Friday 17 September 2021

Plastic toys and their harmful effect on Nature #EnvironmentalTalks with Anshu Sharma

Toys and childhood go parallel in life and child get to learn many life facets through toys too, but how good are plastic toys for the child and how to lessen the effect of plastic toys on the environment is a big concern. Many times we question why we need change or why we need to replace the plastic toys for the green environment.

To understand this we invited Anshu Sharma, founder of Toysrep to discuss the effects of Plastic toys on nature and how a parent can select the toys so that it causes less harm or no harm on environment.


toysrep anshu sharma - meenalsonal

Anshu Sharma : Founder, Toysrep

Anshu Sharma is known for her plastic awareness work in Faridabad area in India.

She runs toy repair garage for children to save environment. She is an activist as well as a major proponent of the Green concept of sustainable development.

She has worked for more than a decade in various industries. Her last assignment was into Solar Industry with Semb Corp, A leading energy, water, marine and urban development group operating across five continents worldwide before starting her individual mission to combat climate change.

For past 4 years she has been analyzing and studying the relationship between climate and humans. 

Her main focus is on  empowering young parents in fight against climate change and the need for sustainable toys for children.


Snippets from the interview with Anshu Sharma.

Why did you start Toysrep:

Toysrep was started to repair the costly toys when the toys were broken and the manufacturer refused to repair saying toys do not have a warranty.

How toys can be disposed:

Anshu Sharma explained the concept of disposing plastic toys in a brilliantly simple manner.

Each toy has a different way of recycling

She stressed the point that each toy cannot be recycled as it is as each part of the toy is made up of different kinds of material and so requires a different mechanism to recycle it. For example in case of recycling a doll, shoes and dresses are madeup of another material, the body is of hard plastic, and doll hair is of synthetic fibre. Entire doll cannot be recycled at one go.

Do not dispose of the toy at every age bar:

Anshu who also runs the growth mindset classes explained to us that toys with age groups just need not be disposed citing the child has crossed the age bar. A child is very innovative and can find numerous ways to play with toys that have passed the age criteria as mentioned by the manufacturers.

Pass on the toys :

Giving away the toys to underprivileged students and children will help the child to build the virtue of kindness and empathy.

Barter the toys:

It is always seen that child plays with the toys for a shorter span of the time, for this Anshu suggests to create a group where children can exchange the toys and can return to them when they have played with it. Forming such groups within society paves way for the child to play with many toys and also child starts taking care of the toys.

plastic toys and health- meenalsonal

How to purchase the toys:

Read the labels of the toys and see for a mark that says recyclable or not.

Research about the manufacturer of the toys, what kind of chemicals are used, does the company does any CSR activity or not.

Look for a number and if it says 1, 2, 4, 5 – stay alive (recyclable)

3,6, 7  - straight to heaven (do not buy)

Anshu also gives tip on how to zero-in for the toy purchase, check the video for that.


One change that can change the usage of Plastic Toys:

Mindset and the buying pattern have to be changed and we all parents need to think to keep environment also happy while making a child happy.

Watch the entire interview that is an insightful session for all the parents to know about Plastic toys.

  • How to use Toys
  • How to maintain Toys
  • How to Dispose toys
  • How to effectively purchase plastic toys
  • Ways to use Plastic toys to the fullest.



You can reach Anshu Sharma on DM on Instagram @growth_mindest_classroom  or email at toysrepindia@gmail.com


This post is a part of the #EnvironmentalTalks of #CauseAChatter of Blogchatter where we are writing about environment-related topics for the whole year. You can read all the posts related to the environment here.

We are taking our blog to the next level with Blogchatter's My Friend Alexa. 


@MeenalSonal


71 comments:

  1. A need of the hour piece. Thanks so much :)

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  2. Great initiative n step taken to create awareness among parents to be responsible towards their kids health n how they can contribute in saving our environment.keep up great work���� :)

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  3. This was such an eye-opener. I have been passing out the toys my boys have outgrown to charities, but I was totally unaware of the recycling bit of it.

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  4. This was such an eye opener. I usually donate the toys my children have outgrown to charities. I was absolutely unaware of the recycling bit.

