Recycling gets risqué
August 30, 2007 at 11:46 am
Online retailer, LoveHoney.co.uk, which describes itself as the largest UK “adult” toys shop, is now offering a different sort of “feel good factor.” Customers are being urged to go green between the sheets, thanks to a collection system for their old, unwanted products. The eco-friendly Rabbit Amnesty, a reference to the best-selling Jessica Rabbit love toy, allows customers to send outdated or broken adult toys to LoveHoney.co.uk for recycling. To encourage customers, LoveHoney.co.uk is also offering a 50% discount on purchases of new vibrators to replace the worn out model being returned.
Despite the introduction of the WEEE Directive earlier this year, which makes producers and consumers more responsible for recycling, many remain unaware of their obligations. Currently, most “adult” toys are thrown in the bin – many consumers being too embarrassed to take them to a recycling centre! Lack of awareness is also a problem. Collection schemes are often complicated, so consumers just aren’t aware that some products, including adult toys, can be recycled. However, with the ever-increasing popularity of sex toys in the UK, the volume of waste being produced is a real concern:
Bonny Hall, head buyer at LoveHoney.co.uk, says:
“Although some people might think it’s strange to recycle sex toys, rabbit sales are growing every year and we don’t want old ones dumped in landfill sites across the country.”
As well as recyclable plastic and metal, many sex toys incorporate electrical circuits, which may contain heavy metals like lead, chromium, cadmium and mercury. Dumping these hazardous substances in landfill damages the environment, and is therefore far from ideal.
And if hassle-free recycling of your old “rabbit” isn’t incentive enough, LoveHoney.co.uk is going one step further by donating £1 to the World Land Trust (WLT) for each vibrator salvaged by the scheme. The WLT, with David Attenborough as patron, is a conservation charity which saves acres of rainforest from destruction every year.
