in the EB state forums to find a toy library near you.
Buy good quality that will last
Hand in hand with the re-use mantra, is a commitment to buying good quality toys and games. A good quality toy will last for generations and can be re-used much more readily than a toy that will break or crack. Use the internet to read parent reviews or manufacturers’ product information. A toy that can be used in a variety of ways – an open ended toy, with no set answer or outcome - will foster imagination and invite more play. An age-appropriate game that requires higher level thinking or the use of strategic skills will engage young people for much longer than a game that is too easy or one dimensional.
Consider eco manufacturers
If the time has come to buy something new, there are some toy manufacturers that are seriously considering the environment in all aspects of their business.
What makes a toy eco-friendly?
Finding toys made with genuine environmental consideration is challenging because so many elements contribute to the assessment of environmental impact. For example, a true environmental analysis will consider the distance the product has travelled, how it has travelled, what the product and packaging is made of, whether the product is toxic to the environment (including children), the practices of the manufacturer and so on.
If you want to consider the environment when buying toys and games, look for items that are:
• made with (at least some) recycled material content
• made with wood that is FSC certified – comes from sustainably managed forests
• made from materials in abundant supply, like bamboo and post-latex producing rubber wood
• certified safe for children
• certifiably organic
• biodegradable
• presented with minimal or recycled packaging
• manufactured by a company with 14001ISO endorsement
• Fair Trade certified
• operated without the need for batteries
• PVC, BPA, lead, Phthalate and petroleum free (including paint and glue used in packaging)
• good quality - increasing the opportunity for re-use
One very innovative company, Green Toys, have earned official recognition as eco-friendly, winning the Dr Toy Green Toy Company Award in 2008. Green Toys offers a range of trucks, tea sets and skipping ropes that are produced from recycled plastic milk bottles. These toys contain no Phthalates or BPA, comply with strict US, European and Australian toy safety standards and are extremely durable. Green Toys' products are produced with a minimum of packaging and are presented in recycled cardboard boxes with no plastic or cable ties. They are very popular with little ones and offer a win-win solution, addressing waste issues while making people smile!
Plan Toys is another great green company. All Play Toys are made from organic Rubber Wood. Rubber Wood comes from rubber trees which produce latex. Once these trees no longer produce latex, fertilisation ceases for three years and then the wood is harvested to make Plan Toys. Plan Toys use a chemical-free drying process to strengthen the wood and non-toxic glue to assemble the toys. All dyes used are water-based and contain no lead or other heavy metals. Soy based inks are used on Plan Toys’ printed materials and solar energy and biomass fuel (fuel from biodegradable organic material) is used in their factories. The result is a large range of play towns, houses, tracks, pretend food, dolls and vehicles that have been made from sustainable natural resources, are 100% safe and offer years of imaginative play.
The internet provides a world of information about eco-friendly toys, and there are several retailers in Australia that offer a range of toys that fulfil this criteria – including second hand and on-line toy shops. Think carefully when you next buy a toy and take a close look at the small print!
Vicki Harding is co-Director of Newtown’s Flying Penguin Extraordinary Educational Toys.
Interested in the environment? See what's being discussed in EB's Environment forum.
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