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Saturday, 26 Feb 2022 07:04
A mum is on a mission to make the toy industry more sustainable after she struggled to find plastic free toys for her daughter.
Sharon Keilthy set up Jiminy Eco Toys - named after Pinocchio's conscience Jiminy Cricket - after leaving her senior role at a US multinational.
Sharon said: "It was 2018 and my daughter was about to turn four. I wanted to get her a nice eco-friendly gift, something made in Europe, something plastic free.
"I went to the toy store, and I came out empty-handed. Everything was made from virgin plastic and shipped all the way from China.
"So, I just thought, well maybe I'm not the only one who wants to do better. We can't expect people to do better if better isn't on the shelf, if it's not available.
"So, I decided to set up my own eco-friendly toy company specialising in 'made in Europe', plastic-free toys to give people more choices."
According to a 2014 United Nations report, the toy industry is the most intensive plastic industry in the world, with 90% of the toys on the market made of new plastic.
Sharon explained that she wants Jiminy Eco Toys "to be the toy company I wished the others were".
She has sourced more than 700 toys, books, and craft materials that are plastic-free and locally-made from natural or recycled materials.
She said: "My friends will often introduce me as 'this is Sharon, she runs a wooden toy shop'. But I don't, I run an eco-toy shop.
"And what's exciting to me about that is it doesn't have to be a really expensive, hand-carved wooden toy to be sustainable.
"You can have an injection-moulded, mass-produced Fisher Price cashier that is made from recycled plastic. And that makes it sustainable.
"So, we don't have to turn the industry on its head. We can work with the machines, the processes, the people, that are already there, but just change the material."
She added: "I'll often ask people which of the transport or the material that the toys is made from is responsible for 90% of its carbon footprint.
"People usually guess the transport because it has come 22,000km from China so it's understandable. But actually, making plastic from petroleum releases so much carbon, 90% of the footprint of a toy is the material it's made from.
"In other words, a 'made in China', wooden or bioplastic or recycled plastic toy is actually better than a 'made in Europe', virgin plastic toy which would surprise a lot of people."
Sharon sits on the sustainability committee of the American Toy Association. She is hopeful the industry can change and reduce its carbon footprint by using recycled or bioplastic materials instead of new plastic.
She said: "There are four big toy makers in the world - Lego, Hasbro, Mattel and MGA. Lego is by far my favourite because they are serious about sustainability. They are the only one, that I can see, that has a really good, clear plan that they are following to be totally sustainable by 2030.
"I wish Jiminy Eco Toys wasn't necessary and one day, it won't be. And when that day comes, Jiminy Eco Toys can go. I'll solve some other problem.
"The thing about being an activist business is you don't want to build an empire. You want to change the industry."
In our 'Climate Heroes' series of reports, we shine a light the people who are stepping up to protect our environment and tackle climate change. While these people come from all walks of life, they share a common purpose to improve the world around us.