As someone concerned about the environment I probably shouldn’t be encouraging people to buy more things that eventually end up in a pile of junk in a landfill somewhere. But, I am a big sucker for wooden environmentally-friendly toys. And if I can encourage people to replace buying cheap plastic toys made in China that support an unsustainable way of life with beautiful high-quality toys made of renewable resources I think it’s a win.
After a lot of research and product testing my favourite toy company is Plan Toys. These environmentally-friendly, toddler-durable toys are made in Thailand from tapped out rubber trees. On their website they claim:
From the best-practice and beyond with innovation and creativity in toys process and design, PlanToys® is not only well-known for the first company in the world to manufacture wooden toys from preservative-free rubberwood, it is one of the leading company to create new material and process to minimize waste up to zero.
They make toys for all ages of children from infancy and up. I have bought many of the toys you see below off used sites like Kijiji. Others have been bought in Thailand from the main Plan Toy store by grandparents on their annual trip home to visit family (ok so importing toys is not the most environmentally-friendly practice but grandparents are going to Thailand anyway). Here’s the Plan Toy collection at our home:
