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The latests projects from Parley for the Oceans, including a collaboration with Adidas on a pair of trainers made from ocean plastic.

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What really happens to the plastic you throw away - Emma Bryce

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Sustainable Toys

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Big Future Toys | Earth-friendly, Educational Toys

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Earthtiles - Wooden Magnetic Tiles by Big Future Toys

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Four years ago, and two weeks before my wedding, Aric and I decided to say goodbye to our careers in corporate America and take the plunge as entrepreneurs. Looking back, it probably wasn't the best timing, but let's be honest: "timing" for a big leap of faith is never great.

It started while we were backpacking through South America and saw old billboard vinyl being used as roofing. Blown away by the material's versatility and durability (not to mention uniqueness and style), we jumped head first into the crazy idea of taking billboards and repurposing them into one-of-a-kind products.

We knew nothing about manufacturing or retail. We did not even know what we were going to call our new business. We just knew unique billboards were all around us, and if we could turn those billboards into bags, we could make a cool product under a brand that was doing good.

We started brainstorming business names and finally wrote down two words that described the products we wanted to make. Each bag would be unique - or "Rare" - and each billboard would take on a new - you guessed it - "form." We hopped onto Godaddy.com and bought Rareform.com from someone in the Midwest for $2,000. (Thanks Robert!) Yes, that is how it started: with us maxing out our Capital One cards to follow our dream.

We now had a name, a website, and a product, but were missing a critical piece of our business: billboards. Although Aric and I like to tell everyone we climb up at night and steal them, unfortunately that isn't the case. We called executives at multi-billion dollar advertising companies and asked them to team up with two brothers who had a crazy idea. Before we knew it, 40-foot truckload of billboards were headed our way. Where should the billboards be delivered? Aric and I were living in LA, and didn't have a warehouse or anywhere to store them, so we gave the truck driver our parents' address without telling them. Our parents weren't happy about it (Sorry Mom!).

We took our first billboard to an auto upholstery manufacturer and had him sew up a surfbag. It looked amazing! We showed it to some friends, and everyone was stoked. We then hit the tradeshow circuit and sold the idea of Rareform. Enough people said yes, taking a chance on us, not because of where we were, but because of where we were going.

After that, we hustled. We worked out of an attic in Santa Monica above a boxing gym (that's the truth) and drove two hours every few weeks to one of our partners' warehouses to cut billboard material. We also went on the road and hit the phones, trying to sell bags.

We began to grow, and in June 2015 we moved into our own office and warehouse 40 minutes outside of Santa Monica. We expanded internationally to Japan, Europe, Korea, Israel, Canada, and other countries. We brought on Walker, Kara, Alex, Noberto, and others.

Aside from employees and interns, we had a great support group outside the business. We could not have gotten to where we are today without Brian, Tony, Kenny, Mike, Ryan, Blake, Jackie, Tara, and Mom and Dad.

Aric and I now realize how much work and sacrifice it takes to start a brand, but it was you guys that kept us growing and evolving. We now partner with the World Surf League and have worked with Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson, with even bigger things this coming year (maybe Target, maybe Coca Cola ... alright maybe both).

On our four-year anniversary, we promise we will continue to stay true to what made us start this business: a commitment to durable, unique, stylish, and sustainable products we would buy ourselves.

Thanks to everyone, and here's to another great year!

Alec & Aric Avedissian

P.S. Not signed up for Rareform's email yet? Sign up at the bottom of this page - you'll be the first to know about new collections, inspirational stores, and a hell of a lot more to your inbox every week.

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Four years ago, and two weeks before my wedding, Aric and I decided to say goodbye to our careers in corporate America and take the plunge as entrepreneurs. Looking back, it probably wasn't the best timing, but let's be honest: "timing" for a big leap of faith is never great.

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If your home is being overrun by toys and you're dreading the inevitable invasion of new toys this coming Christmas, than episode 5 of my Eco Chat podcast is for you!

http://lauratrotta.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Environmental-Impact-of-Toys.mp3

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I'm not sure if it's the comparative cheaper price of toys nowadays, parents working longer hours or the fact children spend more time indoors than those of previous generations, but children today seem to have more toys than those of generations past.

Given it's been estimated that around $1 billion is spent in Australia annually on retail toy sales, it's not surprising that many homes (and landfills) are simply bursting at the seams with toys.

In this Eco Chat podcast episode I discuss the many environmental impacts of modern toys (including the batteries they contain), eco play alternatives and even suggest some ideas for helping to stop the toy invasion from well-meaning relatives at Christmas time.

