All morning I’ve been going through the kids’ toys in anticipation of the expected influx of new belongings this Christmas.

I’ve gone through both the playrooms, dumping out all the bins and boxes, sifting through all of their possessions. We’ve reunited toy pieces – the Curious George stacking toy’s head was in the living room but his body was in the basement. Anders and I have picked out toys for charity. Okay, I picked the toys, he just approved them. We also moved some of the less age appropriate toys – specifically the race track and tiny Legos – into a closet until the kids can really play with them properly. And finally, I’ve filled a trash bag full of broken toy bits and cheap freebies – including the three rolling Scrat toys from McDonad’s partnership with Ice Age: The Meltdown (which means, of course, that we had to have gone to McDonald’s at least twice in one week).

Surprisingly, there have been very few complaints from my two pack rats – Anders and Steve. In fact, I think they are both relieved someone finally took control of the chaos! Each of them has fished a couple of items out of the trash bag. Steve saved a glow in the dark super ball, and Anders rescued a stuffed puppy – a victim of my enthusiastic purging.

As I sorted through the toys destined for the trash, I was very frustrated to find that most of the items are NOT recyclable. They are all made out of plastic, but none of them had the familiar recycling logo on the bottom.

Let’s face it, there is a time when a toy has hit the end of its life span and isn’t fit to be given to anyone. So why aren’t these items designed to be recycled? I assume it is expense, but considering how much money is spent of toys each year, I can’t believe manufacturers can’t figure out a way to keep toys affordable AND environmentally friendly.

Maybe we need to get Al Gore on this one.