Lottie Dolls: Doing our bit to create sustainable toys

At Lottie Dolls’ HQ, we’ve never been afraid to challenge the status quo. Integrity informs all of our decision-making: from awareness about social issues like bullying and body image insecurities, for example, to our responsibilities around sustainability. And so were intrigued to hear about our country’s 180-point plan - involving institutions, companies and individuals - to tackle the climate emergency by curbing greenhouse gases and moving towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Environmental issues top Lottie fans’ minds

In a recent survey, we posed the questions:

• What are your views on single-use plastic?

• Do your views inform your behaviour when it comes to toy-buying?

And the following soundbites are pretty representative of the responses:

• “Lottie is our only plastic doll. We try to stay away from plastic, but it has its place.”

• “I buy as little plastic as possible. Over half (my child’s) toys are wooden.”

• “We are trying to reduce single-use plastic. We have a lot of wooden toys. We love the Lottie tree house!”

Lottie Dolls’ first buildings – the tree house, for example, that the survey respondent mentioned – were far-removed from the highly engineered and intricately tooled plastic doll houses from our competitors.  After all, we believe that sparking imaginations is one of the greatest gifts that we can offer young minds. Gimmicky toys that are essentially one-trick-ponies have an obvious and immediate appeal but toys that spark imaginative play are likely to be enjoyed for longer. Lottie’s wooden doll house - with its swing, slide and secret trap-door - can become whatever children want it to become. Whether that’s a laboratory, a den or an observatory, when play is powered by children’s imaginations, the possibilities are endless.

We’d love to hear about the steps that your family is taking, to do your bit for the environment.