It's not about being a 'party pooper', but rather about being creative when it comes to play ideas, making conscious purchases, going for quality over quantity and being aware of the environmental impact of your toy purchase (ESPECIALLY if the toys has batteries).

The environmental issues of toys are many and include:

Toys are designed to be short-lived and are easily broken and discarded soon after purchase.

Toys are typically made from plastic, of which oil, a non-renewable resource, is the main component.

Approximately 75% of the world's toys are produced in China. Most toys sold in the western world have therefore travelled great distances from where they are manufactured to our homes, which isn't without environmental impact in itself.

Toys generate significant packaging waste (think boxes boxes, ties to hold the toy in place and plastic wrapping) which is discarded as soon as the toy is opened.

Many modern toys rely on batteries to run... and these are an environmental issue in themselves.

Australia imports over 267 million disposable batteries and 50 million rechargeable batteries a year , which is just mindblowing! (ABS, 2005). However, the greatest environmental concern surrounding batteries is the impact they have at the end of their lives. Australia hasn't embraced battery recycling - it is estimated that around 94 per cent of dead batteries end up in landfill - and this is where the most serious problems start, as batteries contain heavy metals and when they're disposed in this manner, toxins such as nickel and cadmium can leach into our environment.

It all sounds pretty wasteful hey! But it doesn't need to be!

In this Eco Chat podcast episode I cover many alternative play ideas and share some of my best tips for helping to curb the toy invasions (especially if it comes from well-meaning relatives!).

I'd love to hear how you curb the toy invasion in your home. Feel free to share you best eco play ideas below.

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The Environmental Impact of Toys - Laura Trotta

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If your home is being overrun by toys and you're dreading the inevitable invasion of new toys this coming Christmas, than episode 5 of my Eco Chat podcast is for you!

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This may or may not link to your issue but it's an interesting watch.

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Turning Used Billboards Into Vinyl Backpacks

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What happens to billboards at the end of their advertising lives? One company in Los Angeles makes eco-friendly bags from billboards. Alec and Aric Avedissian, co-founders of Rareform, saw the need to recycle the vinyl from billboards into something more useful.

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There's nothing quite like seeing the look of sheer joy on a child's face after handing him a brand new, shiny gift. That is, until you consider just how damaging an effect said present will have on the world he's going to inherit.

The toy industry is massive. It hit $20.36 billion in sales last year and shows no sign of slowing down ― nor does the negative impact it's having on the environment.

Plastic toys, which tend to be inexpensive and vibrantly colored, account for 90 percent of the market, according to a plastics trade magazine. And while they pose the same risks as any other plastic item, these cheap playthings often have shorter life spans than high-quality toys and are pretty much impossible to recycle.

"If it's a flimsy plastic toy that clearly isn't going to have more than a lifetime of a few days or weeks, would you really want to be getting that material?" Kevin Brigden, senior scientist at Greenpeace International Science Unit, told HuffPost. "As soon as you open it, you'll be putting it into the waste stream."

Heck, even pricier plastic toys will get thrown out someday. And while they might not land in the trash right away, they can't be recycled either.

Environmentalists have a number of pressing concerns when it comes to the way in which plastic is interacting with the environment. In 2014, Americans generated about 33 million tons of plastic. The year before, only 9.5 percent of plastics were recycled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But the scope of the issue is so severe, experts say they can't even pinpoint accurate figures to define the problem.

One of the things that separates plastic toys from other plastic objects is that they're essentially destined for the landfill, said Brent Bell, vice president of recycling at Waste Management, a company that provides recycling solutions to businesses and residences in North America.

"There are really very few toys that are good candidates for recycling," Bell told HuffPost.

Plastic toys pose a unique challenge because they're typically composed of other materials too, such as metals. The recyclable components can't be separated out, and become prohibitive for recycling centers, Bell explained.

It's not just the environmental impact that advocates are concerned about. The health effects of the chemicals used in the manufacturing of plastic toys are not fully known, but at least one type of common chemical, called phthalates ― which is used to soften soys ― has been linked to a number of health issues, including birth defects, cancer and diabetes, The New York Times reported in 2014. And since children often put toys in their mouths, they're at an increased risk.

Environmental experts say to look to the products of eras past ― when toys were made from durable materials that could be passed down from one generation to the next. Before World War II, heavy-duty toys were the standard. But once metal became hard to come by, plastics took over ― and have dominated the industry ever since.

Items made from wood, cotton, metal and natural rubber are considered feasible alternatives to plastic toys.

