In recent years, industries like fashion, packaging, construction and big tech have faced heavy scrutiny for their significant contributions to environmental waste, landfills in particular. We’ve made large efforts in terms of understanding the impacts of these industries, but there is one major industry often overlooked: Toys!
Being that “nearly 80% of all toys end up in landfills, incinerators or the ocean and account for almost 6% of landfill plastics,” it’s imperative we reimagine this industry for a more sustainable future. The average toy has a lifespan of about six months, and studies show children are often bored of a toy after about two months. (Tu et al.) Whether is our own toys from childhood, or the gifts we buy for the kids in our lives play is an essential part of growth and development and the tools that facilitate it deserves to be addressed with intentional, sustainable attention.
“I think one of the interesting things about toys is, that in the majority of cases, they’re a luxury good, which means that they’re a non-necessity,” Toys often break easily and are then landfilled in most cases…” – Christie Klimas, an environmental science professor at DePaul University in Chicago.” (Sharma)
As someone who is incredibly passionate about toys, trinkets, and collectibles, and someone who is eager to create and share more of the like with the world, I grapple with an integral question: How can I balance these passions with the responsibility to reduce waste and promote sustainable methods within this field?” It can feel like quite a daunting ask, but luckily innovations in digital fabrication, primarily 3-D Printing has provided some hopeful developments and companies like Dagoma are leading the charge.
Dagoma is a French 3-D Printing company that began an initiative called “The Toy Rescue.” It’s ethos centers on creating an accessible library full of some of the most often broken or lost parts in toys over the last 40 years aspiring to increase their lifespan, and decrease the amount of toys discarded.
This project addresses an important hallmark of eco-friendly design in repair, but what about construction? Dagoma briefly touched on this point, since after all, these broken, replaced parts will inevitably also break, get lost or maybe even be discarded at some point too. The advent of printing with plant-based filament (PLA, which has now become a standard in the industry) provides a “greener” production process in comparison to more toxic and damaging plastics, like ones typically used for toy manufacturing in the first place.
However, while a step in the right direction, it does not solve the already tons of plastic waste already in these landfills. “Currently, Dagoma are also working on developing a filament made from plastic toys that cannot be repaired, which can then be used to 3D print spare toy parts.” This also allows for a more circular economy when it comes to the toy industry, turning waste into a reusable product.
As that becomes a more tangible reality, 3D Printing can be used to reduce overproduction and allow for more local fabrication. With this, toys would be produced when there is a demand for them and simpler manufacturing practices would allow them to lower emissions and waste that comes from transporting from overseas. Also, when the material originally used solely for “proto-types” becomes an element of the final, there can be less waste accumulated throughout the design process overall.
There are other companies making great strides in lessening the waste produced by toys, such as Bioplastic Toys BIH, a KP Production toys store based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their mission is to create toys fabricated from “…renewable sources, such as cornstarch, sugar cane, beans, etc,” according to their website. With innovative approaches to materials and exploring what it would mean to create with the knowledge and intent of intentional breakdown, a world of toys made from innovative materials like even mycelium based filaments could be used in the application of toys in our lifetime.
Through repair, sustainable materials and the world of accessibility that is available with 3D Printing, and other digital fabrication means, I think there can be a future for toys and trinkets that spark joy and embrace play in a way harmonious with the goal of sustainability and conservation at the forefront.
Sources:
“Most Materials Are Recyclable, so Why Can’t Children’s Toys Be Sustainable?” Yale Environment Review, 8 May 2023, environment-review.yale.edu/most-materials-are-recyclable-so-why-cant-childrens-toys-be-sustainable.
Sharma, Preety, and Name. “To Wean the Toy Industry off Plastic Is No Easy Game.” News Decoder, 9 Jan. 2024, news-decoder.com/to-wean-the-toy-industry-off-plastic-is-no-easy-game/#:~:text=But%20for%20now%2C%20nearly%2080,almost%206%25%20of%20landfill%20plastics.
Tu, Jui-Che, et al. “Analyzing Decision-Making Factors of Green Design for Kid’s Toys Based on the Concept of Product Lifecycle.” MDPI, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 3 Aug. 2022, www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/10/8/1523.
Bioplastic Toys BIH, https://bioplastictoys.ba/
Dagoma, https://www.dagoma3d.com/