Toying with idea of eco-friendly business pays off for Northsider

A RAHENY mum who set up an eco-friendly toy business will be hosting Ireland’s first plastic-free toy store at ‘Gifted – The Contemporary Craft and Design Fair’ in the RDS from December 4-8.

Sharon Keilthy, from Watermill Road, set up Jiminy.ie Eco Toys because she wants to make it easier for people to “do the right thing”. 

A keen environmentalist and mum of Ava (5), Sharon found herself walking out of toy shops because she couldn’t bring herself to buy anything in them.

“Our model for making toys is completely broken,” says Sharon.

“Ninety per cent of toys are made from new plastic and 80 percent of them are made in China. It would take 1.2 billion trees to cover the carbon emissions of making and transporting these toys to our shores.

“Shanghai is 10,000 miles away, we talk about food miles but we also need to think about toy miles.”

Management consultant Sharon left a high-level job at a US multinational because she wanted to do something more meaningful.

“I had been taking part in Zero Waste Ireland and I did a course in environmental activism, but I’ve found that even if you want to buy a bamboo toothbrush, you are unlikely to find one in your local supermarket,” she says. “Cheap toys made in China have a huge environmental cost and that’s why I want to make it easier for people to do the right thing.”

Sharon and her business partner Sheelin Conlon sell toys and crafts that are made in Europe from bio-plastics (100 percent plant made), recycled cardboard and safe recycled plastics.

The toys also come unpackaged or in plastic-free compostable packaging.