While other plastic products, like soda bottles, are becoming increasingly worrisome to environmentalists, they're actually more manageable than plastic toys.

Plastic soda bottles are composed of one uniform type of plastic, and the major beverage companies have made their bottles entirely recyclable. While this doesn't necessarily mean consumers are always recycling these products, at least the potential is there. Soft drink companies also have the opportunity to produce refillable bottles, which can keep the products in use.

Toys typically serve one role and can't be repurposed.

Another issue with plastic toys is the rate at which they're being consumed. Children receive plastic toys for birthdays and holidays, in gift bags at parties and inside cereal boxes and meals at fast food restaurants. These types of trinkets often occupy a kid's attention for a short amount of time and then get discarded. Or, the playthings can be made from such insufficient materials that they'll fall apart after just a few uses and quickly wind up in the trash.

"You have all these toys ― they're cheap, they're made out of plastic, they break easily. Most of the time they end up in the trash," said Steve Rho, CEO of sustainable toy company Big Future Toys. "It was totally incongruent for us to buy these toys for our kids for their edification and enjoyment. We're actually harming their environment that they're going to live in for the rest of their lives."

It hit Rho just how detrimental plastic toys are after he took one of his daughters to a birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese's location in Los Angeles. At the end of the event, all of the kids received a bag about the size of a 2-gallon milk jug, filled to the brim with "kitschy cheap little toys," Rho said. When his daughter got home, she played with the toys with her sister for a little while, until most of them broke.

Rho and his wife, Kristin, had no choice but to dump the plastic bits into the garbage since they knew their local recycling center wouldn't accept such items.

"It kind of dawned on us, that was us ― one family," Rho said. "Let's think of all the other families at this birthday party, all the families that come to Chuck E. Cheese's for birthday parties every day ― that's a huge amount of plastic waste. The magnitude of it started to dawn on us. How big an industry toys are, how much of an impact they could have if they were made sustainably."

That's when Rho, who works as a product manager in the clean fuel industry by day, decided to develop Big Future Toys together with his wife. The burgeoning company makes magnetic building sets composed of FSC wood, which means the wood was harvested sustainably.

It's not just flimsy toys that immediately fall apart that are problematic. Major toy companies produce exorbitant amounts of plastic packaging that's immediately thrown out, and they also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, among other issues.

Lego, for example, poses environmental concerns because of the extraction and refinement of oil required to make its toys. That's where three-quarters of Lego's carbon footprint comes from, Fast Company reported.

Lego said it's working to make its products more sustainable, but that's still a long way off. The company is investing about $150 million into identifying and implementing eco-friendly alternatives to its current materials by 2030.

In 2013, Hasbro ― the maker of Play-Doh ― vowed to reduce its packaging material, eliminate polyvinyl chloride (a type of plastic) from its packaging, and increase its use of recycled content, GreenBiz reported.

Bell, of the company Waste Management, would like to see manufacturers utilize recycled content to make the toys, and encourages consumers to donate old toys.

While there are some companies that are disrupting the market and crafting environmentally friendly toys, there aren't many. Yoxo, for example, makes its toys out of recycled wood fiber and can be recycled again once consumers are finished with them. Green Toys manufactures its products from recycled milk jugs, yogurt cups and other types of recycled plastic.

Finding such ecologically responsible items in big box stores isn't common, though.

"Overall, the sustainable toy market is still very much a niche type of thing," Rho said. "You're not going to find these really sustainable options when you walk into Toys R Us. Or it's going to be a very limited selection."

If buying sustainable toys isn't an option, Rho suggests scaling back on the amount of items families buy for kids.

"This will sound crazy coming from a toy company ― maybe you don't buy a toy, maybe you substitute an experience, a trip to the zoo or to a great show," Rho said. "It reduces clutter in your home and you're not using so many natural resources."

ALSO ON HUFFPOST

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There's A Huge Problem With Kids' Toys That No One's Talking About

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There's nothing quite like seeing the look of sheer joy on a child's face after handing him a brand new, shiny gift. That is, until you consider just how damaging an effect said present will have on the world he's going to inherit. The toy industry is massive.

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Mrs Saunter and Oscar (Y6L) both have people they know involved in the toy industry. Once you have developed some questions (these could cover multiple questions) you could approach them.

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In a totally unexpected move, Nintendo surprised gamers today by unveiling new cardboard accessories which interact with games for its Switch console. We're excited not only for something fresh from the company, but also by the idea that they haven't just added more useless plastic swag that will clog our oceans and landfills.

