Is Eco-Friendly Barbie an Oxymoron?

Posted on May 10, 2008 at 7:47 a.m. by Jill.

The Eco Child's Play blog (http://ecochildsplay.com) has had a lively conversation going over Mattel's new Barbie doll that, according to the New York Times, "repurposes excess fabric and trimmings from other Barbie doll fashions that would otherwise be discarded, offering eco-conscious girls a way to make an environmentally friendly fashion statement."

While I could happily go on a long riff about Barbie, and know few women, in fact, who can resist the temptation to go on a long rant when Barbie's name is mentioned, I'll resist.

Commenters on the blog object to the idea that any Barbie could ever be remotely green. Even though this one particular style of Barbie has clothes that come from Mattel factory scraps, her bodacious boobs continue to be composed of purist plastic. Her whole body, every accessory, and the container she comes in--all are hard-core PVC. (I'm sorry, Barbie, to out you like this; but honey, you know it's true.)

Which brings me to something I've been puzzling over since having children. Toys made of natural materials are lovely. Cotton dolls, wooden blocks and stacking cups, carved wooden puzzles--I love them. How could you not? But what I've realized is that plastic really does have its uses. There were summers when having a little plastic swimming pool in the backyard saved my sanity. (And no, I did not carefully wash off the grass and mysterious murk off of it at the end of the season and save it for the next year.)

There are toys that simply have to be plastic. A ceramic frisbee, anyone? How about a wooden ping pong ball?
And for babies, sometimes plastic is the least dangerous material for a toy that might be chewed on. Our 80-year old environmentalist friend Lee Botts told me that she gave her babies thick carrots for chew toys; that worked for me until my daughters had teeth that shredded the carrots and made them oh-so-chokable.

There are products where plastic is the perfect choice of material. And plastic is the perfect material for Barbie. On so many levels.

Whether Barbie needs to exist in the first place...well, that's another question.