The Environmental Impact of the Hobby

I buy a lot of food and produce in season and local. I grow all my own herbs. I turn off lights, try to save gas by keeping up super super well on my car maintenance. I try not to waste, to recycle or reuse what I can. However, sometimes being too green hurts. Look at the price of meat and milk and eggs. It's all the corn being used. Other countries need our corn and they're hurting. Less of other crops are being grown from the new cash crop.

Basically I think this is a whole lot bigger than the resin dolls and their transport. Do the small things first, but don't give up resin kids to save the universe. It's a little out of scale.

 

This thread brings out lots of good thinking.

I sell handmade jewelry at the Marketplace and take pride in my packaging. So normally i'd ship out the jewelry in a little plastic packet, wrapped with bubblepack, then sealed up in a padded envelope. Not mentioning all the sticky tapes i use to double-secure the envelope.

Recently i've been thinking of reusing the padded envelopes that i've been receiving from other sellers. I hope my clients take it well!

 

I tend to recycle as much as I can, I make them recycle at work too. Doll shipments are a fraction of what get's hauled around the world. As someone else mentioned, they don't charter planes just for one parcel. (A whole plane full of bjds, all strapped in a ready to fly. What a delightful thought.)

Everything in moderation, be aware and enjoy. Just my thoughts.

 

The cost of my doll:
Doll: $240
Face-up: $30
Shipping: $40 + a polar bear

My friend pointed out to me that shipping something from China essentially costs a polar bear from oil use. *sigh* Now I feel guilty...

~Angelkitty

 

Wow, that's actually really depressing since 90% of what I own has a "Made in China" tag (And none of my dolls are from China.)

 

It's not like they are making a special trip just for one package.
The package goes along with a whole heap of other things.
Besides, if people stopped buying things all together, things stopped shipping outside of countries, that will impact the economy.
When I sell things, I usually wrap items in pretty paper, and use bubble wrap, boxes and envelopes that have already been in use.
The local post office do the same now too.

 

This whole recycle thing always amuses me. We've been doing that, living "green" since my folks came out of the Great Depression. I watch in amazement as my neighbors gather up their boxes and cans... and then I look at my recycle can and it's mostly empty: I use canvas bags for shopping, and seldom buy pre-prepared foods. (Man, I'm such a bore, aren't I? XD )

I order from overseas when needed. BUT, I try very hard to make sure I'm using right up to the edge of postage. ie. if it's $5.00 to ship 1 item, how much more can I cram in before the weight goes up? I won't just buy one thing; it's wasteful.

 

I try to buy things inside the US if I can. But sometimes it's not avoidable, like with buying a doll or finding a really good deal on items. But my main concern with buying things inside the country is because of the shipping cost, not so much the environment, but the concern is there.

 

I don't think our dolls have much of an issue with the economy or the environment. The plane takes off whether or not our dolls are on it. Shipping would be INSANE, if we had to book a plane for our package, fuel it, hire people to pack and transport/deliver it, etc. Don't you think? If it were the case, don't you think that would be much more of an environmental concern than our dolls hopping on a plane that's already headed to our country?

 

Eh... ^^;; There are a LOT of flights... and not quite that many Polar Bears. If the above was true, it seems they'd have died out a good long time ago. I'd like to see what data this is based on?

Raven

 

I don't know about anyone else here, but I keep ALL of my doll boxes. You never know when you will need the original box!

Also, I keep the outer cardboard shipping box that the doll box comes in, as well. I'm constantly selling/trading my dolls, and it's nice to already have a box that you KNOW fits. : )

I do my part and recycle!

 

I've been a fanatical recycler for most of my adult life, so doll boxes get stored if in good condition and chucked in the recycle bin if in bad.

Honestly, as bad of shape as my AoD box arrived in, I'd have had a fit if it weren't double boxed. I'd far rather spend an extra two minutes carrying the box out to the recycle bin than have a couple hundred dollars flushed down the toilet in broken doll. As far as shipping goes, the average person driving two blocks to the convenience store several times a week probably wastes more resources than a plane full of people and cargo.

 

well, being from the most isolated capital city in the world I would be driven to the brink if I stopped and thought of the environmental impact from all the items being shipped here!
I do my bit (use green bags, recycle packaging, recycle everything we can!, walk the kids to school, turn off lights.... list goes on!) but it is inevitable that we need items from overseas so yes, there is going to be some sort of enviromental impact from it and yes, I guess we are contributing to it in some tiny way. But this is something that I love and enjoy so I am not about to change it.
My hobby could be drag cars, now that is a hobby to worry about environmental impact!

 

You need to take into account the ease and impacts of cutting down to save the planet. It is easy to re-use bags and turn off lights/use different lightbulbs. It is not easy to go without dolls. Plus, the carbon cost of trasnporting the doll is not much compared t the years of joy it can provide. We could eat only raw food, go to bed at dusk and walk for three weeks to visit relatives. It's not always worth it!

I had been hoping someone would bring this up.

 

That's a good point. The UK actually imports as many potatoes as it exports Perhaps if we used our own potatoes we'd save money and energy!

However, with dolls, the way I see it is, that plane will fly whether my doll is on it or not. My purchasing habits won't change the world any time soon, but I do prefer to buy dolls within the UK anyway.

I keep the internal doll boxes and use them to store doll clothes and accessories and I've passed on the external boxes to friends and family when they've been moving house or moving offices. They've also come in handy when going grocery shopping. You just go around with a trolley or a basket and put all your shopping in the box rather than accept all the carrier bags. Plus your doll can come with you and oversee the entire thing

It is easy to go without dolls They're a luxury item, no one needs BJDs to survive. It is easy to re-use plastic bags, easy to turn off lightbulbs and appliances and it is equally easy to not buy that doll...or at least shop around for the best deal. Unless you are fanatical about having a 'fresh from the company' doll, you can usually scout around for a doll actually for sale in your own country which will cut down shipping dramatically. Even if you are desperate for that 'company fresh' doll combining orders with a local friend will not only keep shipping costs convenient for the both of you, but the company will only have to provide one shipping container and the delivery company in your country only has to use one truck to get that box to you from the depot. There are ways of keeping the costs down and getting the doll you want, but it's a fib to say that you can't go without dolls. Everyone can go without dolls!

 

You're ordering a non-biodegradable doll :P Shipping is the last worry on my mind: if the companies were commandeering one plane for every individual doll then I'd be concerned, but one box amongst many is not a worry for me.

 

Honestly, I don't care
In fact I think it's hypocritical for governments and other organisations to lecture me about saving energy and carbon footprints when they leave all the lights on all night in empty locked up office buildings.
How about switching your lights off at night?

 

YES!!!!

I remember a few years ago our Governor was all over TV asking people to turn down their air conditioners in the middle of the day to prevent energy drain. Now it was somewhere between 95 and 101 degrees at the time, I said "YOU FIRST!"

I'll turn down my A/C during the day as soon as the officials in the government buildings start turning their's down.

 

The first part was exactly my point, I couln't have said it better.

 

I didn't read the whole thread >.>

I worry about flying pop stars in on private jets for one-day charity concerts to witter on about the evils of global warming and how I shouldn't leave my laptop on when I'm not using it more than I worry about stuffing a couple of boxes in a plane that will be making that journey anyway. I guess you could always ship by... well... ship >.> But I don't think there are that many liners running very often from China to the UK any more, so you might be waiting a while

So basically, when pop stars start taking their own preaching to heart and fly the same way the rest of us do - maybe then I'll start worrying that my doll hobby is making a big enough impact to actually matter I try and do what I can for the environment, but I draw the line at refusing myself things I work hard to earn money to afford.