Waitrose to ban children’s magazines with free plastic toys

[BobBobBobbin]

Sorry if this has been done already - couldn’t see a thread but this seems to tick so many mumsnet boxes I can’t believe no-one else got there first.

Waitrose is planning to ban children’s magazines with plastic free gifts, because of their environmental impact.

www.thegrocer.co.uk/waitrose/waitrose-bans-kids-magazines-with-free-plastic-toys/654444.article

I’m prepared to be talked round to this as I’m normally very pro measures to improve sustainability but my first reaction was “FFS! Are small treats for children really something that needs to be banned?” I very occasionally buy children’s magazines and we’ve had some decent play value out of some of the ‘plastic tat’ free gifts. The CBeebies numberblocks sets have been played with for hours upon hours.

So AIBU to think banning children’s magazines with plastic free gifts is a step too far?

YABU - this is good thing to do
YANBU - this is OTT

YABU - it's just tat that is cheap and poorly made so gets chucked away.

This is great news. I agree that the CBeebies toys can be good, and we've also had great use out of the numberblocks, but that's an exception. Most of the toys are shit that breaks straight away, leaving the kids upset, and it goes straight in the bin. Total waste.

I am curious where they will draw the line. Most of these magazine's the 'free' gift is not free - it's part of the price. You buy it specifically because of what it comes with. I buy Lego Explorer Magazine. It comes with a Lego polybag each issue that is a model linked with the theme of that issue (one issue the Lego model was a mini build of the lunar landing module from the moon landing and the theme of the issue was space).
It's years since I bought cbeebies comic but I seem to remember the 'free' gift also usually had a link with the contents of the magazine - like a mini cooking set and the magazine will be about food and cooking. My daughter is almost 13 and we still have some of the cbeebies comic toys.
Also what will happen with comics/mags that don't usually have gifts but on occasion they do as a special treat. Like the Beano. Normally no gift but every six weeks or so they have a special issue that will have gifts. Will they not stock the issue that week?

@Souther

It's just virtue signaling. Let's all clap for Waitrose because they care about the environment so much!

Virtue signalling extraordinaire especially by the parents of the 10 year old who supposedly had the “idea” to “lead” the campaign in the first place. 🙄🙄🙄

My mum told me this earlier and my initial reaction was to think it was a bit sad because my DD now 6 got a lot of enjoyment out of those sorts of toys when she was a toddler BUT I can also see that if it reduces some of the impulse buying of those sorts of magazines/toys that's probably a good thing for the planet.

I think it's a great idea.

the free gifts get children interested in learning to read by giving them stories with familiar characters they know.

Plastic tat makes children want to learn to read?

Why do children need plastic tat nowadays anyway. Free gifts with magazines used to be a very occasional treat with the magazine/comic itself being the main thing.

It’ll be interesting to see where they draw the line - it says the ban doesn’t extend to “educational toys” or “collectible models” - is an Octonauts character a ‘collectible model’? Is a plastic narwhal educational?

@ComtesseDeSpair

I am not at all a good example of sustainability or eco-friendliness, and I don’t think that we all need to wear hair shirts and flagellate ourselves for our consumerist tendencies. But I do think we can all make a huge difference by getting rid of our taste for products which are hugely wasteful and environmentally damaging and which ultimately have no longevity and bring no benefit to our lives - and I think that when it comes to cheap plastic crap toys on magazines and in fast food, most parents would admit they don’t entertain their DC for very long and are used more as a bribe for immediate good behaviour. These things are a worthwhile target - along with other dreadful and pointless things like glitter.

Couldn't agree with this more.

SIL's parents own a convenience store and you wouldn't believe the amount of plastic crap that gets separated from the magazine in transit and ends up being disposed of. When I had DD, they used to send it all my way and it was bagfuls of it every couple of months. On top of that, all the toys are packaged in non-recyclable plastic. The sooner all these single use toys are banned, the better. One item in 10 stands the test of time and is played with 3 years on - I would prefer to just buy what I want

YABU. Great move.

Next stop the tat in Christmas crackers please.

