When I think of buying products for my family made from non-environmentally friendly materials, I go nuts about all the strange chemicals and second-order effects that come along with these items. I believe that kids should be provided with nothing but the best while growing up, which is why I give preference for green products whenever possible – from drink bottles to bamboo clothes and toys.

My kids are instinctive recyclists. In our house, old cardboard boxes become race cars, paper towel tube is transformed into spyglass and coffee cans are turned into drums. That is why when I buy them toys, I make sure they are from Green Toys. I love shopping from this company as it aims to apply that creative recycling side of kids to store-bought toys. Green Toys use everyday ‘trash’ to create sustainable versions of classic children’s toys without using raw materials or potentially harmful chemicals. Their range of toys includes traditional designs for young children such as trucks, jump ropes, sand play toys, tea sets, and toolsets as well as products designed for babies and toddlers, including stacking blocks and feeding utensils.

What makes a toy sustainable?

If we ask Green Toys, their answer will probably be milk jugs. All the toys produced by them are made entirely from recycled milk jugs collected from curbside recycling bins throughout the company’s home state of California. According to the brand, milk jugs are an ideal material as they are made of food-safe plastic that contains no BPA, PVC or phthalates, which are chemicals found in many types of plastic. Studies have reported that these chemicals can be harmful when ingested or absorbed through the skin due to the way they interact with human hormones. Considering the fact that young children usually spend as much time chewing on their toys as they do playing with them, using safe materials to manufacture toys is a safety must.

To ensure that the company meets federal and state standards such as those specified in the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement and US Food and Drug Administration, certified third-parties laboratories regularly conduct safety testing on Green Toys products. Furthermore, each batch of recycled HDPE material is tested to ensure that it doesn’t contain heavy metals such as lead and it’s spot tested for phthalates and BPA. Although these chemicals are not used for making HPDE, this testing provides additional assurance for the company’s environmental claims.

But for Green Toys producing eco-friendly toys goes beyond simply using recycled plastic. The company extends to the nuts and bolts of each product – they don’t use glue or screws to hold toy parts together. They also don’t use any metal in their products. I consider this an extra benefit as it saves me the time I’d spend disassembling mixed materials so they can be recycled separately.

How the production process of Green Toys benefits local communities?

Another great thing about this brand is that they have made a contract with a human service agency to assemble their toys. The work center provides vocational training for people who are disabled, have a mental illness, or have other challenges that have made it difficult for them to succeed in a traditional work setting. Their mission is to provide these people with training in the ‘soft’ skills they need to find and keep a job, such as coming to work regularly and on time and working cooperatively with others. These workers do product assembly and packaging, mailing and labeling, and other similar services. Green Toys have reported being very satisfied with the quality of their work and have found that their price is competitive with other assemblers.

The company also partners with a printer-based company to print and die-cut boxes, which are then shipped to the assembly location. Green Toys is committed to avoiding plastic packaging. The brand describes their packaging design process as origami, as the packaging has to fold in a way that will fold the product in place but also keep it visible so that consumers can see all the parts the product contains. As you can see, all the decisions that the company makes are to provide the company, the community and the consumers with environmental, social and economic benefits.

In order to conserve the resources of our planet, it is necessary that we make decisions that positively affect our globe. This is where eco-friendly products come into play. They are both good for us and the planet and provide us with the option to choose responsibility or frivolity. In other words, they are a smart choice for families all over the world. More and more parents are becoming concerned about the materials that go into their children’s toys. Green Toys operates as transparently as possible so that you can assure yourself that their toys are sustainable, safe, and healthy.