Children never have enough

No, I don’t think parents care about the environmental impact of the toys they buy. I would look at it from the perspective of emotions and the excitement children get out of the purchase, more than the environmental impact. Purchasing toys has become a frequent habit for us, because you keep buying the toys that children request. After our children have used the toys, the only way they can be reused is by donating them. There are several charities in the UAE and we take our children with us when we go to donate these toys. I would say we donate almost half of the toys, because many of them are not in a condition to be donated.

There has definitely been an overconsumption of toys in the past few years but you cannot blame this on parents or children. The media has a lot to do in this scenario, as all the cartoon shows and films that expose children to characters and their adventures, makes them get excited about buying toys. So, as long as this industry is encouraging children, the behaviour is not going to change. If something has to be done for the environment, then it has to start from films and the manufacturers of these toys.

As a father, I try to show videos to my children of others who are not as privileged as they are and are living very different lives. I hope they pay attention to these lessons, so that it helps them become good people.

From Mr Shahran Bin Ahmad