I remember coming home from his party with the swag of presents he had received. We began to unwrap them, to enjoy them with our little guy. The pile of wrapping paper as well as plastic packaging, plastic ties, tags and other assorted bits of
I have tried very hard ever since to buy gifts that are not over packaged in this superfluous, environmentally unfriendly way. There are so many beautiful “eco” toys and gifts on the out there, one only has to do a quick “Goggle” to find them.
The Batsman and the Bowler often receive lovely gifts when the special days roll around and yesterday I had the occasion to attempt to “de-package” one of them for today’s play. It’s an
And here is the amount of packaging we had to unfurl to get to it:
There is a box, an inner box, some other bits of cardboard, 23 (yes 23!) cable ties holding pieces in place and a few other bits of “not plastic fantastic”. It took almost 20 minutes in my carefully planned chaotic day to undo it all. Like I said, ridiculous. Now I am not so naive that I don’t understand the role packaging plays in marketing, presentation and perhaps even (as the Captain pointed out to me) prevention of shoplifting. But for the love of loopy mums and dads everywhere, you can’t possibly convince me that this amount of packaging is even necessary, never mind the planet health implications.
So I know this is not one of the biggest issues going down right now. But it bugged me. It bugged me enough to sit here and write a post about it. It left me shaking my head at our human “wisdom”, that we think we need to use precious resources this way, boiling up a whole lot of poisonous chemicals to do it. What do you think about the “not plastic fantastic” issue? Have you had any recent moments where you’ve been left shaking your head at the crazy stuff we humans do? What efforts (no matter how small) do you make to counter our overuse of plastic?
I never buy presents like that, for one. Never ever. And I breathe a little sigh of relief when the presents we open for Angus aren't like that (yours wasn't!!). But many, if not most, were. My MIL is often the worst offender.
ReplyDeleteI'm more of a books girl anyway (and you've bought Angus books as well - yay you!). I think a kid can never have too many books, but certainly can have WAAAAY too many crap plastic toys. Our tiny house is full of them, and I reckon only about 30 per cent of them are played with. But the books all get read. Some more than others, but that's ok.
I think the world has gone a little nuts in this regard. Angus' favourite toys are generally still his wooden blocks.
xo
Completely agree with you... plastic and packaging has gone crazy in this world !! We definitely prefer books and wooden toys for sure :))... but couldn't believe how difficult it was to find a simple wooden dollhouse last year ! Now have a selection of tiny little toyshops that 'deal' in stuff that is sustainable, often recycled and not overpackaged :).. and the library is a favourite place too. One day our society will hopefully go full circle and stop all the waste ! xo
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. It's always bothered me, and I try not to buy them too, or get second hand stuff from ebay. I have been known to depackage things before wrapping them for the kids so they can play straight away, not wait 20mins while a parent deconstructs the package, and sometimes even with a screwdriver to get all the bits out!
ReplyDeleteI know marketing and all that. But pretty pictures on a sealed box with just the item inside would make me want to buy it over the over packaged stuff.
I'm with Hope's Mama and mostly buy books on sale, plus they are easier to store as emergency gifts!
Unfortunately I think the Captain was right...about needing to tie things down to prevent shoplifting. On the other hand just a big clear sealed plastic bag or a display one in the shop and a cloth bag to hold the set is all that is needed really! At least cardboard is recyclable, though the energy resources even to do that would be better spent elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI try to buy non packaged gifts as much as I can. I agree the packaging on some of the toys is a little over zealous!
ReplyDeleteOh I hate those cable tie things! Toy manufacturers always seem to secure even the tiniest little item with at least ten cable ties.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably quite guilty of buying too many toys packaged like this. It isn't until you actually start unwrapping that you realise the full horror of all that plastic. Luckily, J likes books best, with cars coming a close second (cars never seem to have as much packaging) so we don't do too badly.
I must admit I've started giving vouchers or money for birthdays. That's terrible isn't it? But I can't keep track of who has which toy and, especially with the older ones, I'm at risk of buying something that was all the rage six months ago but is now totally out of fashion!