Episode #35: How Can The Toy Industry Be More Sustainable with Leticia Suarez
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As much as we love toys, we have to be honest with ourselves and recognize the heavy toll that toys take on our planet. This episode focuses on sustainable materials and practices that can help make toy products less harmful to the environment. Today’s guest, Leticia Suarez, comes to the show with over 10 years of experience in toy and product design with a focus on sustainability.
Leticia joins The Toy Coach in a conversation about the changes we need to make as both an industry and a society to reduce our carbon footprint. What you’ll learn in this episode is the Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s concept of a circular economy. You will learn why it is more beneficial to our environment, that we re-think HOW toys are produced than WHAT they are made of.
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Connect with Leticia on LinkedIn.
Check out Leticia’s Work on Coroflot.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation: learn about the concept of a circular economy in depth www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
Free Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool: A free tool to measure product sustainability www.openlca.orgSima
Pro is a science-based, cost-effective tool that is the leading method to measure product sustainability. simapro.comCirculytics
Free tool to measure the circularity across your whole company is: www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/resources/apply/circulytics-measuring-circularity/method
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Azhelle
You were listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, Episode Number 35. Intro/Outro + JingleWelcome to Making It in The Toy Industry, a podcast for inventors and entrepreneurs like you. And now your host Azhelle Wade. AzhelleBefore jumping into today's episode, I want to tell you all about something super special that I've got in the works. Now this is for you if you're in love with learning with me on this podcast, and you have an amazing toy or game idea that you want to create and monetize. In September I will be opening the doors for you to register for my online digital course toy creators Academy. Now if you've already joined the email list, then you are ahead of the game and I can't wait to serve you when the doors open up. Toy creators Academy is going to teach you how to develop your toy ideas and turn them into a toy business. So if you'd love a little more toy-spiration from me and a whole lot of guidance, then head over to toycreatorsacademy.com and join the early access list. If you're on that list, you are going to be among the first to know when the doors open. And to top it all off, you are going to get the opportunity to join the course at an incredible rate that no one else will get not even my regular toy coach insiders. So if you've got a few great toy ideas inside of you, and you want to turn those ideas into a toy business, head over to toycreatorsacademy.com to learn even more. Okay, let's jump into the episode. Hey there toy people Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of Making It in The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by thetoycoach.com. On today's episode, I am joined by Leticia Suarez. Leticia studied industrial design at Montclair State union versity she worked as a product designer for nine years and five of those years she spent in the toy industry. Now I've found out in talking to Leticia that we're actually both vets from Toys R Us, Leticia worked there making baby toys and puzzle soft books and plush characters for the lines Bruin and Imaginarium. From there, she moved to Samsonite, where her journey into sustainability began. Leticia worked on developing Samsonite first luggage collection made of recyclable materials called Eco New. And currently, Leticia is a post grad student at Brunel University in London, working on her Master's of Science and entrepreneurship and design. So, today, Leticia is here to talk to us about sustainability, and why it's not just about the materials but also about defining a sustainable process. Creating a circular economy. Now what does that all mean? I'm just learning myself. So that's why we have Leticia here to explain it to us. Welcome to the show Leticia.
Leticia
Thank you. I'm very happy to be here.
Azhelle
Well, to get started, why don't you talk to my listeners a little bit about what you're doing right now in London, you know, you left us and you moved on to get your post grad in London. So what are you doing right now?
Leticia
So the post grad is based on sustainability and entrepreneurship and design. And as you already mentioned, my background is in product design. So I'm trying to enhance some of the knowledge in sustainability and entrepreneurship. And right now I'm in the process of doing my dissertation. And the dissertation is a business model based on circularity and is aiming to solve the inefficiencies is in the brewing production. And the idea is to do constant research and creative thinking and analyzing all the byproducts that, you know, beer brewing process creates. And so the idea is that by analyzing all the lifecycle assessment of brewing, we can find like solutions. And then by finding the solutions, hopefully I can create a completely circular business model where there is no waste.
Azhelle
Wow. So you said the circular business model, what is that? What is that mean? Like what is a circular economy you keep telling me about?
