Toymakers recycle junk into eco-friendly playthings
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 | 10:50 AM ET
The Canadian Press
Don't pitch that pop can, coffee cup or water bottle in the recycling bin or trash just yet.
The latest wave in environmentally friendly toys is going beyond just producing playthings that incorporate green materials.
Manufacturers are taking everyday items like portable drink containers typically discarded after their initial use and giving them second life as central components in new toys.
At the 69th annual Canadian Toy and Hobby Fair, which wrapped up Monday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, more than 90 toy manufacturers, distributors and inventors were on hand to showcase toys, games and activities they hope will be snapped up by consumers in the coming months.
Toronto-based Playwell Enterprises had several eco-friendly toys on display, including the Soda Can Robug, where at the flip of a switch, a recycled can powered by double-A batteries becomes a buzzing, motorized robotic bug.
Cale Nicholson of Playwell Enterprises said the Amphibian Rover, due for release in March, uses four same-sized recycled drink bottles to function as wheels on water or land.
"It's encouraging recycling, especially with clear plastic bottles which are difficult to recycle and very often end up in a landfill site, so this is putting them to more constructive and playful use," he said.
"The nice thing about a category of toys like this is that kids, their imaginations are unlimited," he added. "What they can do in that case is they can make a rover, but some of those kids are pretty inventive with certain things around the house and who knows what they can make. It's encouraging to use the items that they already have."
Uberstix, an interlocking building toy made of recycled materials, has been designed so that it fits with Styrofoam and paper cups, straws and paper clips. The Outrigger, which is part of the toymaker's Scavenger series, requires children to compile a list of recyclable components to integrate with Uberstix parts.
"It's mathematically based so that the grid fits within recyclables with ease," said Merle Tubman of Borgfeldt (Canada) Ltd. "For a very low investment, a child can have something that they can create from the world around them."
Despite the emergence of eco-toys that utilize everyday items as toy parts, innovative use of eco-friendly materials was still front and centre.
German-produced PlayMais allows children to craft creations out of material touted as 100 per cent biodegradable. The colourful components are made out of corn and fasten together when moistened. They can be reshaped into different sizes and forms.
SprigWood, a Canadian-made biocomposite composed of sawdust and recycled containers, is used to produce dump trucks, excavators and front-end loaders.
Sprig cars manufactured in Midland, Ont., use pump action — not batteries — for power, while Sprig Hollow, is a new line of green toys for use by kids in the garden, sand and water.
In the wake of a flurry of recalls and advisories in recent years that have seen tainted toys pulled from shelves, parents are beginning to ask "the hard questions" about toy safety to better protect their kids, said Linda Stortz of toy importer and distributor Stortz and Associates Inc.
"They're the ones especially walking into specialty retailers stores and they're asking the questions about, 'Is this good for the environment?' because it really is all about the kids in the end," she said.
