To say it isn't "plastic crap" and its not "destined for landfill"

[unlimiteddilutingjuice]

I will admit that my kids get indulged at christmas.
And not with Grimms Rainbows and wooden dolls houses either!
They like moulded plastic, things that make noises and light up, ties in's with cartoons and things that they see being "unboxed" on youtube.
It doesn't get chucked out. Maybe if something gets broken or too many pieces go missing.....
It all gets played with. Sometimes for years.
My 6 year old still plays with the tub of plastic dinosuars we bought him on a whim when he was 2 and a half.
Some of our longest running toys have come free with happy meals (furbies, minions, and the Alien from "Home" remain in regular use)
Some stuff thats not an immidiate hit on christmas day, gets an enthusiastic response when it comes out of the cupboard 8 months later (Marble run- I'm looking at you).
Eventually they go to the charity shop "so another little boy or girl can play with it"
I suppose a lot of things we use do eventually end up in landfill so its not a completely inaccurate thing to say.
But still, what a joyless way to describe things that will be played with and enjoyed by children.

Surely plastic can be recycled? The stuff that ends up in landfill is not the plastic toys but the plastic film on your yogurt etc.

Yes, Exactly CountFosco!
When you compare with food waste, it seems so mean spirited to virtue signal over childrens toys.

They like ...things that they see being "unboxed" on youtube.

You encourage your DC to watch videos of other people unwrapping their presents? How strange.

I'm with you.
However, they're half right. There is also a lot of flimsy absolute tat as well. Magazines and fairground toys being the worst offenders. Those toys last maybe half an hour before they snap and break, no matter how good your child is (I once broke a fairground won toy gun opening the packet). This is the type of stuff you can also get as stocking fillers.

I would be happy to see production of that rubbish ended. It's rarely recyclable and it's very wasteful.

My kids rarely break their toys so when we've over-indulged at Christmas like we do every year with up to 30 gifts EACH nothing is wasted or unused. Most of that stuff is still here and we're running out of room. The local playgroup doesn't need anything else!

Wood will also eventually go to landfill. The difference being depending on what it's coated in depends on how long it takes to decompose.

However; I do in principle agree with you. Most plastic toys are made with the intention of years and years of use. I've had quite a few which have gone through all 4 of my children and then been passed on. A wipe over and they're good as new. The lovely wooden tea set chipped and the paint scratched so it looked quite battered after 8 years of play.

Single use plastics like sandwich bags, film, plastic trays for ready meals - they are the real problem. Although we use the trays for paint and such when crafting.

I try to use pencil crayons rather than felt tips as the plastic there does seem unnecessary.

I don't encourage it senua. I don't prevent it either.

I kind of agree with you OP

Curious about the 'Youtube unboxing' thing though?

Surely you've seen youtubers doing toy reviews Worra?
If you haven't then...lucky you!
My kids love all that nonsence though.

I think with toys there is a difference between well made plastic toys, such as Lego and marble run that can be played with for years and sold or passed on many times over the years and toys like paw patrol/peppa pig/fireman Sam stuff that breaks very easily and that the child loses interest in when they move onto their next fad - there are usually broken bits or bits missing so they can't really be sold on.

No, I honestly just use Youtube to listen to music.

There's a whole new world I've not discovered yet

I don’t understand the unboxing thing. But I think the point is this - YOUR kids’ particular toys might not be destined for landfill. They might not get broken and you might pass them on to the local playgroup, etc. But those toys weren’t made especially for your children. Millions upon millions of them have been made, boxed, shipped/flown all over the world, driven all over the country, in order for you to purchase them to give to your children at Christmas. Millions upon millions of them will break/end up in landfill/end up in the sea etc.

By buying the toys you are part of the demand that sustains an incredibly wasteful and damaging industry - even if your kids play with them for years and years.

Sorry - I know it sounds mean-spirited but it’s about how we behave on a global scale, not how your children play with their toys.

Your not missing much Worra

@senua unboxing videos are extremely popular on YouTube. Especially when under the category of ASMR, which helps many many people fall asleep (myself included😂). 

But Pickupthephone, I can't quite believe that anyone buys their kids toys and then chucks them out soon after.
I dont know anyone who does this and I can't imagine anyone doing it, either.
Yet on Mumsnet you see people describing Christmas toys in this way as though it's completely routine to just throw toys away.

I'm with you too op.

The unboxing thing, my DC watch them on YouTube too, great for ideas for Christmas presents!

That argument is just about moderation surely?

Of course we still need and want to use things that are made from plastic, but the point is, don't pile the tree high with bits and bobs they don't care about and will get pushed aside and added to another 'toy pile'. Buy sensibly and in moderation so that the things you buy will be loved and used as your toys clearly are OP.

You encourage your DC to watch videos of other people unwrapping their presents? How strange

How patronising!

Its not watching other people opening thier presents (although those vids are out there) its you tube reviewers who do this.

Kids watch these videos to find out if something is actually worth getting or not. The toys/games are reviewed and kids (and adults) can see if they actually do what it says on the box or if they are disapointingly crap.

Its pretty savvy tbh.

Pap my ds is 11 and lives watching people building/reviewing new Lego sets on YouTube.

He collects Lego. It's his thing. Not one piece as yet been thrown away. His room looks like a Lego shop

Pap?? I meant OP.

"You encourage your DC to watch videos of other people unwrapping their presents? How strange.confused"

No no, it's not like that at all

An 'unboxing' video is basically a product demonstration. And it could be about anything from camcorders to toys.