Leticia
So when we talk about circular economy, one of the things that you should also think is the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. They're the ones that put together the whole concept and started working with industries in order to create the concept and see how they could apply these ideas. So, in simple image, imagine a line a straight line, that will be the linear economy, right? So is based on, take make and waste. So, when you put into the system, it becomes waste. Now, think of a circle, right? So, the idea is that what you take and make you don't waste you actually put it back into the system, and the idea is to keep products in the economy as long as possible. So we don't, you know, over extract natural resources from our planet.
Azhelle
Wow, okay, got it. Now, when I when I first reached out to you, I remember my very first question. And this was a question I actually got from a listener and that's why I reached out to you was, what kind of materials are there that toy people can use or maybe should be using to make more sustainable products. But you were saying it's not so much about the product about the material. It's more about the process at which you make the toys. And that's what you're talking about with a circular process.
Leticia
Some true to it, of course, the materials are really important just because I wouldn't tell you Oh, yeah, use the most toxic materials. Of course not.The materials that you pick are very, let's say they don't hurt the environment, at the end of life, in ideal perspectives, right. So for example, I don't know we have a big problem with plastics, right? So only 9% of the world's plastic is recycled today. So the rest this is going to our ocean or land-field, you know, everywhere. So we're breathing and drinking micro plastics pretty much every day.
Azhelle
So you mentioned there are some really toxic materials what are the best possible materials that may be a toy person could be using today instead of plastics maybe.
Leticia
So, I mean, instead of plastics we could go into thinking wood, of course. I mean, there are some good alternatives to wood, like plantoys they are already using natural rubber wood from trees that are no longer producing latex. what's
Azhelle
what's a rubber wood?
Leticia
Yes, there is just a tree and yeah, extract the wood. Do you use the trees pretty much. And the thing is they used to produce latex from those trees. And then they ran out of the cycle producing, you know, you know, for the production of latex. So what they do is they use that wood and which is a byproduct, let's say, of the latex industry. And then they use it for their toys. So those toys are painted with like water, bass and natural dyes. And also they're using sawdust, and they pressure molded, so they can still use organic shapes instead of being so rigid, you know, as usually, wooden toy has, you know that we're in DBT.
Azhelle
So the rubber wood, the sawdust, and then natural dyes you're talking about you, we always talk about how being sustainable is more expensive. So do you have any idea about how much more expensive that process would be then just you know, using plastics as we always use them?
Leticia
I don't have like a specific percentage. Yeah, but for example, going back to plastics are evil plastics, even though you know, they're a great material. Let's not take that away. But for example, with COVID-19, the crude oil prices went so low, and now is cheaper to just use virgin plastic versus recycle. So if I told you Oh, you should maybe incorporate X amount of, you know, of recycled plastic into your products to make it a little bit more sustainable. Well in might just increase your price just by picking that X amount percentage also, I mean, there is a lot of industries that are committing to using for example 25% of their plastics are recycled. So the demand for recycled racing is increasing. And there is not enough recycling happening. As I mentioned, it's only 9% of the world's plastics is recycled. So, it's creating a big problem. You know right now,
Azhelle
Even trying to recycle is creating a problem.
Leticia
Yes. Why
Azhelle
do you think that so few such a low percentage of people are recycling?
Leticia
It's not so much that few people are not recycling. The problem is that our recycling system is not designed to take that many materials. So for example, I think you are aware that China stopped taking the recycle materials from the US.
Azhelle
Right.
Leticia
So now all this recycle materials are just being incinerated or going to land-field because there is no capacity to take the recycling and process it.
Azhelle
Oh, wow,
Leticia
We need more investment in the infrastructure to make recycling a more profitable business idea, I guess.
Azhelle
Maybe that's so interesting. Like maybe instead of companies, I know there are a lot of Kickstarter campaigns that will say, eco friendly product or eco friendly this. Maybe it would make more sense if people start saying, with every one of our sales, we're going to donate in you know, to some organization or foundation in order to help build more recycling plants.
Leticia
Yeah, and that could be so like, again, going back to how do we design we need to think circular So who are the stakeholders, the whole value chain and think okay, If my aim is, I mean, again, recycling should be your last resource when you're thinking on how to make circular really before then you should think of, Okay, can it be reused by someone else? Can it be refurbished? You know, like there are other steps before you get into recycling recycling should be your is an off base technology pretty much.
