Sun, sea, sand and water play - I just love the summer! Natural vitamins to the soul and body. Summer is the time when we slow down and gear up for the darker month ahead of us.
One of the things we enjoy as a family is going to the beach. No trip to the beach without sun hat, bathing suit and of course water and beach toys. We always enjoy our outings whether we are going to the beach, into the woods or just for a stroll in the park. We repeatedly tell our little son to always collect all his stuff and never throw paper or waste on the ground - if you can't see a garbage can, just take your waste with you and throw it out when you get home.
It's really sad and frustrating that so many people don't have any respect for nature nor for each other. Every time we go to the playground I find paper from candy and ice cream lying around in the sand together with plastic containers, snack bags etc. - there is indeed a garbage can in a corner of the playground, why not throw in there and leave the place clean for everybody to enjoy? Same thing applies to the beach. People like to bring snacks, lunch, water in plastic bottles and juice in boxes - that's great, but please clean up after yourself, don't just leave all your garbage and leftovers in the sand!
For some reason children often times forget some of their beach toys on the beach. Cheap plastic toys easily break and when broken for sure they're not as fun to play with. Since the toy only costs a couple of dollars it's easy to forget or just leave behind, and many parents will rather buy a new toy at the dollar store to bring along next time they go to the beach. Eventually the new beach toy will break too and be left behind in the sand... and so it goes on and on.
What these people forget or ignore is that plastic pollutes tremendously - in fact it can take 300-500 years to biodegrade!! Some of the left behind beach toys will be picked up by other kids who will enjoy playing with them and maybe bring them home; some of the broken toys will be picked up and thrown into a garbage can; and some will actually be picked up and thrown into a container for recycled materials - which of course is the better option. This way they might be recycled into new more eco-friendly toys. But some of the plastic toys that are left behind on the beach (as well as other garbage!) will drift into the sea, pollute the waters, endanger the species living in the water and eventually mess up the whole eco-system.
Fortunately there are other much better options than the cheap plastic beach toys: Eco-friendly beach toys. You should choose eco-friendly beach toys because they
- are better for the environment
- are safe non-toxic toys for your children
- have better design
- are nicer to look at
- are durable
Some might argue that the price is an issue. Sure, eco-friendly beach toys are more expensive than the brightly coloured plastic toys you can get for just a couple of dollars, but you can actually get really nice eco-friendly beach toys for $15 - $20 - which I think is pretty cool for a great beach toy you are happy to take out summer after summer.
What you choose is up to you, but I will rather pay $15 for a good non-toxic toy which I will keep and look forward to take out again next summer than $5 over and over again for plastic toys that are bad for the environment and might even be toxic for my child.
Children are more likely to take good care of their things when they are of good quality. They will make sure to collect and bring home their good and solid eco-friendly toys from the beach and the playground, because these toys don't easily break and are fun to play with again and again. So next time you look for beach toys, try an eco-friendly toy and you will see the difference.
