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Junkyard toys are cheap and quickly abandoned, often due to breakage or loss of appeal. They can end up in landfills and harm the environment. Solutions include reducing plastic toy production and buying sustainable toys.
Anyone who has been a parent, teacher, or basitter has experienced the frustration of junkyard toys, even if they weren’t aware of the term. Dump toys get their moniker from the fact that they are usually cheap and are likely to be thrown away fairly quickly. Not all cheap toys are junk toys; the term is saved for toys that are quickly abandoned – likely end up in a landfill – for a variety of reasons.
A toy can become a landfill toy due to breakage. Toys that are poorly made or cheap often aren’t able to withstand heavy use by children. Most commonly made from inexpensive plastic, junkyard toys can break, melt, or fall apart. This can make the toy completely unusable or simply less appealing, leading children to abandon the toy and condemn it to a landfill.
Even toys that aren’t broken can quickly lose their appeal. Toys featuring cartoon or movie characters that have lost popularity or that kids grew up with are quickly relegated to piles or trash cans. A toy that was essential to a child’s existence last week may now be forgotten or despised.
Anyone who has bought any type of children’s meal at a fast food restaurant has probably come into contact with a junkyard toy. McDonald’s Happy Meals® was the first example of fast food dump toys and included inexpensive toys that were usually made of plastic and not built to last. Today, many fast food restaurants offer toys that feature characters from popular children’s movies. Other popular junk toys are given as prizes at schools and carnivals and include plastic animals, cheap plastic jewelry, skydiving figures, and more.
Adults have their own version of junk toys. Even if an adult probably isn’t collecting fast-food toys or cheap plastic prizes from school, he or she may be hoarding electronic gadgets that wear out or need to be replaced quickly. These “toys” are usually more harmful to the environment and public health than the children’s version, as they often tend to include heavy metals or other toxic materials that can contaminate soil or groundwater if not disposed of properly.
Attempts to stem the tide of landfill toys include movements to reduce the amount of plastic toys being manufactured, shopping at thrift stores, recycling and donating those toys, and buying toys made from sustainable materials. Additionally, many parents are becoming concerned about the possibility of these toys containing toxic materials such as lead, especially when they are manufactured in a country with few regulations.
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