Azhelle
You know I a good friend of mine actually she had this school project where she proposed a toy recycling program. And her concept was that when one child is grows out of a toy, it would kind of they would send it back into to a company and then that company would send that toy to a younger child and it was kind of like a, you know, you're kind of passing down toys and recycling that right. But I've always wondered if that idea or the idea of thinking about how your product can be reused is also unsustainable because, you know, you need fuel and people to transport that product all over the world, you know, like, what's the better option?
Leticia
Well, I think we can only think of I mean, you're correct that transportations to another country that's crazy to you know, the transport. Transportation is gonna have a high carbon footprint. So yeah, in theory, you want to find a solution that is local. So being local is also part of being sustainable, right? Because it's easier to recuperate those materials and put them back into the system instead of okay. I mean, just think of recycling if we're sending it all the way to China. Oh my god, like, that's ridiculous. Like, we should keep it in house. And also just keep in mind for to make a product you have to extract materials. So just the fact that you don't have to extract materials is saving you. resources, energy, water, you know, in all the production. So at the end the idea of Yeah, keeping products alive. Is it sustainable? how we do it? That's another question. But that's why sustainability is so complex. And we have to think of all the different participants. And not just one, one straightforward answer.
Azhelle
No, yeah, that's a great point. It's a good thing to start thinking about because I feel like maybe as some of these small I, you know, I meet a lot of small inventors and toy companies, you know, they're just starting up. But if they go into it, and they're already shipping very locally, maybe they can start approaching their business from a more sustainable mindset. And maybe they start thinking about directing their customers to do a certain thing with their product when they're done with it instead of just throw it away. You know, when your child outgrows this product, send it back here to get some a rebate or to get something so that they can recycle it and put it back into the system instead of like, like you're saying, having to extract new materials.
Leticia
Yeah.
Azhelle
So what from your experiment? You've been in the toy industry, you've been out at a luggage company trying to make sustainable materials. What do you think? Just what do you think is the biggest challenge that the toy industry faces when trying to be more sustainable?
Leticia
Well, I think the biggest challenge is the short life cycle that the toys have. So you know, they're they're designed for a specific development agents. So for example, toy is targeted for infants and preschoolers usually just last for a few months or, you know, a few years. And so the shorter the product life cycle, the bigger the environmental impact. So the toy industry might challenge the concept of ownership and think of service alternatives. So there are more sustainable solutions. So so what I mean is, perhaps, you need to challenge Okay, what if, for example, you get just a service, where you just get the toys that you need for that stage of the child's development. Instead of, Okay, I'm gonna buy a lot of toys for my kids, like, maybe just circulates and actually doing research for this interview, I ran into a company that is called toy box plots, and is exactly where I'm just telling you say it again.
Azhelle
What's it called?
Leticia
Toy Box Club,
Azhelle
Toy Box Club.
Leticia
Yeah, those are monthly subscription, and is for preschool children. And so they delivered toys and books to your home every month. And then, you know, you subscribe as long as you want. And so it's great because first, you don't have to store the toys in the garage. For
Azhelle
do they take back the toys? Like once they've outgrown them? Or is it just you keep them?
Leticia
No, they take them back. So is a subscription for you to have the service of having the toys for your child while they are needing them? Because, again, kids, you know, they grow so fast and their development is so fast that they just need certain toys for very little months or even years. So why not? stapler, you know those products instead of a stain on your home, where you just accumulate them.
Azhelle
But then that's what's what's what I'm wondering now is You know, this is a similar concept to the idea that I told you my friend had where you recycle toys that you outgrow. But how realistic is this to implement to make sure that it's less of a carbon footprint than throwing out the toys? Because you don't know where your orders are going to come from? So how local Do you have to get to be sustainable? Is it local to the country? Is it local to, you know, the region? Like what? How local Do you have to get?
Leticia
So, I think we're going to lifecycle assessment. Usually, the raw materials extraction is the biggest carbon footprint. Like I was recently doing a lifecycle assessment for a toothbrush. And then it was ridiculous, like even if I made the toothbrush in China, and brought it to Europe to be solved, just from the fact that he was made out of bamboo which is a more sustainable material than plastic itself. That just gave me a huge difference in the carbon footprint, even if the toothbrush was made in Germany to be sold in the UK. So the transportation, of course plays a big game in the carbon footprint. But I think the biggest challenge is extracting the materials because there is not enough resources for the consumption that we are demanding right now.
Azhelle
How do you do this? What did you call it? The calculation of
Leticia
lifecycle assessment?
Azhelle
Yeah. How do you do a lifecycle assessment?
Leticia
So I mean, there are different programs that you could use for that. So there is the one I was talking about, I use, it's called CES. And there is another one called Semi Pro. But for example, going back to Ellen MacArthur Foundation, they they just started offering lifecycle assessment tool, and it's free.
Azhelle
So there's so there's a free tool that will help you do a lifecycle assessment for your product.
Leticia
Yes, they help like the company. Let's say for example, I'm doing, you know, the monkey toy idea. So if I had more data about my business, I could go there and plug in all the information is called circulate x.
Azhelle
How would you recommend that we reduce our eco footprint as toy people? Like what is the easiest thing that we people can do right now that they're just not even trying and they're not doing?
Leticia
Well, as I mentioned before, instead of owning so many toys perhaps we need to rethink ownership in the toy industry and start providing more of a service base type of business.
Azhelle
That's, but that's a big that's you know, that's building a whole supply and distribution change that chain. That's a big shift. And
Leticia
It is, is the only way we can survive. Really, if we think about all that is happening. I mean, if we want to survive, we have to transform. And Ellen MacArthur Foundation recently was like, okay, is it transforming or transition? And the answer is we have to transform, we cannot transition, we don't have time to transition under the current consumer demand. And so like, according to the UN, in 2050, based on the projections that population is going to be like 9.6 million, a billion, like we will need three planets in order to subsidize that amount of natural resources that we need. You know, to continue our current lifestyle. So it's impossible we have to change.
Azhelle
I wonder if there's going to be more of an opportunity because what I'm seeing now in the toy industry is things are shifting online because of COVID. And maybe this change, you know, this that stopped everybody from being able to go out and go to stores is the opportunity to make some major shift like this where we're, you know, you're ordering online, a subscription service that's a little bit more controlled with how many resources it's using up to deliver you something. Yeah, I'm wondering if now it's now probably is actually the best time that somebody could try to introduce something completely different to the industry because, you know, now retailers are not getting as much foot traffic.
Leticia
Yeah, I think COVID-19 is making us reevaluate our life priorities in many ways, and of the market returns is going to prove that people are going to demand more real environmental actions versus just, oh, we're eco friendly. Are you? Like, I want transparency. Like I want to see the supply chain, I want to know, who is your supplier? Like I think is going to continue being tougher for businesses to actually be sustainable.
Azhelle
Have you ever thought about what like the ideal supply chain would look like for for business like toys where we're, we're, the product life is very short. And have you ever thought about what that would look like? Huh? Yeah, I just wanted to stop talking here.
Leticia
I'm not sure. Right. I guess. I mean, we'll have to i the only ideally, we will stop consuming sunlight. Like ideally, we should should be recuperating more of our values. And I don't know living, simpler, simpler life. You know, I think globalization hurt us a lot. And now we think too big and we forget. Oh, wait, what about we enjoy dinner? And we enjoy the little can we have by the window growing? But yeah, when it comes to toys, I'm not sure how to make it a better supply chain, I guess it will have to come back to pick the correct materials even though I'm not giving you a straight answer. Of course, I wish I could give you a Okay Here are three wonderful materials that every designer should consider for toys is more like, we need to think of the lifecycle really. That's all I can think from a design perspective. Right? like just consider where are the materials coming from? So if it is going to take too much to make this little toy, perhaps rethink, you know, what do we need?
Azhelle
And also just what you were saying before there's not there's even a demand like too much demand for recyclable materials. So what about the biodegradable plastics that you were telling me about?
Leticia
So, yes, so there are bio base and biodegradable right. So for example, PMA, which is stands for poly lactic acid is one of them and is like a thermoplastic is pretty much just As we were using , but is based on biobank the problem with these plastics is that is plant based. So it's food pretty much we're using our food to make products. So no yeah they is based on corn starch or tapioca roots or sugar cane. So, where you know the other plastics are based on petroleum. So of course, I would rather have plastic made out of cornstarch and so, they have the potential right to be a better material. The problem is, a lot of these biodegradable materials they must be recycle in a commercial composting facility because they, they need to have control like composting conditions. So when you send it to industrial composting facility, they have the correct temperatures and the correct condition. For these plastics to actually biodegrade, if you throw them in your backyard, they will take forever to biodegrade. Perhaps, just like plastic will never biodegrade. So they need high temperatures in order to actually do the whole decomposition process
Azhelle
to you're burning more energy to keep the high temperatures and to, like give electricity to the building to the facility that has to compose them.
