AIBU to think that the plastic toys that come with preschool magazines are actually quite brilliant?

[bsquared]

I know that some supermarkets (Waitrose - www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-56456170) are pledging to stop stocking children’s magazines with plastic toys, and I just feel that is such a shame. They are reasonably affordable, thoughtfully developed and encouraging of independent play.

My DS (4) opened a CBeebies magazine today that contained two brilliant toys - some balancing scales and a clock face. The balancing scales had numbers which were weighted - he started by playing with ‘greater than / less than’ - 9 tipped the balance more than 3 and so on, and then started setting multiple numbers on each side before questioning what the ‘equals’ sign was and starting to balance small sums of numbers on each side e.g. 5 = 3+2. What a brilliant resource! And not disposable at all - I will hang onto it, as I have done with the Paw Patrol walkie talkies and Peppa Pig teaset etc - all from this same type of magazine.

So, YANBU - the toys that come with preschool magazines are actually really good

YABU - supermarkets are right to stop selling them

It's ridiculous virtue signalling and attempted distraction by supermarkets who are responsible for huge amounts of packaging waste elsewhere. The day they stop using non recyclable film on their fruit & veg is the day I'll start listening to a supermarket about what plastic toys to buy.

Are they going to stop selling Kinder Eggs too? I doubt it.

I hope some places continue to sell them because they are a great way to "treat" your child without giving them sugar. My daughter loves the Peppa Pig ones and plays with her collection of toys all the time.

I still shudder at the memory of all that plastic tat spread all over the house played with once then abandoned. It also is always wrapped in more plastic. Don't get me started on happy meal toys!

Apparently waitrose are going to allow reusable collectibles, so I think things like Thomas trains, lego and number blocks should be ok by their policy feels like very middle class virtue signalling to me still.

YANBU. There will always be cheap plastic toys available (pound shop toys, kinder eggs and the other billions of plastic eggs available). At least the magazines can be somewhat educational.

Yabu. I will never buy my child a magazine with plastic. The plastic crisis in general breaks my heart.

My DS gets the Pokemon magazine occasionally - the plastic “tat” on that is played with far more than his playmobil....

If the magazines didn’t come with plastic tat I’d be much more likely to buy them.

YANBU. There are billions of tonnes of plastic waste out there, the odd magazine giving out plastic toys is a drop in the ocean. Also, sea levels are rising as polar ice recedes, so there is actually more water being released - this means more plastic waste can be created without affecting the current water/plastic ratio.

Plastic is great. Made correctly, it will last for centuries or millennia. Waste has always been a great source of archaeology. Much of the evidence we have of ancient civilizations actually comes from waste heaps.

If Waitrose actually gave a shit about the environment, they would only sell things produced locally, not shipped in from hundreds or thousands of miles away. They would not sell bleach or cleaning products. They would not sell sanitary towels (which often get flushed down the toilet). They would ditch the "free" copy of The Guardian that people pick up. Their decision to ban magazines with plastic is purely a financial one, they've worked out that any loss in business will be tiny compared to the woke brigade thinking they have a conscience whilst buying their strawberries flown in from Israel.

I do find it weird though how some plastic has to be banned while other plastic just gets ignored. I’m sure there is a lot
More plastic thrown away from waitrose mushroom packaging alone than there is from the magazines sold in store.
I agree with this. Maybe waitrose should look at a way to reduce their own plastic impact rather than the tiny proportion of their sales which is kids magazine.