Editorial: Toy-ling to make things better

Most of us who are lucky enough to live in their own house have the bad habit to accumulate lots of stuff.

If you're not ruthless enough at getting rod of things you don’t use much anymore, your house swiftly fills up. Modern houses tend not to be blessed with much storage either which really doesn’t help.

Now, while we do need to clear out things we don’t need, it’s really not great to just throw things out.

So I love initiatives that reuse items and ensure that someone else gets to use them.

One of my favourites is the Toy Library, the country’s first toy sharing platform.

This week they released figures from their first year showing that it saved 1,700 kg of plastic, the equivalent of €36,985 worth of toys.

The initiative was set up in Cork last June. So far 2,480 families from around the country have used the toy sharing platform, with 2,282 toys recirculated since it was launched.

That number could become much greater as many, many more families have piles of toys that their kids no longer use. Kids get bored of toys - pretty quickly in my experience - as well as outgrowing them. I think this could become huge as it grows.

The Toy Library was set up to address the environmental impact of plastic and electronic toys while providing a sustainable and accessible play experience for children.

The technology is free and easy for people to use. It allows users to quickly snap a photo of the toy they want to give away and upload it to the website. Families who are looking for a toy can easily browse the library and request a specific toy for collection.

I joined recently and hope to pass on some toys that have no use for my kids now. I had a look at what was on offer in Cork and there wasn’t loads so you can see how much more waste could be saved if more people join and support it. Giorgia Anile, Founder of The Toy Library said: “Nine out of ten toys are made of plastic, and can easily be discarded as children lose interest. Overall, toys are difficult to recycle as they can contain materials that cannot be easily separated and which inflict high environmental impact.”

“It is really encouraging to see how much of a social impact The Toy Library has had in its first year of existence. Our mission is to redefine toy consumption by encouraging borrowing, swapping and reusing and it’s heartening to see so many families coming on board to help achieve this goal.”

For more about The Toy Library and how to get involved, visit thetoylibrary.ie or follow The Toy Library on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Mastodon.