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  5. This was such an eye opener. I usually donate the toys my children have outgrown to charities. I was absolutely unaware of the recycling bit.

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  6. I avoid buying plastic toys as much possible .This interview was very educational.

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  7. That was very informative and insightful. Many facts we never knew have been covered vin detail.
    Deepika Sharma

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  8. This is really very important topic. Plastic is not good for environment. Just watched the video and love every bit of it. Indeed its need of the hour

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  9. This is a very important post for parents with smaller kids. Toys gets broken and it is better to recycle them or repair them instead of throwing them into the dustbin.

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  10. This is a very important post for parents with smaller kids. Toys gets broken and it is better to recycle them or repair them instead of throwing them into the dustbin.

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  11. That's a great initiative by Anshu. Plastic toys are really a hazard and awareness is important.

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  12. She is doing great and this initiative is much needed and commendable. I agree we buy costly toys and after a while don't know what to do about it.

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  13. This is so informative, I had no idea that there are ways to check if a toy is recyclable or not. Having a group to exchange toys is such a smart idea, in this manner kids can play with different toys and parents don't have to buy toys often.

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  14. Such an eye opening for a new mom

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  15. "How to purchase the toys" is a must read. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. This is such an important awareness post. I have been guilty of buying plastic toys without thinking about the damamge to the environment. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. You almost made me wish for a return to childhood :)

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  18. This is brilliant< i will surely bear these points in mins buddy

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  19. A very informative interview. As is, plastic toys are not good for smaller kids. The concept of toy repair is excellent. Obviously the manufactures would not be interested in repairing since it does not drive sales.

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  20. When people talk about plastics, they miss that plastic toys also contribute to the environmental harm, not just other plastics.

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  21. Such a relevant point. In today's consumerism, we keep buying toys for children without having second thoughts about the repercussions on the environment. Would really love to know more about the initiatives by Anshu Sharma.

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  22. The point on how a doll needs to be recycled in different ways because of the different materials it is made of was so brilliant. I hadn't thought of it that.

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  23. This is quite informative post . I never heard about recycling part of toys though i believe in sharing toys.
    jyoti

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  24. I quite like the idea of a toy repair shop. We discard broken toys without a second thought because there's always more coming. The child also gets used to the idea that he/she will get a replacement if the toy breaks so no need to take care of it.

    A toy lending library is also a fantastic idea for communities.

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  25. Recycling toys is such a great initiative, more so because children grow out of them quickly as they grow up. Most parents discard toys as well to reduce the clutter in the house, we all need to start being mindful about these things.
    #PoojaMahimkarReads

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  26. This is such an informative post. I didnt know earlier that we could check if the toys can be recyclable. Thanks to your post and the session, we readers can be more aware and conscious of the purchases.

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  27. This is a very noble cause and I always believe in donating old toys to kids who can't afford them easily. A very insightful interview indeed.

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  28. We really need to reduce our plastic usage. We use so many toys for different age cycles but we need to be selective of our toys and use sustainable options. Will check Toyrep for my little one.
    -Manisha

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  29. So great that you have touched upon a topic that's truly the need of the hour.

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  30. This is an insightful post. I used toys which I bought for my daughter. Most of which were wooden and sold few to preloved community. I made up my mind not to invest in plastic toys. #tmmreads

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  31. This is really great initiative by her ...we need to be more careful about getting toys for the kids.

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  32. When my children were ready, I picked up wooden toys for them. Not only were they long lasting but had the ability to be used even when the kids got older. #MyepicaReads

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  33. Thank you for such an informative post

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  34. Wonderful. Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece of info.

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  35. Well said- keep environment also happy while making a child happy.

    I hope parents will change their mindset now.

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  36. That's the reason ,I use to buy wooden toys. Do you know barter toy group? I love to be part of it.
    every year I collect old toys and give to underprivilege kids.

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  37. You asked the right questions and Anshu has answered all of them very beautifully. I too believe in wise spending on toys and recycling, bartering and donating wherever possible.

