Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why the government can’t do anything about all the plastic tat for kids

64 replies

MarmaLaid · 06/10/2018 21:27

Kinder egg crap, mash’ums, lol dolls, squishies, all these blind bag nonsenses, the list could go and on. It just seems so bizarre that In the current crisis, these companies are allowed to sell such shit and for such extortionate prices. My DD always wants this sort of stuff but I just can’t anymore and she thinks it’s so unfair of course. They talk of supermarkets and carriers and coffee shops and cups but I’ve never seen any conversation around children’s toys which I think by far is the worst for plastic consumption

OP posts:
bridgetreilly · 06/10/2018 23:18

This is not what the government is for. If you don't want your kids to have plastic tat, there is an easy way to stop it: don't buy it.

WooWoo1000 · 07/10/2018 07:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Moocoo · 07/10/2018 07:33

Thing is these magazines are ridiculously expensive as well -4/5 quid. If they focused on content and no plastic crap they'd be a pound or so. Then the kids might actually read the blooming things.

Cachailleacha · 07/10/2018 07:43

Just don't buy anything with free plastic crap. Buy chocolate to share instead of a kinder egg. Refuse the happy meal toy or buy a different meal. Buy a book instead of a magazine.

OwlinaTree · 07/10/2018 07:51

I'm trying hard to be aware of this. My ds birthday we did plastic free party bags, but I'll be honest it was more expensive. I can see why people don't. The thing I'm trying to stick to is having ice cream cones not tubs, and not having those plastic toys with ice cream in in cafés. I've told my children you've got one already, we are not filling the house with them.

We haven't really had a request for surprise eggs yet. We've had a few magazines, I do get annoyed with the plastic crap on them, but that's what attracts the children to them so I understand why they all do it.

longwayoff · 07/10/2018 07:53

Because it doesn't want to. Why would it? It would interfere with all kinds of business costs and profits which is utterly against Tory principles.

MakeAHouseAHome · 07/10/2018 07:54

I agree it is cheap rubbish but it isn't for the Government to ban it - heading more and more toearfs a nanny state! - it is for you not to buy it for your kids if you don't like the stuff, or to educate your children on why it is potentially harmful to the environment etc.

And it most certainly isn't for the Givernment to step in on the pricing of it...

HenryInTheTunnel · 07/10/2018 08:05

Can you imagine how that would play in the media?

'Now the Tories are taking toys away from children!'

'War on working class children as Govt bans free toys'

I do agree that they're rubbish but they must sell or else they wouldn't be so common.

Belleende · 07/10/2018 08:19

Completely agree. Yesterday my 3 year old was a dream (this is a rare occurrence). I wanted to get her a treat, we had just been for lunch so she wasn't hungry. I struggled to find something that was not plastic based. Went for stickers and a woven key ring in the end, but had to wade through so much plastic tat.

I think there is a gap in the market to do something like Tiger Tiger but plastic free. I would also love to be able to get refills of the products I use most, shampoo, conditioner etc. I buy glass and cardboard packaging where possible, but there are a few things I haven't been able to part with as yet.

katienana · 07/10/2018 08:29

I've just been looking into this and apparently 90% of the rubbish comes from 10 rivers, all in developing nations. We need to fund projects to create infrastructure in those countries and cut it off at the source.

JacquesHammer · 07/10/2018 08:30

but no-one else will want them and they won't recycle

Bag them into packs of 5 and send to a charity shop. They sell really well at the one my friend works at.

Moocoo · 07/10/2018 08:49

I don't buy the magazine's... my elderly neighbour does. I've asked her time and time to stop but it brings her joy and she's getting forgetful so they keep arriving.

drspouse · 07/10/2018 09:32

There are guidelines on placement of sweets etc by checkouts. So placement of those toy machines could be regulated.
Likewise giving away single use plastic items (they break after one use) could be regulated like bags. I bet nobody would want to pay £1 extra for the toys in the Happy meal or on the comic.

