Toys of the future
Toys, toys, toys! This edition of the Modular Monthly is about the environmental impact of the toy industry and how you can help to head towards a more sustainable future of toys.
We’ve included a list with tips that you and your family can use straight away, to actually contribute and make a sustainable start in 2021! As always, you’ll find the Makers of the Month at the end. Enjoy the read!
Big business, big waste
The toy market is huge. Globally, it was valued at 90 billion dollar worldwide in 2019. For 2023 a global revenue of over 120 billion is projected. Big bucks! Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has grown last year.
It turns out that spending more time at home with your family means spending more money on toys. And we understand this. Times are challenging and a big smile on your kids’ face is worth it. With lots of schools closing worldwide, educational toys are especially needed to challenge their minds.
But purchasing new toys means you are consuming more. Evidence has piled up that mankind’s influence on climate change and plastic pollution is as high as the pile of new goods we buy each year.
Time that the toy industry realizes this and switches towards a more sustainable offer. There’s still an overload of low quality, cheap plastic toys in shops. These goods last a short time and will soon end up in the trash. Plastic is a material that is not always recyclable. Not only because we produce so much we can’t keep up, but also because a lot of plastics are simply not suited for it.
In the meantime, there’s also the consumers that keep on buying these low quality toys. Think about the stuff you bought for your kids in the last couple of years. There’s bound to be some plastic junk amongst your purchases. If you as a consumer won’t change your purchase pattern, the industry will not be very encouraged to change its course.
Saving money as a bonus
The environmental aspect is not the only downside to toys with a short lifespan. Objects that have to be replaced all the time will burn your budget.The average spend on toys per child in the U.S. and U.K. was just under $500 in 2015 alone. With about two children per family, that’s $1,000 per year on toys.
Over the span of a childhood with two children, you’re likely to spend more than $15,000 (or euros)! You can save yourself and your family an impressive amount of money just by raising your standards for the material and longevity of toys you buy for your children.
It’s all about durability
Some plastic toys last for years, but that doesn’t mean your child can continue using them. Standard baby push carts or ride on toys for example aren’t adjustable and don’t grow with your child, let alone they have an option to transform them into something different. Most of the these rides soon become useless and contribute to the (plastic) waste crisis.
Adding expensive toys like bikes to the list of things you have to replace for your children every few years can become a significant financial and environmental burden. One of the main pillars of Infento is durability.
Because our Kits are modular, the same parts can be used to create either a tiny baby walker or the biggest go-Kart. The parts are made of the highest quality materials. One Kit can last for decades, which means they can be passed on to siblings and even the next generation!
Need more ideas to cut back on the toy consumption and toy waste of your family? Here’s a list with easy tips!
Toy top tips
- Share toys with befriended families or neighbours. Sharing is caring, and it’s very 21st century! There’s car sharing, home sharing, so why not toy sharing? Building a Ride together with friends or neighbours can also be a fun way of spending time.
- Toy libraries are another smart way of not having to buy toys yourself!
- Don’t throw away toys your kids don’t use, give them away or donate to charity.
- Set a limit for your family for the amount of toys you buy each year. And stick to it of course.
Pawel and his sons created this brilliant tractor! What would this young farmer be up to… Feed the cattle or buy some hay? This ePulse powered tractor brings him anywhere! See the pedal under his right foot? That actually works as a throttle! Big kudos to the creators 🙂
Pawel told us: “My kids like Infento very much, even more with an engine! This December they built a Santa Claus sleigh for fun. In the last two days of the Holidays we built this tractor. The engineering team consists of me and my sons Lukas, Chris and the youngest, Peter.”
What are you waiting for…? Build something cool with your kids and share it with us! Maybe your family will be featured as the new Makers of the Month. In case you need some inspiration, check out the Infento Fan Community on Facebook.
Building together with your kids is a welcome change from gaming or Youtube. Hands on challenges develop their motor skills and creativity. Not to mention the engineering skills your children will acquire! All these super powers will be useful for the rest of their lives.