Nintendo Labo features cardboard sheets that users can pop out and fold into everything from motorbike handles to fishing rods and a miniature piano. You then insert the Switch's detachable Joy Con controllers, and start playing.

Focusing on physical ways to interact with software sets Nintendo apart in a gaming market where moeny is mostly made by tapping a smartphone screen. The move is also a nod to the Wii a decade ago, which got gamers off the sofa to swing controllers and play virtual tennis and bowling.

Nintendo Labo will initially come in two sets that go on sale April 20: the Variety Kit (US$70) and the Robot Kit (US$80 each). The first includes "parts" for remote-controlled cars, a fishing rod, house, motorbike and piano, while the second allows you to build a robot suit.

We got hands on with #NintendoLabo earlier this week with @NintendoUK and we had an amazing time. We can't wait for you to try it for yourself soon! https://t.co/fHg9oznbli pic.twitter.com/T2X3xhgJg1
- Nintendo Life (@nintendolife) January 17, 2018

Nintendo has a history of releasing physical accessories for its consoles, including Amiibo figurines for the Wii U, and steering wheels and fishing rods for the Wii. And Nintendo has long hinted the Switch would get a bunch of accessories.

Nintendo isn't alone in introducing physical accessories that interact with software. A year ago, rival Sony unveiled Project Field, a lightweight device the size of a kitchen cutting board that connects to real-world objects so they can be used for controlling games on smartphones and tablets.

Google has also embraced cardboard, with an assemble-yourself viewer that turns smartphones into virtual-reality goggles.

We're counting down to April already ...

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Nintendo has released Labo, cardboard accessories for the Switch, and we are shook

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In a totally unexpected move, Nintendo surprised gamers today by unveiling new cardboard accessories which interact with games for its Switch console. We're excited not only for something fresh from the company, but also by the idea that they haven't just added more useless plastic swag that will clog our oceans and landfills.

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Think about the volume of toys manufactured each year. Millions upon millions of games, dolls, trinkets and other baubles are churned out for the entertainment of children around the world. As the titans that make them start considering their complete environmental footprints, they are making big strides in protecting the planet's natural resources, albeit by disparate approaches.

Here's an introduction to the steps that three of the biggest names in the toy business are taking toward sustainability.
Hasbro raises the bar
Hasbro recently announced new environmental sustainability goals to minimize waste, improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and conserve water at its owned and operated facilities around the world. Using 2012 numbers as a baseline, by 2020 Hasbro plans to reduce waste to landfill by 50 percent, energy consumption by 25 percent, GHG emissions by 20 percent and water consumption by 15 percent.

The new goals are third-generation objectives and build on sustainability commitments Hasbro set in 2002 and 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, the company says, it reduced non-hazardous waste by 40 percent, energy consumption by 19 percent, GHG emissions by 32 percent and water consumption by 31 percent.

Hasbro is also working to reduce its packaging material, eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from packaging, increase recycled content and source paper responsibly. For these efforts, the company recently was awarded an Environmental Merit Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Last year Hasbro vowed to reduce materials used in product packaging for many of its popular global brands. For example, the company overhauled its Play-Doh can design, switched to paperless labels printed directly on the can, added a tapered edge more conducive for consumer reuse and put recycling symbols on the can and lid. While these might seem like small changes, in 2010 Hasbro cranked out more than 284 million cans of the classic modeling compound, so even minor tweaks have the potential for global impacts.

This year the company eliminated PVC from new product packaging and says it's on track to nix it from all packaging by the end of this year. It also exceeded its 2011 goal to derive at least 75 percent of paper and board packaging from recycled material or from sources that practice sustainable forest management. By 2015, Hasbro plans to increase that number to 90 percent.

Not only is Hasbro phasing out PVCs, it also did away with the plastic bags in which game instructions were wrapped, removing 800,000 pounds of material worldwide from its waste stream. In 2010 Hasbro also replaced wire ties with ones made from paper rattan or bamboo, effectively eradicating 34,000 miles worth of wire ties.

All of Hasbro's efforts have earned it the top spot on the Climate Counts Scorecard for four years in a row. Currently the non-profit gives Hasbro a 73 on a scale from 0 to 100 for doing things such as measuring its climate footprint, reducing its impact on global warming, supporting climate legislation and publicly disclosing its climate actions. Hasbro also recently was named the Toy Industry Reporting Leader for the second year in a row by the nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project (PDF).
Lego goes after waste and wind
Hasbro certainly isn't the only toy maker making sustainable changes. Lego has worked for decades to eliminate PVC as well as phthalates from its toys, all of which no longer contain these substances. So while Hasbro gets props for working to remove PVC from its packaging, Lego actually has removed it from its products, something Hasbro has not committed to doing, although it is looking into alternative materials.

