Green Toys

Hasbro, Lego and Mattel have all starting thinking green when it comes to their toys, manufacturing and packaging. 

Before this article I hadn't put a lot of thought into the toy industry when it came to sustainability. I don't think I am the only one either, I feel outside of safety concerns this industry is mostly over looked. It really got me thinking though. Here we are pumping out millions of toys each year and how long do these things really last? Toys are easily broken or lost or just outdated because kids always want new toys. I think its where their consumerism starts. So even if the toy is still fine and working the child is bored with it and wants a new one anyway. So what happens to all these old toys? Some get donated, I know I took all my old toys to the local Goodwill. Some get passed down and some get saved for grandchildren but they are still all old toys. The new kids getting them can't be that excited to receive them. Especially now that toys change so quickly with new technology shifts. So most of the toys get thrown away and end up in landfills.

If these toys are going to end up in the landfill what they ares made out of  and how much really matters. Besides being non-toxic and safe to play with most toys are plastic and won't break down in a landfill. Hasbro is starting to study alternatives to phase out PVC's and Lego already has entirely. Hasbro has stopped using plastic bags within their toys. (The bags that the pieces come in and are stored it when now in play) Lego has also made sure that every raw material they use complies with the UN Toy Safety Directive.

There is also the issue of packaging. I remember mountains of packing and wrappers after receiving new toys for Christmas or birthdays. Mattel has eliminated non-recyclable twist ties and has been playing around with new ways to package their toys using less material or using recycled materials instead. Lego has introduced smaller boxes that they say have saved 4,000 tons and Hasbro has reworked their play-doh cans to use less material and be better designed to be reusable. The company doing the most though may be Lego. They are trying to reduce the amount of waste they generate and say that any waste that is produced is being reused or recycled. I think there is still a long way to go in this area of improvement though. Toys come with so much packaging.

The three companies have also looked in to their manufacturing. The most interesting was Lego. Their parent company Kirkbi is investing $547 million into building a wind farm. The company will control 32% of this farm and says they will being giving back to the world the same amount of renewable energy that they have used in manufacturing. Each company has also pledged to reduce emissions and and toxic byproducts.


You can read the full article below:

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/10/31/how-hasbro-lego-and-mattel-stack-green-toy-makers