Choosing Eco-friendly Toys

Although we are perhaps not as environmentally capable as we should be, most people have become much more environmentally aware during the last 20 years. Saving energy by installing energy efficient appliances and devices, insulation, building houses heated from renewable energy sources and understanding what a carbon footprint is have all become important to the average person. The question of ethical buying is also important to many people, as information has emerged about the use of child labour and sweat shops in countries supplying cheap goods.

The concept of being green and eco-friendly reached the toy market several years ago and this is still expanding with parents wanting to give their children toys that encourage learning and development and that have been made with as little impact on the environment as possible. Yes, there are still plenty of cheap plastic toys around but people are becoming much more concerned about the landfill waste that these create when they are thrown away just a few years later as children grow out of them.

Fair Trade Toys

Companies who supply and make Fair Trade toys aim to source toys that are made of renewable materials and also ensure that the people who make them are given a fair price for the work that they do. Wooden toys have been used by children for probably thousands of years and they are now increasing in popularity once again. Wooden toys cannot be mass produced – working with wood is an art and a skill and the toys produced are generally very high quality.

Many suppliers offer detailed information about the components and materials use in the toy, including its origin and how eco-friendly it is. Some companies work directly with the people in developing countries who make the toys, encouraging them to participate in the business and to generate income for their families, rather than exploiting them to make as much profit as possible.

Toys from Organic Materials

As well as wood, natural cloth materials such as cotton and wool are used to make dolls, puppets and soft toys. An organic alternative to the plastic Barbie dolls and similar ranges, rag dolls are available with different outfits for dressing up and playing. Also popular are organic soft toys made into the shape of realistic-looking baby animals such as leopards, elephants and monkeys. These are sourced from communities in India and Africa, where the skill level in knitting, sewing and weaving is exceptionally high. Organic toys are more expensive that those that have been mass produced but they last for years and can be recycled ethically by passing them on to a younger child, or donating them to a charity shop, rather than just throwing them away.

Advanced Wooden Toys

Wooden toys are now much more than spinning tops and basic wooden cars. To compete with mass market toys, wooden toy manufacturers and designers realise that their toys need to be interactive and colourful. Some of those available currently include a wooden kitchen with all the accessories, which is painted in bright colours and looks appealing to children. Most don’t realise that it is actually made of wood. Wooden cars made with lots of detail so that they look realistic also stand up well to die cast metal and plastic versions. More ranges of wooden bricks have also been developed, usually made from rubber wood, a renewable, fast growing wood. These easily rival major brands such as Lego.

Eco-friendly Toys for Playing

Many of the plastic toys bought today are in response to the pressure on consumers to buy, buy, buy. Most are played with - but only for a short while before they are discarded in favour of something new, or the child becomes too old for that sort of play. Cardboard toys are great for the environment and are actually designed to be disposable – a lovely range of cardboard dens and playhouses are now on sale in many eco-friendly toy suppliers online. One is the standard playhouse shape, but others are designed to mimic a teepee, an aeroplane, a rocket and a space pod. Priced between £20 and £35 these are eco-friendly interactive toys that toddlers and small children love, and which are fully biodegradable when that are ‘played out’.