Our family tries to be very thoughtful about the kinds and amounts of products we buy, especially those of plastic origin. But to look around inside our house, you wouldn’t know it. Before we had children, my wife and I agreed to do our best not to contribute to the overabundance of plastic toys in this world, especially purchasing brand new ones. Unfortunately, those who give us gifts were not subject to this agreement.

Before we go on, I should disclose that I am not going to offer a solution as to how to tell your loved ones not to give you or your children plastic toys for holiday gifts. That’s for you and your partner (and your therapist) to decide together. However, if you have a workable solution, please comment below, because I am in the market for one.

Plastics manufacturers and eco-conscious people and groups have been engaged in a long and storied war. The victors, far and away, have been the plastic manufacturers. There are many, many obvious conveniences associated with plastic. Toys in particular are a very thorny and difficult territory to navigate with kids and friends and families alike. And I get it. I was a kid once, as I am a parent now. That toys are beneficial is not controversial: kids play with them, obviously. They help activate and keep engaged the imaginations that are so important in early childhood development. Not to mention that toys, to the kids that possess them, can serve as a certain type of status symbol within their peer group. It’s a childhood rite of passage to either possess a certain toy or be jealous of another child that possessed a certain toy. Not arguing that it’s good, but it is typical.

I think about and experience eco-guilt a lot. Hey, it’s a thing! If you are at all eco-conscious, you are bound to experience it one day. It’s practically unavoidable. One thing I think all of us struggle with, is the pressure we put on ourselves to avoid at all costs appearing hypocritical. And then there is the always frustrating fact that you cannot control the behavior and habits of others. As consumers and individuals, we can only do our best to be mindful of our decisions, and we can only do so much as it pertains to the choices made by others, even when they affect us directly.

The one thing my wife and I have tried our best to do, when we have failed not to acquire the types of toys in question, is to keep them in good shape so that one day we can give them away, either to individuals or organizations. That way they don’t go into a landfill somewhere (just yet). The other thing we have done is gladly accept pre-owned toys from friends on multiple occasions. When we do buy toys, we also try to first check second-hand stores to see if they have what my kids are looking for.

It may feel frustrating to read this and think that there is no concrete solution suggested. But that is a practical reality of trying to save our planet from our excesses, sometimes there aren’t easy solutions that can be suggested. Sometimes you have to acknowledge the difficulty and find your own way to navigate through it. It’s easy for me to demand that you never buy plastics again. But how realistic is that? I want you, dear reader, to know that I understand, I empathize, and yet I try. And we cannot succeed without trying.

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