The most popular channels are high production value and earn large incomes from their 'unboxing', they aren't presents it's literally someone's job making videos.

We are trying really hard to minimise the amount of plastic we buy generally, especially toys. Plastic toys we try and buy second hand but we have a draw of ‘plastic tat’ tat from Hatchimals etc. We also have a fair bit of Lego which, given how much it sells for second hand, won’t be going to landfill any time soon! We have deliberately bought almost all wooden toys this year for Christmas.

I have seen more than a couple of friends on social media doing pre Christmas clear outs of toys and they have taken photos of masses of (all plastic) toys. I think with a lot of plastic toys there is a shelf life of how long children will be interested in them whereas with a wooden train track, doll house or the Grimms Rainbow you mentioned, it will be played with for many years in different ways.

I think people are becoming more aware of how much plastic we are all using and that’s a good thing.

Not all plastic toys are shit but a lot of them are and I think that’s the point. Plastic is built to last but toys often aren’t, they’re built as cheaply as possible often in a China to create the largest profit margins. So they break, you throw them away because they’re no good. Maybe your DC loses half of the pieces, you throw it away because half a toy is not much use to anyone.

Even if you keep the toy in good nick and sell it on or give to a charity shop, eventually someone will throw it away and it will sit in landfill forever because plastic doesn’t decompose for hundreds of years.

Not all wooden toys are built to last but you will find the vast majority are more durable than their plastic counterparts and they biodegrade quicker if thrown away. Trouble is, beyond toddler years they’re just not generally that interesting to children. I could get away with buying my DD’s (6 and 7) a wooden dolls house still for example but my DS (8) loves Lego and knex, I couldn’t get away with buying him wooden blocks instead .

To me ‘plastic crap/tat’ means stuff that doesn’t get used much, breaks and then goes in the bin, such as Poundland toys? Lego, playmobil, fisher price etc... is all plastic but is well made, gets used, handed down and lasts for years.

It’s ok to buy your kids plastic toys as long as they are going to get a lot of use, not get broken after a week and end up in landfill.

For thoughts who say ‘plastic gets recycled’ sadly not much of it actually does

I have cut down this year and am only buying stuff that I know will withstand the test of time and things that my dc’s really want (not just bought for the sake of it), I have asked relatives not to buy them novelty gifts that they won’t play with or will get broken and the gift vouchers, money or edibles (though I don’t want too much food either).

I think there is a difference between cheap toys that fall apart quickly, and well made, well thought out developmental toys (even if that development is pure fun and imaginative play), that will stand up to rough handling and lots of use.

Certainly that's how I would see "plastic tat". Like a "tennis rackets and ball set" from the Euroshop will last maybe a couple of weeks, whereas a proper tennis racket, or a toy one but made of solid materials (can be hardwearing plastic, or wood, or composite stuff like real rackets) will last a few years at the very least.

For me, there is more value in spending a bit more at the till, but the item lasting a long time and costing far less per use over its lifetime, than getting something that only costs a couple of Euros but is thrown out very quickly.

A plastic bucket of dinosaurs that DC get a lot of fun with for years? Definitely not tat.

A cheap plastic tea set that actually works for dollie tea parties - definitely not tat. A cheap plastic tea set that the plates bend, the cups squish in under the pressure of a 1 year old just holding them and the prongs of the forks are bent before they even come out of the packaging - now that IS plastic tat.

I agree. The plastic that will end up in landfill is the utterly insane amount of wrapping that that so many everyday goods come in. I saw a pomello in the supermarket recently wrapped in a plastic net, over a plastic cling wrap. 1 pomello, a bloody citrus fruit that comes in it's own naturally grown, really thick and protective, 100% compostable, wrapping. WTF! It didn't need any wrapping at all and it had two layers of plastic around it. It was sickening.

On the otherhand my DS has quite a lot of plastic toys. Really phenomenally sturdy, well made plastic toys. About 70% were bought secondhand and were perfect when I bought them. They have seen years of play, will see years more, and when he's outgrown them, I plan on storing them for any grandchildren/nieces/nephews I might have. And they will be perfect then too. Or, if I ever do need to get rid of them, they're in high demand and would sell quickly to people who would care for them and store/sell them on in the future.

Some toys are clearly landfill crap though, cheap nasty plastic that will break in no time. Stocking fillers, a lot, but not all, of the poundshop toys, some blindbag nonsense, party bag shite, etc. Brittle plastic, poorly made, will break in weeks if not minutes, has very little longevity of play etc. I never buy those. At Christmas I do like to do a stocking as I love the tradition of hanging it to be filled So I bought a really big one and I put proper toys in it. Nearly everything that would be given as a surprise to compliment the main gift gets chucked in the stocking if it fits. (A Joker vehicle and figure to go with the asked for Batcave for example.) Well chosen gifts that I want to give him because I know they will be loved hugely and last forever (in the good way) nothing goes in just for the sake of filling a stocking or bulking it out.

I do a lot of toy repair and customisation, so on the rare occasion where a toy I bought gets damaged I can fix it or save the parts to turn it into something else. So none of those toys should ever find themselves in landfill. There is very little i can do with some of the crap other people give him though. They are unwanted rubbish. I don't think a lot of it is very recyclable and I hate when people give them to him. I'd rather he gets nothing than total crap. As for Happy Meal toys, yup, these days most of them are excellent toys with good playability and even resale potential (we have loads of McDonalds' toys bought secondhand). But they do still give out some total crap too. This year for example they had a Justice League range and the "toys" were honestly just pointless. They didn't have any real playablity and were just hard lumps of plastic manufactured to be discarded.