Paper toys are awesome, we know that much. Sadly, unlike traffic jams and waiting in lines, paper toys don’t last forever. The good news is that when the time comes for your paper toys to, shall we say, move on, there are great options for how to dispose of them ecologically.
Option 1: Recycling
Yes, paper with printer ink on it can be recycled! The recycling process will get rid of the ink, so placing the paper toys in the recycling bin is the best way to go. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind before doing so, because other materials used to assemble the toys might interfere with the recycling process.
Before placing the paper on the bin, make sure it has no large amounts of glue and no plastic sticky tape attached to it. Adhesives, glue, and tape cannot be recycled, therefore it is important to separate the areas of the paper that contain these substances. If the paper only has a little bit of glue on it, it is safe to put it in the recycling bin.
When it comes to our black and white paper toys, we recommend coloring pencils and color markers as coloring materials, because materials such as crayon and glitter cannot be recycled, and honestly, they are more likely to create a mess.
Option 2: Composting
Composting is a great alternative for the toys that end up with a lot of glue on them. Under the correct circumstances, printer paper, cardstock and even cardboard will completely biodegrade in up to 3 months!
If you or anyone in the family has a green thumb and handles composting for garden plants or homegrown fruits and vegetables, just throw your discarded paper toys into the compost pile.
Option 3: DYI Recycling
What if instead of placing the paper toys in the recycling bin, you use them to venture making your own recycled paper? Besides being an ecological option, this is also an alternative for a creative activity to do with your family.
Here you can find all the steps to make your own paper.
Jill also shares a great tutorial here for making beautiful homemade paper.
We from the Moon Paper Toys Club encourage teaching kids the importance of the three R's: reduce, reuse and recycle. But we suggest that, for best results and safety of all involved, all activities involving composting or DYI recycling should be supervised and aided by an adult.
Thanks for learning with us!
We hope you'll love and cherish your paper toys forever, of course, but should you decide to hop in a van with your family to see the world and just don't have the shelf space anymore, please consider disposing of your toys in an ecological and responsible way.
