With this article and the NY Times magazine article on the importance of play in child development, I think people will start investing in better, greener toys for their children to experiment with and enjoy. Every industry has the opportunity to make positive changes to it's products and services. I'm glad that the toy industry and the designers who contribute to it are raising the bar. I work at a design college that is always working to motivate designers to understand how important the role of design is enacting change. In fact, there are two big event going on in the next two months, one about the role of design is enacting change. In fact, there are two big event going on in the next two months, one about the importance of play in our life and work(The Art center Design Conference, http://www2.artcenter.edu/designconference/) and the other about global issues like climate change, geopolitics, and culture the world must address ( The Art Center Global Dialogues http://blog.globaldialogues.eu/). Hopefully more people will see articles like this one and events like the ones Art Center is hosting and get excited about making the world better.
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At the other end of the tech spectrum is the greening of the romper room. Toy Quest is using a new medium for manufacturing toys that's sawdust-based rather than polymer-based. Planet Toys makes stuffed animals that are filled with recycled soda bottles. Just about everything that Blue Orange Gamesmakes is wood-and the company has pledged to plant two trees for every tree used to create its games. With concerns over tainted toys grabbing headlines last year, it's little wonder that many manufacturers have decided to go eco. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us each separately announced guidelinesthat, among other things, require manufacturers to cut the amount of lead used in toys sold in their stores.
So going green-and, for that matter, going online-isn't just good for the planet, it's good business in a stagnant industry. "It's going to be a competitive year," says Byrne, who also maintains the Toy GuyWeb site. "It's going to come down to good brands, good play and good marketing." Sounds like good fun to us.
© 2008
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