Princess Kae-Leah
08-03-2015, 06:52 PM
I'm a Toys For Tots volunteer. Every year I clip coupons and shop around for the best deals at big box stores to purchase as many toys to donate for needy children in the holiday season as possible on a shoestring budget. Making children who would might otherwise get no holiday gifts happy is extremely rewarding and has helped give my life meaning. However, the greenie in me still worries sometimes about the environmental footprint of buying so many cheap plastic toys made in overseas sweatshops. I'd like to purchase toys made by companies like Green Toys which are made of recycled plastic and are made in the USA, but their prices tend to be quite a bit higher than the mainstream toy manufacturers so when my goal is buy as many toys as I can afford to, buying only eco-friendly products is not always very practical unfortunately. Toys For Tots also does not accept donations of used toys. The closest I've come to purchasing and donating more sustainable products are I've found a great set of wooden blocks at my local supermarket for $5 as well as a neat set of Lincoln Log knock-offs by the same brand, and I once lucked out by finding a cool board game about endangered animals where a portion of the proceeds go to the World Wildlife Fund on clearance for only a couple bucks at a local toy store. I Googled the environmental impact of the major toy companies and found an excellent 2013 article from GreenBiz called "How Hasbro, Lego, and Mattel Stack Up As Green Toy Makers". Those happen to be the three toymakers whose products I probably purchase and donate the most often. Hasbro is best known for My Little Pony, Legos are a fantastic toy for sparking creativity, and Mattel is the maker of so many beloved toys including Barbie(big Barbie fan from childhood here!), Hot Wheels, and many licensed Disney products. Here are the facts about these three iconic toy brands' environmental footprint from that article:
Hasbro:
*Using 2012 numbers as a baseline, by 2020 Hasbro plans to reduce waste to landfill by 50 percent, energy consumption by 25 percent, GHG emissions by 20 percent and water consumption by 15 percent.
*The new goals are third-generation objectives and build on sustainability commitments Hasbro set in 2002 and 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, the company says, it reduced non-hazardous waste by 40 percent, energy consumption by 19 percent, GHG emissions by 32 percent and water consumption by 31 percent.
*Hasbro is also working to reduce its packaging material, eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from packaging, increase recycled content and source paper responsibly. For these efforts, the company recently was awarded an Environmental Merit Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
*Last year Hasbro vowed to reduce materials used in product packaging for many of its popular global brands. For example, the company overhauled its Play-Doh can design, switched to paperless labels printed directly on the can, added a tapered edge more conducive for consumer reuse and put recycling symbols on the can and lid. While these might seem like small changes, in 2010 Hasbro cranked out more than 284 million cans of the classic modeling compound, so even minor tweaks have the potential for global impacts.
*This year the company eliminated PVC from new product packaging and says it's on track to nix it from all packaging by the end of this year. It also exceeded its 2011 goal to derive at least 75 percent of paper and board packaging from recycled material or from sources that practice sustainable forest management. By 2015, Hasbro plans to increase that number to 90 percent.
*Not only is Hasbro phasing out PVCs, it also did away with the plastic bags in which game instructions were wrapped, removing 800,000 pounds of material worldwide from its waste stream.
*In 2010 Hasbro also replaced wire ties with ones made from paper rattan or bamboo, effectively eradicating 34,000 miles worth of wire ties.
*All of Hasbro's efforts have earned it the top spot on the Climate Counts Scorecard for four years in a row. Currently the non-profit gives Hasbro a 73 on the scale from 0 to 100 for doing such things as measuring its climate footprint, reducing its impact on global warming, supporting climate legislation, and publicly disclosing its climate actions.
*Hasbro was also named the Toy Industry Reporting Leader for the second year in a row by the nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project.
Lego:
*Lego has worked for decades to eliminate PVC as well as phthalates from its toys, all of which no longer contain these substances. So while Hasbro gets props for working to remove PVC from its packaging, Lego actually has removed it from its products, something Hasbro has not committed to doing, although it is looking into alternative materials.
*Lego has introduced a new series of smaller packaging boxes. The Danish company expects the change to reduce its annual consumption of cardboard by about 4,000 tons. The cardboard used in the boxes will carry FSC certification, meaning the Forest Stewardship Council guarantees it came from sustainable forests.
*Over the next few years Lego's parent company, Kirkbi, is investing $547 million to build a wind farm off the coast of Germany. Lego and Kirkbi will control 32 percent of the Borkum Riffgrund wind farm, which amounts to one of Germany's largest with 77 turbines when finished in 2015. In 2020, the company will contribute to the world at least the same amount of sustainable energy as the company consumes.