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  38. Great blog post dear.... you are doing an amazing work by creating awareness.

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  39. Plastic is one of the biggest menace for our environment. Awareness is the need of the hour.

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  40. Informative, I didn't know about these numbers

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  41. These are some great insights on how to reuse toys and recycling. My daughter's toys do get rotated within my friends for their younger kids and are now coming back for my son.

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  42. Plastic toys are hazardous to the environment in many ways. Great initiative by Anshu. Very informative and awareness post.

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  43. Wonderful points. Donating is so good. It's nice to keep the toys in good condition and donate it to those who need.

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  44. what a wonderful post. This is new to me that actually they are repairing and recycling the toys. Very informative.

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  45. I always prefer soft toys or board games for my kids. Thanks for introducing Anshu Sharma’s work and her tips to save environment. She is doing an awesome work.

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  46. Informative blog post. Anshu is a great person who thought of this for the betterment of environment.

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  47. I always prefer soft toys or board games for my kids. Thanks for introducing Anshu Sharma’s work and her tips to save environment. She is doing an awesome work.

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  48. Thats a great initiative, i must admit i never thought about plastic toys and recycling before reading your post... live Never.
    I'm glad to come across your post.

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  49. There are so many aspects we don't even think about!

    Debdatta@AniccaIn

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  50. Yes it is true and we unknowingly get many to those toys and even discart some of the good condictioned toys as well. we never seemed to be worried about this issues. thanks for bringing this up

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  51. Toysrep is a great initiative by Anshu Sharma. I have recently became a father and will try to follow the things she has mentioned.

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  52. Never knew about recycling ability denoted by a number. great post. Informative.

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  53. MY daughters love wooden toys. Such an apt topic.

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  54. This is very informative. I also make sure to share and pass on toys as my kids outgrow and I make sure that the toys are buy are of god grade plastic which can be recycled or are wooden toys.

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  55. Plastic and china material has captured our toy market to an extent that we forget the wonderful Kondapalli and Channapattana toys which are wooden made and used to be a major play options for us... Hope we promote more of them and reduce our dependency on plastic as much as possible..

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  56. What an informative post. We really need to be more careful with the environment and regarding the children.

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  57. Oh we are always giving away toys to those less fortunate or another child we know younger than my kids. The broken ones anyways go in the respective bin.

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  58. Absolutely agree. Plastic is a big no for kids. It also leads to hormonal imbalance in kids

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  59. Thanks for sharing such informative information

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  60. I totally agree. Toys need to be organic, made with natural products and they should be shared and bartered. My DIL in Mexico has has a moms group and they always exchange everything kids use-from clothes to toys, prams and all other stuff.

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  61. As kids, we were always kept away from toys by my parents which I used to rebel, but now I realize why they did so. Young parents really need this info, thanks for this.

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  62. If we go back in the time of our childhood, there were very few plastic toys. Even if one had them, they were always kept for giving away to the next child of the family. Now cheep plastic toys are available in market which dont last long. And hence the they become eventual plastic waste. Loved the interview.

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  63. Plastic in all cases need to be handled very carefully and wisely. I am glad you wrote on this topic.

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  64. Brilliant piece of information. I couldn't agree more on the pointer that Ms. Anshu Sharma said "One thing that can change the usage of plastic toys is Mindset and the buying pattern".

    Archana Srivastava
    archusblog

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  65. This was quite an eye-opening article. I learned so many new things about toys, buying and disposing them ethically. #MyFriendAlexa #TinaPicks

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  66. Such an informative post. I learned so many new things about buying, using, and disposing toys. #MyFriendAlexa #TinaPicks

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  67. It took me some time to understand that the idea behind “Toysrep”, as told, is to ‘save the planet’, whereas, toys make a fraction of non-biodegradable toxic materials that we use in daily life. Then I realized that the focus is on changing the mindset of the kids, who are the future of this planet. If our kids learn to care for the planet and humanity, we may still have a habitable planet in the future, and in the process of teaching our kids, we might realize where we have failed. Just felt so blessed to see people with golden heart and genius mind, working hard and doing their part to save the planet.
    May God bless you.

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