This year Lego is introducing a new series of smaller packaging boxes. The Danish company expects the change to reduce its annual consumption of cardboard by about 4,000 tons. Next year the cardboard used in the new boxes will carry FSC certification, meaning the Forest Stewardship Council guarantees it came from sustainable forests.

Over the next few years Lego's parent company, Kirkbi, is investing $547 million to build a wind farm off the coast of Germany. Lego and Kirkbi will control 32 percent of the Borkum Riffgrund wind farm, which amount to one of Germany's largest with 77 turbines when finished in 2015. By 2020, the company will contribute to the world at least the same amount of sustainable energy as the company consumes.

Lego says it has verified that every substance used in its products -- more than 2,000 raw materials -- comply with the European Union Toy Safety Directive, which imparts strict limits on what kinds of materials can be used in toys.

Regarding waste, the company's approach is first to reduce the amount of waste it generates, and then reuse any waste material where possible, recycling almost everything that is left, said Morten Vestberg, sustainability communication manager for Lego.

"Today we recycle about 90 percent of our waste, and with zero waste as our long-term ambition we will continue to make progress on this agenda," he said.

It's also worth mentioning that Lego is one of the top 10 brands to land on the Reputation Institute's 2012 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Reputation list.
Mattel plays with packaging
Like Hasbro, Mattel has tackled the problem of non-recyclable wire twist ties, eliminating more than 90 percent of them, about 363 tons worth. Now the company mostly uses paper strings, nylon fasteners, die-cut paper board and key-lock fasteners.

The company has done some playing around with greener packaging options. For instance, in 2010, Mattel's Hot Wheels factory in Malaysia began using local sources and 100 percent compostable residual sugar cane fiber as an alternative packaging material for the plastic insert tray of the Hot Wheels 9- and 10-pack car assortments. A year later, it conducted a pilot in which it produced more than 1 million recycled-PET (R-PET) Barbie doll hairbrushes because the material is considered to be more sustainable than other plastics. The company calls the pilot a "learning opportunity," even though there are supply chain constraints for R-PET.

While these trials are interesting, they haven't convinced the company to move away from PVC. Whereas Hasbro and Lego are working to use less or no PVC, Mattel generally is not. "Our evaluations to date of alternative plastics have not identified a material that is able to meet all of Mattel's quality, safety, aesthetic, supply-chain and cost requirements, while at the same time exhibiting improved environmental attributes," the company told GreenBiz.

"Mattel established a sustainability target to improve our packaging material efficiency by 5 percent by 2015. Brands across the business have identified opportunities to reduce the amount of packaging materials used," a Mattel spokesperson told me via email.

As for the environmental impacts of its operations, Mattel designated 2008 as the baseline year in terms of tracking Sustainable Performance Indicators. Since then -- looking at normalized metrics that account for fluctuations in business -- the company has reduced its energy consumption by 33 percent, CO2 emissions by 38 percent, water consumption by 54 percent, volatile organic compound emissions by nearly 70 percent, non-hazardous waste generation by 30 percent and hazardous waste generation by 16 percent.

Another way Mattel has improved its environmental record is with how it responded to a 2011 global Greenpeace campaign in which the environmental group claimed Mattel's packaging for its popular Barbie and Ken dolls used pulp sourced from Asia Pulp & Paper, a Singapore company blamed for clear-cutting Indonesian rain forest.

"Following the public pressure of our campaign, Mattel canceled its contracts with Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), who were complicit in rainforest destruction, and instructed its suppliers to avoid wood fiber from controversial sources, including companies 'that are known to be involved in deforestation,'" Kat Clark, Greenpeace USA media officer, said. "Our campaign against Mattel was aimed in part at putting pressure on its supplier Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the world's largest pulp and paper companies. Contract cancellations by companies such as Mattel contributed to APP announcing a potential game-changing Forest Conservation Policy earlier this year."
Toy block image by hxdbzxy via Shutterstock.com

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How Hasbro, Lego and Mattel stack up as green toy makers

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Think about the volume of toys manufactured each year. Millions upon millions of games, dolls, trinkets and other baubles are churned out for the entertainment of children around the world. As the titans that make them start considering their complete environmental footprints, they are making big strides in protecting the planet's natural resources, albeit by disparate approaches.