Kids Industries Launches Kids, Parents and Sustainability Report

65% of children aged 5-15 do not know what ‘sustainability’ means – this includes 80% of 5-7-year-olds and 50% of 12-15-year-olds;

87% of U.K. children don’t know what ‘greenwashing’ means;

86% don’t understand the term ‘bioplastic’

42% of U.K. children are confused about environmental issues (this confusion reduces with age) – this rises to 53% amongst U.S. children;

While 63% of U.K. children (67% in the U.S.) aged 5-15 believe our impact on the environment and wildlife is the most important issue we face today, the specifics vary by country.
In the U.K., they are:
Plastic waste (53%)
Climate change (50%)
In the U.S., they are:
Pollution (41%)
Saving endangered species (39%);

94% of U.K. children (92% U.S.) have done something for the environment, most commonly recycling (63% U.K., 36% U.S.);

83% of U.K. and U.S. children U.S. agree everyone can be environmentally friendly if they try hard enough;

70% of U.K. children (76% U.S.) agree it is important to them that their lifestyle is more environmentally friendly;

69% of U.K. children (77% U.S.) would do more for the environment if they had more time and money;

It’s clear that plastic is still king, but planet-friendly toy options are catching up;

Plastic toys were the most popular toy category purchased in the past 12 months by U.K. parents (40%) and U.S. parents (52%), followed by second-hand toys in the U.K. (37%) and wooden toys in the U.S. (38%)

In the U.S., plastic toys are also the most frequently bought (32%) but in the U.K., more parents buy second hand (25%) over plastic (22%);

When toys outlive their use, 14% U.K./16% U.S are thrown away and heading to landfill while 32% U.K./26% U.S. given to charity;

Interestingly, 25% of U.K. parents said that they had bought a ‘sustainable’ toy in the past year (rising to 37% of U.S. parents); and

Parents want to see products that are easier to recycle (48% U.K./41% of U.S.), cheaper sustainable product options (45% U.K./32% U.S.) and products that are easier to refurbish or fix (37% U.K./35% U.S. parents).