Why is plastic tat even allowed to be produced and sold?

[Bbnel]

Like the stuff that comes in party bags and last 24 hours? With the state of the climate surely these sort of things (and many other products I am sure) should be banned worldwide? I am sure it’s not that straightforward, and is not as easy as just banning it. And there is probably an endless list of other things that could be banned. Just with Xmas coming up and all the stocking fillers etc I am just feeling a bit sad that we are still pushing this consumerism worldwide

hotmeatmilk I buy a lot of craft and stationary products from Flying Tiger (and did at Hema before they closed down).
Nothing 'tat' but normal stuff like colouring pens and beads and glue.
People are very dismissive of products because they think they are pointless and made of plastic (and therefore 'tat').
You get a lot of criticism for things like Hama beads. Plastic? Yes? Pointless? Well..... doing Hama designs can lead to being an actual designer. Seeing how some colours work together, how some pattens and pictures work and others don't. I have been to craft fairs and shows where people have made products like cup coasters, jewellery, vases out of Hama beads. Or even art works. Art Galleries display paintings from 100s of years ago. Maybe in the future people will go and see art works in galleries created from Hama beads. Art works that have lasted for 100s of years because it's plastic.
I agree there is a lot of cheap and pointless products out there but not all plastic toys are 'tat'.
People up thread have mentioned having Fisher Price toys from 40 years ago. Well the FP toys produced now are just as good quality and I can see the children of today passing on their FP Little People toys to their children in 40 years time.

@dannydyerismydad

My DM still has a loft full of my old Fisher Price toys from 40+ years ago. DS has played with them at her house and they are still good as new.

Plastic toys used to be sturdy and hard wearing. I don't think there's a single toy available these days that is designed to last a year let alone a lifetime.

I think plastic toys still last, as in not the small plastic tat but v tech, Fisher price etc. A lot of the wood items, especially the cheaper ones like aldi ones won't last as long.

Exactly starray I think it needs to come from the government. Stop trying to blame the general public, it’s just the government trying to claim it’s not their responsibility

Do we want the government to decide what we can and can't buy (unless restricted like guns etc)?

Minipie I think they just need to ban virtually all unnecessary items. Of course barbies are included in that. Children can play with sticks and stones!

@Bbnel

Minipie I think they just need to ban virtually all unnecessary items. Of course barbies are included in that. Children can play with sticks and stones!

You enjoyed playing with only sticks and stones when you were a child? Or did you have toys?

Bbnel well when it comes down to it pretty much everything we buy is unnecessary isn’t it?

@Bbnel

Minipie I think they just need to ban virtually all unnecessary items. Of course barbies are included in that. Children can play with sticks and stones!

Wait is this for real? Reads like parody

How about a personal plastic allowance? Every person has an allowance of however many kilos per year, and they can "spend" it on whatever they want made of plastic. Rich and poor get the same allowance. When you buy (new) plastic, your card is scanned and some allowance taken off. Items would have to advertise how much plastic they contain. Second hand items would be exempt.

@Bbnel

Minipie I think they just need to ban virtually all unnecessary items. Of course barbies are included in that. Children can play with sticks and stones!

OK... so we also ban meat and chocolate and jewellery and cutlery and washing machines. You can live without those things

@dannydyerismydad

My DM still has a loft full of my old Fisher Price toys from 40+ years ago. DS has played with them at her house and they are still good as new.

Plastic toys used to be sturdy and hard wearing. I don't think there's a single toy available these days that is designed to last a year let alone a lifetime.

That just isn’t true. DS uses second and even third or fourth handed plastic toys bought within the last 5 years.

No I don’t really mean let’s pick on children and take away their toys. It is just an example. Children would adjust and find other things to do. If it was a blanket ban so everyone is in the same boat. We need to rethink everything. Maybe ration clothes to only so many items per year per person? Perhaps books only from library’s. Toys could be from toy library? Just general limiting of stuff. It just feels like so much unnecessary production goes on.

YANBI but then why shouldn't beef be banned too?

