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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday June 27 2015, @08:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the plastic-free-plastic....-what'll-they-think-of-next dept.

The company will spend $1 billion and employ a team of 100 to find a sustainable alternative.

Although plastic may be one of the bigger banes of the environment, I've always secretly admired Lego for making toys that are so durable and historically consistent that they don't require replacement on a regular basis. I know plastic is awful, but all Lego would have to do is to revamp the toys' connecting system and zillions of eventually non-relevant Legos would have been sent packing to the landfill to make way for new ones; and Lego would have ensured a tidy profit on the sales of replacements. But they never did that. Plus, a distinct lack of planned obsolescence is a kind thing to provide for customers.

Given the Danish company's track record on sustainability, it doesn't seem like a fluke. They have been working on reducing packaging and have investments in offshore wind farms. Last year they discontinued their partnership with the oil company Shell. But it's their latest announcement that seals the deal. The company plans to replace the plastic in their plastic blocks with a sustainable material by 2030.

The biggest question is, will Lego ever produce general blocks again that you can use to build anything? Now their kits only build exactly the thing on the front of the box, such as a dragon or spaceship.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by goodie on Saturday June 27 2015, @11:57AM

    by goodie (1877) on Saturday June 27 2015, @11:57AM (#202044) Journal

    Yup, Lego is the one toy nobody ever throws away. The other day at my grandma's my kids were playing with a box of Lego pieces and other toy parts from my childhood. The Legos were a hit the others not so much because you couldn't make anything concrete with them.

    I think that it's fine that they are made of oil-based plastic because they are so durable. I'll take that over some crap that will only last a couple of years and require purchasing new stuff over and over. Same discussion about the recycling/reusing story we had on SN the other day (https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=15/06/23/0248211). My grandma's washer was heavy, made out of metal and other parts that required much energy to be produced. However, 30 years later it was still working like new unlike most of the crap I can buy nowadays (energy consumption during usage is another matter altogether, I understand that).

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Francis on Saturday June 27 2015, @12:18PM

    by Francis (5544) on Saturday June 27 2015, @12:18PM (#202048)

    And how much electricity and water is she wasting with it? Using something for a long time that wastes energy isn't necessarily a good thing. There's a reason why the local utility often offers a rebate on things like that. High efficiency models may well make up for the resources used to make them before too long.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @03:18PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @03:18PM (#202082)

      If it's well lubricated and still working smoothly it might not be that bad. A lot of times the energy costs is due to people washing stuff with warm or even hot water.

      So if you're washing in cold water it's not going to be a huge deal: http://www.landtechnik-alt.uni-bonn.de/ifl_research/ht_7/huw3_2005124_131_oldwm.pdf [uni-bonn.de]

      Especially if you're in Florida or somewhere where the water is warm enough that you don't need to heat it.

      To me the bigger issue is the older machines use a lot more water.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @06:26PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @06:26PM (#202172)

        In California, where we are in a severe drought, we have a legacy of generations of dumb local ordinances that outlawed using water a second time.
        There's a huge amount of water that goes into the black water pipe that should instead be used to water plants.
        Gray water system [google.com]

        .
        Back on topic:
        The amount of plastic that is used once then called trash would make our ancestors howl.
        I have to believe there are ways to use that to make non-critical manufactured parts instead of digging up more dead dinosaurs.
        For a parallel example, think of the pot metal used to make trim items (e.g. logos) used on cars.

        -- gewg_

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @09:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @09:16PM (#202224)

    Lego is the one toy nobody ever throws away.

    We still have the maple wooden blocks that we played with c.1960 and they are still popular with visiting kids. While they were well made, they aren't "perfect" like Lego, so when building structures, some selective fitting might be needed. Also, blocks can overlap any amount and be piled at any angle, unlike "digital" and "square" Lego that either lock together or not.

    Unfortunately, the maker, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Playthings [wikipedia.org] was sucked up by CBS... Our set is about like this one, http://daddytypes.com/2010/03/29/250_creative_playthings_maple_blocks_on_ebay.php [daddytypes.com]

    And of course by not land-filling the blocks, we have been unwittingly sequestering their carbon for the last 50+ years!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @09:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @09:32PM (#202230)

      Hey, we had those too. Remarkable the memories that instantly came back when I saw that picture.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @10:14PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @10:14PM (#202244)

        This looks like a second source for blocks with the same modular unit of 1⅜" x 2¾" x 5½",
              http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2013/a-company-built-on-blocks [communityplaythings.com]
        The page mentions,
        > Admittedly, Community Playthings wasn’t the first to sell Unit Blocks. That distinction probably goes to Frank Caplan of Creative Playthings.