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