AhoyDelBoy · 07/10/2018 09:54

Argh had written and lost a big message. Anyway, case in point

To wonder why the government can’t do anything about all the plastic tat for kids
QuestionableMouse · 07/10/2018 10:12

Not all happy meal tots are plastic. It was books recently and has just changed to angry birds which is plastic.

The customers could change it though. Use the various feedback methods (food for thought, email head office via the website, Twitter) if enough people asked for it, it would change. McDonald's has stopped using helium balloons for example.

(And to detail the thread slightly, they're one of the most environmentally responsible companies. They were the first fast food company to stop using styrofoam, to start using recycled biofuels, to start recycling used plastics and cups... I could go on.)

WrenNatsworthy · 07/10/2018 10:16

I've been feeling this way for years. So we need to get together and do something! I think more and more people feel this way.

Dakiara · 07/10/2018 18:03

If you buy the magazines through subscription they don't come with plastic tat. Totally agree that the toys on the cover are generally naff and never last though, adding to plastic based landfill.

Lydiaatthebarre · 08/10/2018 09:57

Yes, kids comics today are awful. Just spin offs of television programmes with little or no content and some piece of rubbish sellotaped to the front, and they cost nearly the price of a proper book.

In general I think children have far too many toys nowadays, most of them cheap plastic rubbish that break after a few days. I think quality over quantity would be a far better way to go. Less waste, and children will learn to treasure and look after a few well loved toys rather than being bombarded with lots of inferior rubbishy ones.

Original poster
MarmaLaid · 09/10/2018 12:10

What can we do? Where do we start? Apart from the obvious that is don’t buy them. There are so many companies selling this stuff that it would be impossible to petition them all right?

OP posts:
Womaningreen · 09/10/2018 12:16

talking about something similar on another thread

don't buy this crap! there's a wonderful poster here who said something like "I've always been the "here's a pine cone and a twig" parent" which made me lol, but I totally get it.

the only thing is stop buying it, I don't think writing letters will help.

another poster said she has issues because the father of her DC takes them to Poundshop as a cheap way to keep them entertained, so getting partner on board is vital too, though of course it won't always work.

WhateverHappenedToMe · 09/10/2018 12:42

I don't see why this is the government's responsibility. Surely it down to the purchaser not to buy it, or the retailer not to stock it.

If you do buy it, but packing is the issue, once you've paid for the item but before you leave the shop, unpack the item, then give the packaging back to the shop. If enough people do this, the shop will go back to its suppliers and ask them to revisit the packaging.

Isitsixoclockalready · 09/10/2018 12:43

Great topic. It'll be interesting with the emphasis on non essential plastic at the moment as to whether magazine companies will self regulate or be regulated on the 'free' gifts that come with magazines or McDonald's with the free happy meals toys (in defence of McDonald's they do offer the books sometimes). I think that McDonald's can more easily stop doing the free plastic toys without taking too much of a hit because the kids will still enjoy the meals but magazine companies are probably feeling the pinch with declining sales of print media and the toys must represent a significant buy in.

Isitsixoclockalready · 09/10/2018 12:44

WooWoo1000 that is a great idea.

cactushack · 09/10/2018 15:10

If you buy the magazines through subscription they don't come with plastic tat

Are they much cheaper via subscription?I'd be much more inclined to buy my kids the cbeebies magazine if it didn't cost £4 and come with so much plastic crap.

JoggerBottom · 25/10/2018 14:54

I HATE this stuff with a passion. I want to buy her magazines but they just come with more 'stuff'. I don't buy DD the plastic tat, but her DN always takes her to Claire's and she ends up bringing it all home.
I have made it clear to most friends and family that I am trying to make changes with single use plastic items etc, but no one seems to care.
There are some beautiful wooden toys online that I have suggested for Xmas and birthdays when people ask what DD would like, but it is never bought for her.
The government is responsible IMO, but unless there is a backlash then nothing will be done.
I feel the same about kids drinks- Fruit Shoots etc. Unnecessary waste.
Is there a petition to sign?