Maybe there should be a choice one magazine with toys and one without?

Brilliant idea and well done to Waitrose! It’s nigh on impossible to buy a kids magazine without some crap bit of plastic stuck to the front. Like a pp said back in the 80’s I regularly got the Beano which I devoured and once in a blue moon there would be a wham bar stuck on which was a treat. I like the idea.

ilovepuggies that choice already exists. There are magazines without 'gifts' attached. The Phoenix, The Week Junior, Science and Nature, Beano (most issues), How it works, comic books The Simpsons. I think Match doesn't usually have gifts - probably the football sticker albums from time to time. Buy one of those if you don't want a 'gift'.
However as a consumer I want the choice to be able to buy the magazines I want and if it happens to come with something that's my choice whether I want it or not.

This is a result of a campaign by a 10 year old.

"Waitrose has said it will no longer sell children's magazines containing plastic disposable toys - a move inspired by a campaigning 10-year-old from Wales.

Skye, from Gwynedd, is on a crusade to persuade publishers to stop giving away the items."

Sky news

10 year olds might not like plastic crap but many 4/5 year olds do. For many kids the plastic crap attached to a magazine might be the only new toy/gift they get in a couple of months as although a rip off and usually bad quality, it’s still an affordable diversion compared to most other toys. As long as the plastic is recycled, what’s the problem?

Surely if it's just for the toys then it's cheaper to go to Poundland/Home Bargains/Poundstretcher etc and buy a toy for one or two pounds than spend £4 on a magazine? I used to take my little cousin to Poundland and tell him to pick any toy he wanted, he thought it was brilliant.

Like a pp said back in the 80’s I regularly got the Beano which I devoured and once in a blue moon there would be a wham bar stuck on which was a treat. I like the idea.

I used to get Twinkle, even used to get the annual at Christmas.

I found out recently that the plastic graveyard rotating in the Pacific is now three times the size of France, with 70% expected to drop to the seabed.

YABU... hopefully the mags will feel the pressure and switch to biodegradable plastic alternatives, so everyone wins.

The grocery item with the biggest carbon footprint, and most environmentally unfriendly is ...The avocado. Do you think they will ban them too?

Good!

Would you rather they end up in the ocean, killing the environment and the fish ==and chips--- they may want eat in the future?

FFS. It's your kids future, and the rest of the world.

Native American proverb: “We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ”

Where did you get that stat from @Cherryicecubes? I would say imported beef had a much higher carbon footprint, myself, although I could see that coming (mostly) from Central America, avocados will travel some way.

But in any case - we need food, we don't need plastic toys, so I don't think it's fair to compare them directly.

YABU. When I was a child, magazines rarely had free stuff on, and if they did it was likely to be a pencil or something.

You shouldn't be forced into buying plastic tat just because you want a magazine. It's just another form of capitalist wasteful marketing.

I look forward to this pressure on companies to stop doing it, so my daughter has more choice than one or occasionally two magazines.

YABVU! The ten year old girl who campaigned for this is a role model for all your kids. This destructive and wasteful stuff needs to end now. It is their planet to inherit after all. Such short sightedness here.

Well done Skye!
www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/23/how-a-10-year-old-from-wales-scored-a-big-win-in-the-war-on-plastic-waste

Avocados: sustainabilitymattersdaily.com/10-bizarre-facts-that-describe-the-environmental-impact-of-avocados/

Not quite as bad as beef, granted, but still not that sound. Loads more info on google.

It makes good sense. Most tat is unplayed with

I hope this is part of a larger project to tackle packaging in general.

@Hfjshdhs

YANBU. The plastic toys in the CBeebies mag become some of the most used toys in this house.

Completely agree. Looking at you, Octonauts.

@Cam77

10 year olds might not like plastic crap but many 4/5 year olds do. For many kids the plastic crap attached to a magazine might be the only new toy/gift they get in a couple of months as although a rip off and usually bad quality, it’s still an affordable diversion compared to most other toys. As long as the plastic is recycled, what’s the problem?

And agree with this too.