Leticia
Actually, that's a good question.
Azhelle
Unless it's solar powered,
Leticia
actually, I'm not sure how they control the composting conditions.
Azhelle
So the biodegradable plastic is really our best option. If we're going to continue trying to use a plastic is it more expensive?
Leticia
I'm not sure if it's more expensive, but the problem is that I don't think we're there yet to, again, to supply or demand. Yeah, we have to change our consumer behaviors to consume too much. Like, everything comes back.
Azhelle
Yeah, everything comes back to the consumer. You know, the hard part is that so many companies have, they're used to making a certain amount of money every year. So if they reduce the volume that they put out, and they sell, they're going to have to increase the prices, and the customers are going to have to get used to this price increase. So it's, I don't know it's gonna be a very, it's either going to be a very slow change, or it would have to be I think, an overnight government order that says you can only produce this much so then all these companies feel that they have a you know, almost a reason to tell their customers like hey, there's now there's going to be less supply more demand and there and therefore our prices are going to be more expensive. But it's all happening because we're saving the planet. Like, I think that's the only way that that would all change.
Leticia
Yeah, I mean, you're talking legislation, which is very, very important for us to reach sustainability really, like we need the government to push for businesses to do the correct thing. It shouldn't be this way. It should be the business wants to do the ethically correct. You know, production. But yeah, legislation is always one of those things that pushes industries to going to clean technologies or improve their production practices. But there's no I was gonna say, that's why we go back to the conversation of, can we change the concept of ownership and just come up with a new business model where we can just share those materials again, like how many times when you're saying that, in the I mean, outside the houses,
Azhelle
you know what, I wonder if it actually might not be a bad idea? Have you changed the ownership? Because what if it could, it could open up new job opportunities, because imagine if kids are sending their toys back when they're done. And obviously, they're not going to be in perfect condition. But then maybe there's a new job market for people that like repair and fix and touch up locally toys so that they can be put back into local stores, and then like resold at maybe a less price, or maybe not even less price, because that's just that's just the way things are done now. So I think that idea of like reusing could be really interesting, and it might create new jobs.
Leticia
Yes, I love hearing you talk like that. Oh, yeah.
Azhelle
That's a good idea. Well, I mean, high the high end industries you're doing and I have a friend who who's a watchmaker, and they don't just throw out their thousand dollar watches, you know, they get them fixed. So Whoa, whoa, yeah. So if we started looking at everything as valuable as high brand products, like, you know, high, you know, top brand products, and we start saying even this $20 dollar doll is valuable to us as a community as a world, then it's valuable enough to fix that, you know, it's worth paying for someone to fix it than it is for destroying the world to make a new one.
Leticia
Yeah, definitely is interesting. I feel like I did my job with you, that's the
Azhelle
other so I really wanted to do this episode because I feel like there are some people that are new to the toy industry and they have an idea and they might be able to make something like this happen, but they may but but they just need to have the idea planted. So like that's why I wanted to have you on just to like plant the idea. So that if somebody out there has a simple toy They're just starting with an idea. They can make a system. They don't have to do it exactly the way everyone else has done it.
Leticia
That's correct. Yeah.
Azhelle
Good. Okay. All right. What my last Oh, wait, no, I have a couple questions Who? Sorry. Sorry, I'm keeping you for so long. Okay, I have a couple of questions. Okay. So have you ever heard of terracycle?
Leticia
Yes, yes. Okay. So
Azhelle
you have even before I told you, yes. Okay, good. So I mean, just for anyone listening. terracycle is an innovative recycling company. They become a global leader in recycling, hard to recycle materials. I know them because they'd started working with several toy companies to make them a part of their recycling program. And I think what they do is they have the toy companies write something On the back of the box at the bottom of the box about sending your product into terracycle when you're done with it, so that they can recycle it. So what do you think about, you know, is this action enough?
