Plastic toys: Is it time we cut back?

[DinoToyForum]

Article from the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47868871

Obviously, dinosaur toys are not 'single use' plastic items, but should we be thinking about whether our collecting habits are environmentally friendly?

[Syndicate Bias]

I guess it's about that time we start digitallising them and use VR to use them 

[CityRaptor]

Well, it's more environmentally friendly than throwing away a toy. I generally put the stuff I got as bycatch in lots. Sometimes I also add some items I did not mention before because they are in bad condition or I'm not sure they will arrive in one piece.

I think for our collection habits it's more the amount of packaging that can be a problem. For example I have a large Tyrannosaurus skeleton made by Geoworld. ( I got it before I learned of their questionable methods ). The box it came in contained enough plastic to fill one of these:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelber_Sack
And I'm not talking about the skeleton here, only the packaging.

Obviously we also should avoid these:

They are not very durable and likely to be thrashed soon.

[stargatedalek]

Plastic is actually one of the most environmentally friendly compounds to create something with, it's a near infinite resource with very little excess materials compared to glass, wood, or fabric.

Making a toy out of plastic uses less natural resources, requires less transportation, and will last significantly longer before being damaged beyond repair than a wooden toy. To say nothing of literally being better quality in 99.9% of cases. It's simply not cost effective let alone environmentally friendly to mass produce anything more detailed than generic blocks out of wood.

The reason plastic is so problematic is that it's so frequently disposed of improperly. It's a topic that comes up frequently in regards to grocery bags, plastic ones are actually far more environmentally friendly to produce, the problem comes from how few people are willing to take their time and dispose of them properly.

[CityRaptor]

Plastic grocery bags are also re-usable. In Germany you actually have to buy them if you want them.
Of course we should always avoid waste as much as possible.

[Gwangi]

Plastic is actually one of the most environmentally friendly compounds to create something with, it's a near infinite resource with very little excess materials compared to glass, wood, or fabric.

Making a toy out of plastic uses less natural resources, requires less transportation, and will last significantly longer before being damaged beyond repair than a wooden toy. To say nothing of literally being better quality in 99.9% of cases. It's simply not cost effective let alone environmentally friendly to mass produce anything more detailed than generic blocks out of wood.

The reason plastic is so problematic is that it's so frequently disposed of improperly. It's a topic that comes up frequently in regards to grocery bags, plastic ones are actually far more environmentally friendly to produce, the problem comes from how few people are willing to take their time and dispose of them properly.

This.

Also, unless it's broken I can't think of a good reason to throw away a toy. There are a lot of kids out there, they all like toys, and some of them unfortunately don't have many or any at all. Most toys have a long enough lifespan that multiple generations of children should get use from them, provided people donate them instead of throw them away. We need to worry about how things are disposed of more so than what they're made of and we need to tackle single use plastic on a global scale before we even consider toys a problem.

[Bokisaurus]

Oh no, you went there!

Honestly, this kind of article gets me. They oversimplified things without really addressing some of the real issues.
First of all, we should all do our part and support, purchase products that are sustainable.

That being said, we also should really learn and teach how to value things more. Today, we live in a world that is so obsessed with "convenience " and disposable things to make "our lives" easier.
As individuals, we should all be responsible in what be buy, and how we dispose our garbage.

I have done some beach and river clean up, and if you have, you will know that plastic from toys/parts is so minute compared to plastics from drinks, packaging, and shopping. The vast majority of plastics are from items people purchase every single day, some cases multiple times a day ( like bottled drinks, packaged foods, shopping bags, etc.), that make up the vast majority of plastics ending up in the environment.

Being responsible is one way to help. Just because an item is sustainable or made with recycle or biodegradable material dose not mean we can just throw it out in the garbage and be eco. There are ways of proper disposable even for items that are eco friendly and made with biodegradable materials, and even then, they still will take time to decompose, in the meantime shattering into smaller pieces.

learning to value things instead of looking at it as disposable is something we should all learn, and that goes for material things as well as living things.
And as for collectors, we, we do collect this figures, sometimes for decades even
Cheers!

[BlueKrono]

Yes, I think it's apples and oranges here. By far the biggest issue is single use plastics like the bags your produce comes in. They can't be recycled by normal facilities. Toys on the other hand are meant to endure - I fully intend to hang onto the ones I have for another 50 or 60 years. And some that I have are already very old... from the decade that plastic first came into widespread use: the 1950's.

[CityRaptor]

Likewise. My oldest piece is a Linde Brontosaurus.

[Gwangi]

That's another great point. These toys all have a collectible appeal to them, even broken ones in some cases. I have toys from the 1950's that people will still want in the 2050's. There is always a market for toys as collectibles and antiques. I'm not worried about my collection taking up space in a landfill someday. When I'm gone I expect that the toys I've accumulated with be sold or passed onto other collectors or donated to children.

And Boki is right, how often do we encounter discarded toys in the form of pollution? I see cups, bottles, cans, bags, straws, fishing line, styrofoam, or broken appliances even. Rarely do I find a toy but when I do it's because a child forgot it, not because it was improperly disposed of.

[Ravonium]

Probably the most interesting thing about this article is how Greenpeace sounds fairly sane compared to some of the parents they interviewed. Personally, I don't really get why they're focusing on some of the most 'multi-use' plastic products. I imagine plastic packaging (esp. those plastic straps that manufacturers will use to hold down large products (both wooden and plastic)) is a much more dire threat to the environment, as it is the kind of plastic product that gets thrown away immediately.

Plastic grocery bags are also re-usable. In Germany you actually have to buy them if you want them. 

Same over here. Additionally, in at least some supermarkets, the alternative reusable bags sold are made of plastic (albeit either not the same type of plastic and/or recycled plastic).

It's also a fairly common practice to reuse 'single use' plastic bags as trash bags (which honestly just highlights how much I dislike that term).

[Halichoeres]

I think we're fooling ourselves if we think our hobby is environmentally friendly. But I guess the way I see it is, if we want to contribute to a sustainable future, it doesn't mean we necessarily have to commit to severe asceticism. We just have to confront the choice we're making. For example, we don't need meat to survive; we eat it because it tastes good (if we eat it). But knowing the relative carbon impacts, leaving aside any other ethical question, might make us choose chicken over beef at least some of the time. That's at least an improvement.

Similarly, I don't drive a car, and I live in an apartment building instead of a house, but I have plenty of carbon-intensive indulgences--like plastic toys. I think the point that the toys aren't disposable is well-taken, and that anything designed to be disposable is inherently less sustainable, almost regardless of what it's actually made of. The part of the hobby that makes me more uncomfortable is all the international shipping of small parcels, and the packaging that is required for it. Don't get me started on plastic twist-ties and window boxes.

[SBell]

This was brought up on Facebook by Darren Naish--I personally think the bigger issue isn't the toys themselves, but the packaging. Especially in the world of mail order (because brick&mortar stores are getting rarer).

Not only the excessive packaging and transportation, but the general additions to the figures--the plastic wrapping bag; the boxes that include cardboard, plastic, laminated plastics, etc (especially boxed ones); the plastic leg stands, chunks of cardboard, wires, and elastics that hold bits and bobs together. Some of this is recyclable, but small and thin bits probably won't be--and elastics definitely aren't.

And even if you buy them in store, those pieces were there--they just got thrown away before going on a shelf.

Not sure what can be done--those figures need to be protected from wear and bending in transport, but those protections need to have more thought put into them.