TURNING OLD TOYS INTO JOY

PARENTS can spread a little joy at the same time as saving the environment thanks to a new toy recycling program in Cairns.

BIG W has expanded its Toys for Joy recycling campaign, making it a permanent fixture in stores nationwide. The campaign involves turning preloved children’s toys into benches, fences and playground equipment.

Cairns mum-of-two Sivonne Price said it made for a fantastic way to declutter the house as her kids got older.

“I don’t like the idea of them going to landfill, and knowing that the things that my kids have grown out of is being recycled and upcycled into playground equipment and stuff makes me very happy.”

It’s estimated that Aussies are binning a staggering 26.8 million toys every year.

One of the nation’s largest toy retailers, BIG W in partnership with recycling company Terracycle hope to help combat those figures by offering Toys for Joy recycle bins in each of their 176 stores across Australia, including its Cairns store.

Big W has begun a national campaign to recycle preloved toys, with a recycling centre at the front of its Earlville store. Cairns siblings Elizabeth Evans, 10, and Gilles Evans, 7, place some toys into the basket. Picture: Brendan Radke