Leticia
I mean, is not enough but in the right direction, okay. They're amazing. Yeah. And they have brought a lot of innovation and, you know, is a new business model. So I love them. But, again, we should come see they're more than just the product and of life, which is the recycling really, again, recycling news and enough pipe technology, the last resource, so don't think of recycle as a great thing. Actually. Try to avoid getting to the recycling part. Continue challenging yourself. Okay. Then what? And then what? And then one with four you're going to and then we recycle the toy.
Azhelle
So why do you love terracycle so much like, what is it?
Leticia
Because they were one of the pioneers on this whole, you know, packaging and recuperating the materials and recycling them. So they are really good. They have great ideas and I think they're getting traction globally.
Azhelle
So actually, now that you mentioned packaging, do you do you ever look at packaging and think like, Oh, they could just be doing it could be saving a little bit more money.
Leticia
Yeah, definitely. I mean, packaging is a big problem. And and there is a lot of initiatives globally, like there is an important commitment happening is called the new plastics economy and is by the UN. The UN and Ellen MacArthur. They, you know, put introduced together to come up with this commitment and is about like, reducing the packaging carbon footprint But just well first there comedian so people is they're using recycled materials in the packaging as well as reducing the plastic. So yes, of course we can always work with packaging. And one of the interesting company that you can think of innovative materials is called Ecovative.
Azhelle
I see Ecovative Design, who's New York based, okay New York.
Leticia
And they make compostable materials. They're made out of mycelium. And so it can be compost, even at home, because, you know, they're actually biodegradable materials. So there are solutions into also packaging, because there's another carbon footprint, like, again talking about life cycle, the life cycle of packaging. It's eventually shorter than your product? Yes. got home? Yeah, throw it away. Right. So it's bigger. In fact, of course,
Azhelle
how important do you think that it is to convey the importance of recycling? To your end consumer and honestly, just to children?
Leticia
Ah, children,
Azhelle
like how important do you think it is to convey and? And also, I feel? I don't know, tell me if you agree with this. I feel like the recycling imagery is not even big enough. Like it's not obvious enough that you should be recycling this.
Leticia
Definitely lay that's a big problem. Like, you get a I mean, just think of the products you have at home. You don't even know what plastics are made of. Right. So how do you even know if you can send them to the recycling center? Exactly. It's a big challenge. So yeah, I think it's important definitely to communicate that in the packaging. Okay, this package is recyclable. So
Azhelle
Yeah, here's how that's important. I mean, I live in New York. So they for you know, everyone's forced to kind of recycle. But I feel when I didn't live in New York, I didn't really know where to go before. I mean, now more more places have the bins, but you don't know if you don't know how to do it, then you just end up throwing things away.
Leticia
Yeah. It is pretty sad. It's true. And I don't know it's something that I have like about the UK so far is like their packaging have served a certain label. And it says like Wiley recycle, or not recycled yet, or it tells
Azhelle
what doe that mean
Leticia
like it is actually easy to recycle so widely. Widely recycle meaning like most of the facilities will recycle it because that's the other problem with recycling. Right. So is each area has its own materials that they recycle and Ones that they don't. So it's insane. Like we don't even have a system that tells us Oh, yeah, food all day a, you know, number one in the bin because we will always take it.
Azhelle
Where can you find that out? Like where those those facilities are and what they take,
Leticia
I believe for each area, if you go into the website, they should tell you which materials they actually take in. I mean, it's, it's insane. I mean, recycling is a difficult thing.
Azhelle
That's why you're saying you don't even want to go there. That's why you're like you don't even want to get to recycling. You want to do something before?
Leticia
Yeah, because we're not ready for it. We our system is not designed for it, really. So I mean, I'm taking from this like one. I mean, right now, you if you're going to make a change, it has to be slow. If you're already Have a toy company, right?
Azhelle
But what I'm getting from this is one, maybe instead of trying to tout that you have an eco friendly product, maybe actually give something back to help build more recycling plants, if that's if that's a possibility if there's somewhere to donate for that, and then to start to slowly shift and give options to reuse your product or re gift your product when you're done with it. Yeah, it's a good idea. Okay, so this is great. I wonder if you could possibly give us a visual of how big of an impact a small change to recycling could make on the health of our planet? Let's say if we, you know, let's say if we recycle, like double like 18% or something, or if we, how much would we have to cut down our consumerism in order to make it to you know, 22,001 100 you know, like,
Leticia
like, war, I don't have like a specific amount. But I would say that recycling will help us to stop extracting natural resources at a rate that the planet cannot handle. So, if we're recycling, we're moving towards a better sustainable world. And so it will help them save energy and natural resources. And also, you know, will reduce greenhouse emissions because when you recycle, you're also reducing how many gas emissions you're doing. So it will help us address our climate change emergency. And there is one interesting number that I found is that, according to the global recycling Foundation, recycle saves over 700 million tons in co2 emissions each year. And that's with the little percentage that I tell you, we recycle Cool worldwide. So just imagine if we actually implemented better like practices, we will save even more and perhaps make a big difference.