*Lego says it has verified that every substance used in its products-more than 2,000 raw materials-comply with the European Union Toy Safety Directive, which imparts strict lines on what kinds of materials can be used in toys.
*Morten Vestberg, sustainability communication manager for Lego says "Today we recycle about 90 percent of our waste, and with zero waste as our long-term ambition we will continue to make progress on this agenda" he said.
*It's also worth mentioning that Lego is one of the top 10 brands to land on the Reputation Institute's 2012 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Reputation list.
Mattel:
*Like Hasbro, Mattel has tackled the problem of non-recyclable wire twist ties, eliminating more than 90 percent of them, about 363 tons worth. Now the company uses paper strings, nylon fasteners, die-cut paper board and key-lock fasteners.
*In 2010, Mattel's Hot Wheel's factory in Malaysia began using local sources and 100 percent compostable residual sugar cane fiber as an alternative packaging material for the plastic insert tray of the Hot Wheels 9-and 10-pack car assortments. A year later, it conducted a pilot in which it produced more than 1 million recycled-PET(R-PET) Barbie doll hairbrushes because the material is considered to be more sustainable than other plastics. The company calls the pilot a "learning opportunity" even though there are supply chain constraints for R-PET.
*While these trials are interesting, they haven't convinced the company to move away from PVC. Whereas Hasbro and Lego are working to use less or no PVC, Mattel generally is not. "Our evaluations to date of alternative plastics have not identified a material that is able to meet all of Mattel's quality, safety, aesthetic, supply-chain, and cost requirements, while at the same time exhibiting improved environmental attributes" the company told GreenBiz.
*As for the environmental impact of its operations, Mattel designated 2008 as the baseline year in terms of tracking Sustainable Performance Indicators. Since then, looking at normalized meters that account for fluctuations is business, the company has reduced its energy consumption by 33 percent, CO2 emissions by 38 percent, water consumption by 54 percent, volatile organic compound emissions by nearly 70 percent, non-hazardous waste generated by 16 percent.
*Another way Mattel has improved its environmental record is with how it responded to a 2011 global Greenpeace campaign in which the environmental group claimed Mattel's packaging for its popular Barbie and Ken dolls used pulp sourced from Asia Pulp & Paper, a Singapore company blamed for clear-cutting Indonesian rain forest. "Following the public pressure of our campaign, Mattel canceled its contracts with Asia Pulp & Paper(APP), who were complicit in rainforest destruction, and instructed its suppliers to avoid wood fiber from controversial sources, including companies 'that are known to be involved in deforestation'".
Major Toy Companies Ranked By Their Latest Climate Counts Company Scores:
Hasbro-73/100-Green/Striding(Up +21 Points From Previous Year)
Lego-70/100-Green/Striding(Up 21+ Points From Previous Year)
Disney-58/100-Green/Striding
Mattel-16/100-Yellow/Starting
JAKKS Pacific-1/100-Red/Stuck
MEGA Brands-0/100-Red/Stuck
Playmates-0/100-Red/Stuck
From now on, I'll try to avoid buying toys from Red-ranked companies.
Hasbro:
*Using 2012 numbers as a baseline, by 2020 Hasbro plans to reduce waste to landfill by 50 percent, energy consumption by 25 percent, GHG emissions by 20 percent and water consumption by 15 percent.
*The new goals are third-generation objectives and build on sustainability commitments Hasbro set in 2002 and 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, the company says, it reduced non-hazardous waste by 40 percent, energy consumption by 19 percent, GHG emissions by 32 percent and water consumption by 31 percent.
*Hasbro is also working to reduce its packaging material, eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from packaging, increase recycled content and source paper responsibly. For these efforts, the company recently was awarded an Environmental Merit Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
*Last year Hasbro vowed to reduce materials used in product packaging for many of its popular global brands. For example, the company overhauled its Play-Doh can design, switched to paperless labels printed directly on the can, added a tapered edge more conducive for consumer reuse and put recycling symbols on the can and lid. While these might seem like small changes, in 2010 Hasbro cranked out more than 284 million cans of the classic modeling compound, so even minor tweaks have the potential for global impacts.
*This year the company eliminated PVC from new product packaging and says it's on track to nix it from all packaging by the end of this year. It also exceeded its 2011 goal to derive at least 75 percent of paper and board packaging from recycled material or from sources that practice sustainable forest management. By 2015, Hasbro plans to increase that number to 90 percent.
*Not only is Hasbro phasing out PVCs, it also did away with the plastic bags in which game instructions were wrapped, removing 800,000 pounds of material worldwide from its waste stream.
