Opportunities for India in a greening toy market

If kids can think about sustainability from a early stage

, it's more likely to be an innate behavior when the grow into adulthood. In that perspective, greeneing of the toys is great news for our beloved earth. While green toys account for less than 1 percent of the market, the number of products is growing. As reported in Businessweek, Researcher NPD Group, based in Port Washington, New York, estimated the toy industry's 2009 retail sales at $21.5 billion. This report suggests the market for "green" toys may hit $1 billion over the next five years, or roughly 5 percent of all toy sales.

While made f recyclable materials, the raw materials for green toys come cheap, the growth of earth-friendly toys has been hampered by the higher prices that accompany sustainable manufacturing, or making products while using renewable resources, less energy and creating less waste, particualrly as we are coming out of the recession. But the fact that Wal-Mart has been pushing the category, is helping build awareness. As Wal-Mart makes a bigger push into green toys, the supplier industry will have to respond. Toy sales accounted for as much as 7 percent of Wal-Mart's $258.2 billion in annual U.S. revenue last year. The results of such push from Wal Mart are already visible. Mattel has been working on reducing the size and amount of materials used in packaging and increasing the use of recycled content where possible. Several companies dedicated to green toy making are also emerging like Green Toys.

The materials that these toys are made out of - wood, minimal paints, recycled plastics - are what makes them greener than the competition. Green toys are also made from recycled materials and pose no threat to the environment. All materials that are used in green toys are natural, like bamboo. These toys are hardy, very durable and surprisingly lightweight, especially the ones made from bamboo. Some green toys are even being made from the recycled plastic of already used plastic bottles. This has also lead to the very low cost of making green toys since materials are very easy to come by. For example green toys claims the following about its toys:They are made from recycled milk containersThey are battery-free.They are non-toxic with no lead paints.They are BPA and Phthalate free (harmful plastics).They are packaged in recycled and recyclable materials.The Toys are 100% recyclableThey are environmentally friendly and create less green house gas.It is estimated that every pound of recycled jug that is used in the making of the green toys, saves energy equivalent to 3000 triple-A batteries which is equivalent to the energy required to power a TV set for 3 whole weeks. This energy can run a laptop computer for a month.So what is the opportunity for India here? Can we aim to be one of the leading players of this potential USD 1 Bn market in the US.

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Opportunities for India in a greening toy market

By: Olive

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