It amazes me how many children's toys are environmentally unfriendly. Often made of cheap materials and not made for a long life, they end up in the garbage and landfills within a year or two if lucky. And many are made of plastics, including PVC which may have health issues. Many toys also require batteries, and although there is nothing wrong with the occasional battery powered toy, they clearly aren't as environmentally friendly as say a solar powered, hand powered, or a toy powered by the imagination.
In looking for green toys, I look first for natural ingredients. Solid wood is high on the list as are natural fabrics. They are much better than plastics, especially soft plastics that might have PVC. Stuffed toys are also good too, although check what they are made of.
Well made durable toys are a top choice. You can often easily tell a cheap, shabbily made toy. They may be fun for a while, but won't last long with typical child behavior, whereas it's tough to destroy a wooden block for example.
Toys made of local materials, perhaps by local artisans, are best from the environmental standpoint. They are certainly much better than if the raw materials were shipped over seas and then the finished toys were shipped back, which is sometime the case. You may find locally made toys, usually high quality, at local fairs and even farmers markets sometimes.
Recycling toys is also very environmentally friendly. We have several plastic large toys, like slides and play houses, that although maybe we never would have bought, we got for free from someone who was done with them. Better they get reused than fill a landfill!
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