*In 2010 Hasbro also replaced wire ties with ones made from paper rattan or bamboo, effectively eradicating 34,000 miles worth of wire ties.
*All of Hasbro's efforts have earned it the top spot on the Climate Counts Scorecard for four years in a row. Currently the non-profit gives Hasbro a 73 on the scale from 0 to 100 for doing such things as measuring its climate footprint, reducing its impact on global warming, supporting climate legislation, and publicly disclosing its climate actions.
*Hasbro was also named the Toy Industry Reporting Leader for the second year in a row by the nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project.
Lego:
*Lego has worked for decades to eliminate PVC as well as phthalates from its toys, all of which no longer contain these substances. So while Hasbro gets props for working to remove PVC from its packaging, Lego actually has removed it from its products, something Hasbro has not committed to doing, although it is looking into alternative materials.
*Lego has introduced a new series of smaller packaging boxes. The Danish company expects the change to reduce its annual consumption of cardboard by about 4,000 tons. The cardboard used in the boxes will carry FSC certification, meaning the Forest Stewardship Council guarantees it came from sustainable forests.
*Over the next few years Lego's parent company, Kirkbi, is investing $547 million to build a wind farm off the coast of Germany. Lego and Kirkbi will control 32 percent of the Borkum Riffgrund wind farm, which amounts to one of Germany's largest with 77 turbines when finished in 2015. In 2020, the company will contribute to the world at least the same amount of sustainable energy as the company consumes.
*Lego says it has verified that every substance used in its products-more than 2,000 raw materials-comply with the European Union Toy Safety Directive, which imparts strict lines on what kinds of materials can be used in toys.
*Morten Vestberg, sustainability communication manager for Lego says "Today we recycle about 90 percent of our waste, and with zero waste as our long-term ambition we will continue to make progress on this agenda" he said.
*It's also worth mentioning that Lego is one of the top 10 brands to land on the Reputation Institute's 2012 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Reputation list.
Mattel:
*Like Hasbro, Mattel has tackled the problem of non-recyclable wire twist ties, eliminating more than 90 percent of them, about 363 tons worth. Now the company uses paper strings, nylon fasteners, die-cut paper board and key-lock fasteners.
*In 2010, Mattel's Hot Wheel's factory in Malaysia began using local sources and 100 percent compostable residual sugar cane fiber as an alternative packaging material for the plastic insert tray of the Hot Wheels 9-and 10-pack car assortments. A year later, it conducted a pilot in which it produced more than 1 million recycled-PET(R-PET) Barbie doll hairbrushes because the material is considered to be more sustainable than other plastics. The company calls the pilot a "learning opportunity" even though there are supply chain constraints for R-PET.
*While these trials are interesting, they haven't convinced the company to move away from PVC. Whereas Hasbro and Lego are working to use less or no PVC, Mattel generally is not. "Our evaluations to date of alternative plastics have not identified a material that is able to meet all of Mattel's quality, safety, aesthetic, supply-chain, and cost requirements, while at the same time exhibiting improved environmental attributes" the company told GreenBiz.
*As for the environmental impact of its operations, Mattel designated 2008 as the baseline year in terms of tracking Sustainable Performance Indicators. Since then, looking at normalized meters that account for fluctuations is business, the company has reduced its energy consumption by 33 percent, CO2 emissions by 38 percent, water consumption by 54 percent, volatile organic compound emissions by nearly 70 percent, non-hazardous waste generated by 16 percent.
*Another way Mattel has improved its environmental record is with how it responded to a 2011 global Greenpeace campaign in which the environmental group claimed Mattel's packaging for its popular Barbie and Ken dolls used pulp sourced from Asia Pulp & Paper, a Singapore company blamed for clear-cutting Indonesian rain forest. "Following the public pressure of our campaign, Mattel canceled its contracts with Asia Pulp & Paper(APP), who were complicit in rainforest destruction, and instructed its suppliers to avoid wood fiber from controversial sources, including companies 'that are known to be involved in deforestation'".
Major Toy Companies Ranked By Their Latest Climate Counts Company Scores:
Hasbro-73/100-Green/Striding(Up +21 Points From Previous Year)
Lego-70/100-Green/Striding(Up 21+ Points From Previous Year)
Disney-58/100-Green/Striding
Mattel-16/100-Yellow/Starting
JAKKS Pacific-1/100-Red/Stuck
MEGA Brands-0/100-Red/Stuck
Playmates-0/100-Red/Stuck
From now on, I'll try to avoid buying toys from Red-ranked companies.