Yikerspipers it probably should. Difficult decisions need to be made

Plastic toys used to be sturdy and hard wearing. I don't think there's a single toy available these days that is designed to last a year let alone a lifetime
Ridiculous assertion. There are plenty of good quality toys, plastic or not, but you have to pay for it. Stuff from pound land isn't designed to last the year.

@DockOTheBay

How about a personal plastic allowance? Every person has an allowance of however many kilos per year, and they can "spend" it on whatever they want made of plastic. Rich and poor get the same allowance. When you buy (new) plastic, your card is scanned and some allowance taken off. Items would have to advertise how much plastic they contain. Second hand items would be exempt.

Plastic is cheap though so you drive poorer people to have to spend out on metal, glass or wood replacements for things like food storage etc. Are you including plastic in our clothing? Meaning poorer people then have to try and scramble around for 100% cotton? And people who have larger houses can store more second hand plastic meaning they are advantaged - virtually all my DC toys are mine from the 80s, simply because my DP had a big enough house to store it all for 30 years. Not everyone has that luxury.

@Bbnel

No I don’t really mean let’s pick on children and take away their toys. It is just an example. Children would adjust and find other things to do. If it was a blanket ban so everyone is in the same boat. We need to rethink everything. Maybe ration clothes to only so many items per year per person? Perhaps books only from library’s. Toys could be from toy library? Just general limiting of stuff. It just feels like so much unnecessary production goes on.

Rationing nearly always deepens inequality & it did this during / after WW2 too with poor people selling part of their allowances to rich people, kids’ food allowances being taken and used by adults etc etc. if you try a plastic ration it would end up with poor kids suffering

I don’t have the answers to all these questions. It is just a bleak future unless we try to force change

Bbnel you need to read the book The Giver by Lois Lowry.
Obviously get a copy from the library.
Then get back to me if you still think a society that restricts what you can own, wear and do is a good one.

@DockOTheBay where was the pig tutu bauble please? I know this is missing the point of the thread spectacularly but my DD has a book about a hippo and a pig, and the pig does ballet. She'd love a pig in a tutu for our Christmas tree because she'd get the reference to her book.

Plastic is cheap though so you drive poorer people to have to spend out on metal, glass or wood replacements for things like food storage etc. Are you including plastic in our clothing? Meaning poorer people then have to try and scramble around for 100% cotton?

100% cotton clothing isn't always expensive. Lidl, primark and sainsburys all sell clothes which are 100% cotton for example. Wooden items also aren't always expensive, for example the wooden toys in aldi are cheaper than plastic equivalents in many cases.

Unfortunately if we are going to do anything about plastic/climate change then some or even most people will have to make sacrifices and it will be harder for some people than others. But we can't just keep going along with everyone doing whatever they want / is the easy option because that's how we got in this mess in the first place.

Nobody actually needs xmas stockings. No stockings, no pressure to buy stocking fillers. Just put everything under the tree.

What’s wrong with a stocking? There are plenty of things you can put in a stocking that aren’t plastic tat. So far my list for the DC includes socks/tights, chocolate, mug, gloves/mittens, small books, stationary, playing cards, toothbrush, satsuma, all things they actually need or will consume although I admit maybe not that exciting to small kids.

I think there definitely should be a push for less single use plastics and plastic stuff for the sake of it- like the toys that break within a few minutes, or that will be chucked immediately. Some plastic toys are great though, they last a lot longer than wooden, can be washed, passed down, less likely to break; but really people need to view handing it down/donating/upcycling stuff as the norm rather than going straight to buying new. Supermarkets should make loose fruit and veg the same price as packages, currently its often more expensive per kg even though it has no packing so should be cheaper theoretically. Realistically until someone makes a genuine replacement that has the same benefits ie long lasting, durable, cheap, it will be an issue. Healthcare for example uses so much single use plastic, but until there's an alternative that offers the same qualities, not sure there's much to change.

Perhaps rationing doesn’t have a place here then. Banning certain items? I don’t know, it’s surely better than just saying we can’t change anything, carry on as we are

@PineappleWilson it was in asda