EARTH DAY & EBEANS
A wise man stated, “Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality, and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures.”1 Our eBeanstalk vision falls in line with the goals and aims of Earth Day and we thought we would outline the most salient “Earth-friendly” points.
EBEANSTALK VISION. At eBeanstalk, we always believe in a lesser influence on plastic and character toys -- and greater on active and engaging play – whether crafts or science kits or outdoor toys. The entire purpose is learning and having fun while doing it, and all the while, we have always believed in investing in humans and accelerating the mind over solely speeding computer chips and technology.
Thus, we found a few main points and focus on several great brands we carry to accent this point:
- PLASTIC vs. WOOD: In a larger sense, if we look at plastic versus wood as just the basic materials in constructing toys, we found wood to be favorable in a general sense because it (1) renewable & non-petrochemical-based, (2) takes 1 unit of energy for production vs. 10 for plastic, (3) can be salvaged and reused, and (4) does not release the amounts of carbon associated with plastic production. Now, we all need plastic in daily living, and some plastic is better than others, but here at eBeanstalk we prefer to patronize those companies that are more active stewards of these resources.
- REFORESTATION: And even amongst wood products, we look at the brands that utilize environmentally friendly, renewed resources. For examples, HAPE has an entire line of bamboo products. Bamboo can be harvested in 1 to 5 years at an amazing growth and replenishment rate with very little waste and extreme versatility.2 With our planet losing over 15 billion trees each year – or 56 acres of forest every minute – relieving the burden on the over-forested hardwoods is essential.3 Other high-quality brands, such as BLOOMBY, use rubberwood for make their sturdy, heirloom-quality toys. Rubberwood is harvested for toys as a recycled and reused wood byproduct in rubber farming from trees that no longer produce latex, and is an even safer, higher-quality wood.
- ENDANGERED SPECIES: Other brands such as SCHLEICH and SAFARI LTD. produce a plethora of diverse learning animal toys to help the next generation learn about the life sustained by this planet. As of January 2016, the US Fish and Wildlife Service lists 2,244 plants and animals as threatened or endangered. In addition, brands such as PAPO and BREYER, have additional offerings, especially in the horse lovers’ category that accent and build upon anything leftover. Furthermore, WORLD WILDLIFE FEDERATION (WWF) builds wood toys where the proceeds benefit wildlife. At eBeanstalk, given the huge diversity of what is available, we able to special order or order in large quantities via email, phone or chat anything you may be looking or is not available readily in other marketplaces. It’s that added customer service and one-on-one interaction which helps many of our customers to “customize”.
- RECYCLED MATERIALS: And of course, last but certainly not least, of the plastic products, all plastics are not created equal, and we find that GREEN TOYS have one of the best plastic products around. Their wide selection of toys is made from recycled and extremely safe milk jugs and yogurt cups using mineral-based coloring. Even the packaging is 100% recycled with soy print and no additives. Almost sounds as if you should eat the package. Regardless, the impact is real as every pound of recycled milk jugs used by Green Toys saves enough energy to power 3,000 AAA batteries, a TV for 3 weeks, or a laptop computer for 1 month.
While we live in a world where consumption is inevitable and we need to use energy and resources to survive, the better we marshal and manage those resources, allows us to thrive, blossom, and bloom beyond pollution and destructive practices that in small ways affect us all. We thank you again for your patronage and hope this explains a bit of why we do the things we do for the little ones and their future.
eBeanstalk
1 Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day
2 Hape Website, https://www.hape.com/de/en/about-us
3 United States EPA Website, https://nepis.epa.gov