EFFIE BATEMAN | Lifestyle | Contact
A local woman in need of a last minute gift for her nephew’s birthday has settled on a cheap sandbox kit, which he’ll likely play with for five minutes before it spends the rest of eternity in the landfill.
Defending her decision to purchase a junk gift, due to ‘Sam being spoiled’’, Leslie Mason, 29, says it was hard buying a gift for a toddler who has everything – citing that the $15 hunk of plastic will do him just fine.
“He’s got that many toys, it’d just be a waste of money buying him something nice”, she explains, “plus Christmas isn’t that far away.”
“I don’t even understand why they’re throwing a party for a three year old anyway?”
“It’s not like he’ll remember anything.”
Showing our reporter a brightly coloured bucket and spade, which Sam probably already have given he has a sandbox, Leslie says she could have chosen something a bit more sustainable but that she only had a couple of hours notice before the party.“Yeah I totally forgot about it until mum messaged me, so I just did a quick trip to Kmart”, she admits, “it’s no harm though, the planet’s screwed anyway.”
Unbeknownest to Leslie, it’s not only the planet that is harmed by microplastics and the chemicals released from plastics, but humans as well, with studies linking phthalates in plastic to neurodevelopmental disorders and insulin resistance in children, and reproductive problems and obesity in adults, – all a pretty hefty price to pay for a $15 toy.
More to come.
