A week or two ago I tried to compile a list of companies and products that try to go full circle in the recycling process by using recycled material in their products or packaging.  Well…I am thrilled to add to the list the Plan Toy  company. Plan Toys actually has an environmental PLAN! And their toys are adorable. A friend of mine gave this great set to my toddler who is a huge animal freak…especially piggie piggies. How cute is this? The sheep can even be sheered!

OK…so what makes Plan Toy a member of the full circle club?

These toys are actually completely nontoxic and eco-friendly. The toys are made from rubber trees that no longer can provide rubber. Apparently rubber trees only produce rubber for about 25 years and then are chopped down and replaced. The wood used to be considered fairly worthless…until Plan Toys started using it. Their balanced approach to harvesting and replanting has ensured that the rubber tree forests will remain in tact and healthy…and simultaneously allows the local economy to thrive. In addition to the wood, they use only soy and water based inks and dyes. No questionable chemicals floating about. So if your turn ons include reading long lists of lead warnings for your kids’ toys…Plan Toys aren’t for you.

Now the product alone makes them full circle cyclists…but it gets even better. Packaging….NOOOOOOOOOO PLASTIC!!!!!! Toys come in a 100% recycled paperboard box.  Plus the individual parts are bagged in 100% recycled paper.  In case you missed it….NO PLASTIC.  No enormous clam shell to rip your hands open on while your kid loses his mind in anticipation.  You can actually let your kids open the toys themselves!  And after the opening excitement is over everything can be recycled in the paper bin.  Better yet…since they use no adhesive on the the little white paper bags used to wrap the toys they can be reused for something else before recycling.   It seems so simple…and yet so far from anything else any other toy company is doing.

I love discovering products like this because not only does it give me a place to get well thought out adorable toys without the taint of over packaging and fast disposability…but it also shows that green business CAN be done.  Plan Toys is making money, employing people, being a member of an active economy and business world AND being green, protecting an environment and its indigenous inhabitants, and responsibly following its products through to the end of the line.  Manufactures and environmentalists do not have to be mortal enemies. So good to know…yet I will miss the cage matches.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 7:43 am and is filed under family, recycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.