Wholesale low-environmental-impact beach toys?
January 13, 2020 1:34 PM
I run the beachfront gift shop for an environmental conservancy and I'm trying to make our store 100% plastic-free. I carry these toys already and they are fantastic- but at $24 for the set, they are on the upper end of what people will pay. I'd love to have options in the $5-$15 range, either as a set or a la carte. This has been surprisingly difficult to find, so I'm hoping the hivemind can point me in the right direction.
In place of shovels, what about coconut shells? Cheap and biodegradable.
posted by advicepig at 1:45 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by advicepig at 1:45 PM on January 13, 2020
Metal pails are cheap and plastic free, but would get hot in the sun.
posted by advicepig at 1:51 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by advicepig at 1:51 PM on January 13, 2020
I love the idea of coconut shells, because they could be used as small castle molds too.
My brothers and I used to spend hours building little "villages" made of dozens of round huts grouped together -- a coconut shell would have been perfect for that.
posted by mekily at 1:53 PM on January 13, 2020
My brothers and I used to spend hours building little "villages" made of dozens of round huts grouped together -- a coconut shell would have been perfect for that.
posted by mekily at 1:53 PM on January 13, 2020
Behrens makes pails that look like the ones that used to be beach toys. I don't see the wholesale prices on their site but even retail they aren't very expensive. Perhaps a garden trowel with a wooden handle to go with the pail would allow you to avoid all plastic.
Seeing advice pig's comment, could you spray paint the outside a light color and add a stenciled design or logo?
posted by Botanizer at 1:55 PM on January 13, 2020
Seeing advice pig's comment, could you spray paint the outside a light color and add a stenciled design or logo?
posted by Botanizer at 1:55 PM on January 13, 2020
Sorry for the Amazon link but these are adorable.
plue these little American made pails?
posted by beccaj at 2:04 PM on January 13, 2020
plue these little American made pails?
posted by beccaj at 2:04 PM on January 13, 2020
A set of wooden salad tongs would be good too. Wholesale looks cheap and you can get a spoon/scoop part and a "fork" part.
posted by advicepig at 2:07 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by advicepig at 2:07 PM on January 13, 2020
IMHO one of the best way to reduce the environmental impact of beach toys is to have toys that are more than single-use-only. I have almost never seen a beach set that lasted more than 2 trips to the beach. last year i just went to the hardware store at the beach an bought a $5 metal trowel and a galvanized bucket and those show no signs of wear after 6 ish trips
posted by Dr. Twist at 2:12 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by Dr. Twist at 2:12 PM on January 13, 2020
Paper-and-bamboo kites. Kites are classic beach fare, fun for all ages. They are reusable, biodegradable and inexpensive. They can be semi-disposable or last for years if treated with care. MeMail me if you want more info on that.
posted by SaltySalticid at 2:33 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by SaltySalticid at 2:33 PM on January 13, 2020
Would it be too complicated to break a couple of those packages open and offer them as $4 rentals, with a $20 refundable deposit if they choose to return them?
posted by teremala at 2:33 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by teremala at 2:33 PM on January 13, 2020
I'd be super into renting a set of toys. So many people are on vacation and don't want to manage transporting new toys back to their homes.
posted by quince at 2:41 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by quince at 2:41 PM on January 13, 2020
LOVE the idea of rentals.
Coming from a different angle, a search for used beach toys on eBay turns up tons of results. Could you sell toys that are used/secondhand, to make a statement against consumerism? Plenty of great stuff out there that should continue to be used instead of going to the landfill. (Run them through a dishwasher on "warm" to clean them if you feel the need.)
You could buy small tin buckets for ($1.69 each, here), and steel & wood hand trowels ($4.94 each at Home Depot). The handles of the tin buckets may get hot in the sun.
Or buy used tin/steel buckets and hand trowels. I try to buy everything I buy used.
posted by amaire at 2:50 PM on January 13, 2020
Coming from a different angle, a search for used beach toys on eBay turns up tons of results. Could you sell toys that are used/secondhand, to make a statement against consumerism? Plenty of great stuff out there that should continue to be used instead of going to the landfill. (Run them through a dishwasher on "warm" to clean them if you feel the need.)
You could buy small tin buckets for ($1.69 each, here), and steel & wood hand trowels ($4.94 each at Home Depot). The handles of the tin buckets may get hot in the sun.
Or buy used tin/steel buckets and hand trowels. I try to buy everything I buy used.
posted by amaire at 2:50 PM on January 13, 2020
Could you sell toys that are used/secondhand
Also: Have a box out for people to donate toys for reuse at the end of their holiday - you'll get stuff from those people who can't be bothered to carry it all home/store it; you get to wash it and sell second hand stuff for cheap at profit. (It does mean your shop probably won't be 100% plastic-free, but maybe you could be "plastic-free and/or resused"?).
posted by penguin pie at 2:58 PM on January 13, 2020
Also: Have a box out for people to donate toys for reuse at the end of their holiday - you'll get stuff from those people who can't be bothered to carry it all home/store it; you get to wash it and sell second hand stuff for cheap at profit. (It does mean your shop probably won't be 100% plastic-free, but maybe you could be "plastic-free and/or resused"?).
posted by penguin pie at 2:58 PM on January 13, 2020
Re rentals- for that beach in NZ where you dig your own hot tub in the sand we rented a shovel that we just left under the hedge as the store closed before we wanted to leave. Availability for rental drop offs would be something to consider if you have a refundable deposit.
posted by freethefeet at 4:08 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by freethefeet at 4:08 PM on January 13, 2020
First of all, that is a laudable goal. Our local touristy beach accumulates a ridiculous amount of garbage, and a good chunk of it is the semi-disposable beach toy kind.
If your group runs a beach cleanup, they will probably find a lot of discarded plastic beach toys that could be offered as rentals, second-hand purchases, or simply a free "library" to cut down on the amount of new plastic brought to the beach. If they're beyond use, maybe there's a way to make an installation piece to demonstrate just how much plastic garbage gets left on the beach, like a clear barrel with one week's worth of discarded and recovered toys inside.
posted by subocoyne at 5:21 PM on January 13, 2020
If your group runs a beach cleanup, they will probably find a lot of discarded plastic beach toys that could be offered as rentals, second-hand purchases, or simply a free "library" to cut down on the amount of new plastic brought to the beach. If they're beyond use, maybe there's a way to make an installation piece to demonstrate just how much plastic garbage gets left on the beach, like a clear barrel with one week's worth of discarded and recovered toys inside.
posted by subocoyne at 5:21 PM on January 13, 2020
My parents live at the beach and they collect a huge amount of plastic toys each year. I really like the idea of you selling used items and collecting/buying used stuff, including a rent and return type thing.
posted by vunder at 7:13 PM on January 13, 2020
posted by vunder at 7:13 PM on January 13, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by spamandkimchi at 1:45 PM on January 13, 2020