Azhelle
Well, thank you. Oh, this is a great conversation. I think I learned so much. And I think my listeners will do this. Yeah, I hope you enjoyed it. Yeah, I did. Very much. Is there anything else you want to share about? I don't know. Just anything you have going on if you want. If you want to lead us to I don't know your website for your business if you have one yet. Or maybe, maybe not.
Leticia
Yeah, I'm not there yet. Either. Yeah. Okay.
Azhelle
We're still in development.
Leticia
I'm trying to graduate.
Azhelle
That's important. do that first.
Leticia
Yeah.
Azhelle
But I could if you want link everyone to your LinkedIn if you want people to connect with you there. Yeah, sounds great. That sounds good. Okay, so everyone can connect with Leticia on LinkedIn, and then maybe when her business is up and running, you can check that out. Good luck with that. And we're also going to put in all of the links to all the places you mentioned, like Ecovative Design, Ellen, Ellen MacArthur Foundation lifecycle assessment, designing for a circular economy. There's a whole bunch of great resources. And thank you so much for taking the time to do this call. I know you've got a dissertation to write. Let's see. Oh,
Leticia
man, this is a great distraction.
Azhelle
No, it's terrible. I don't want to be a part of that. Go get your masters. Oh, man, thank you so much. It was a pleasure. I hope you enjoyed this frequently listener requested episode all about sustainability with a focus on the toy industry. I have been receiving emails and requests for an episode about sustainability since this podcast began. So I'm really happy to have found Leticia and been able to have her as a guest on the show today to share with us a new perspective on sustainability. Now instead of seeking out recyclable or recycled materials for our products, we can make a much needed much larger impact by designing toy businesses that follow the concept of a circular economy. We have to start problem solving how we can create toy products that have a second and a third life before they're meant to be broken down and recycled or, you know even worse and up in a landfill. We have to innovate our designs to reduce waste in manufacturing, transportation, and we've got to reevaluate the concept of product ownership and consider collaborations as necessary as purchase orders. We have to problem solve how we can Build natural systems that are inherently renewable into our toy development process. And since so many of my listeners are aspiring to be entrepreneurs and inventors, I would be really proud if this episode could inspire you to innovate the standard toy company's business model. And instead of just innovating the products that it sells. Now, I don't often give a sneak peek into next week's episode. But today is a special day because next week, I'm going to be featuring a children's company founded by a mompreneur that thrives on a sustainable circular based business model much like we were talking about today. My hope is that these two episodes back to back will get your creative juices flowing toId people so that we can be a better industry for our planet. Okay, it's time for another listener spotlight and today's review is from Dr. Robyn Koslowitz. It's Dr. Koslowitz it says I stumbled upon Making It in The Toy Industry when I was assigned to cover Toy Fair by a print publication and I was doing some background research. If you're ever going to visit Toy Fair, a jealous episode about Toy Fair are a must listen. Once I listened to one episode, I was hooked. Even though I'm not a toy inventor yet as gel makes it sense so possible, I might just put my thinking cap on and try. I find her guidance invaluable for many areas of business and entrepreneurship. She also has a very engaging presentation style, a great voice and a really entertaining but crystal clear way of explaining things. This is one of my favorite podcast. Thank you so much for that awesome review. Dr. Koslowitz. I remember seeing it come through on my phone and it put a huge smile on my face. Please if you haven't already and you love this podcast, Leave me a review and let me know what you loved about the latest episode. I love to hear it and your review might be read on the next show. As always, thank you so much for showing up with me here today. I know there are a ton of podcasts out there so it means the world to me that you listen to this one. Until next week. I'll see you later toy people. Intro/Outro + Jingle
Thanks for listening to Making It in The Toy Industry podcast with Azhelle Wade, head over to thetoycoach.com for more information, tips and advice
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