As big a buzzkill as it might be, there’s no denying that Christmas, with all its fun and festivities, doesn’t do much good in our fight to be nicer to our planet. Reams of wrapping paper and the naff gifts from your uncle you haven’t seen since last December that you guiltily chuck out as soon as he’s gone home at New Year are only adding to our levels of waste.
This Christmas, Selfridges is launching a new pre-loved toy pop-up that will help combat our wastefulness. Instead of buying something hot off the factory line, you’ll be able to give a new home to second-hand collectable figures, antique teddies and classic family-favourite board games.
Customers can also donate their unwanted toys, which will either be sold in the shop or sent to the department store’s charity partner The TOY Project, where they’ll be sold in its north London base or donated to the children it works to help.
The pop-up is part of Selfridges’ commitment to exploring so-called ‘circular’ retail models and is the latest initiative as part of its Project Earth RESELLFRIDGES platform.
The TOY Project was set up in 2013 by Jane Garfield and Angela Donovan. It recycles new and used toys and gives them to the children and families that need them most. It also educates kids about recycling and reducing the number of toys we send to the landfill. All profits raised from The TOY Project go to funding workshops and projects, like toy and book libraries and community events.
Of the Selfridges pop-up, Garfield said: ‘Parents spend hundreds of millions of pounds on new toys for their children in the UK each year, many of which get little use. Recycling toys helps fund the TOY Project’s work but importantly it also reduces the number of unwanted toys that end up in landfills and in our oceans. We are so excited to be partnering with Selfridges and to be bringing the much-loved TOY Project shopping experience to Oxford Street.’
The pre-loved toy pop-up is located in Selfridges’ toy department and is open now until December 23.
