INTERNATIONAL: Toymaker Mattel has released its first mass retail toy line that is certified carbon neutral, which includes building blocks designed to encourage environmentally conscious behavior.

Mattel’s 'MEGA Bloks' toy line, designed for pre-school children, now includes the 'Green Town' range, including a solar farm, wind turbines, recycling trucks, and bee hives.

Dr. Elizabeth Eaves, a Senior Sustainability Engineer with Mattel, said, “It’s fantastic for Mega Bloks to have this opportunity to introduce children to these sustainable behaviors and sustainable ways of living at a very young age so that they grow up learning and knowing about these things right from the very start.”

The company says four different playsets in the Green Town range are now certified as being made with more than 50 percent plant-based plastics and at least 26 percent bio-circular plastics - which are traditional plastics mixed with plant-based or recycled material. The toys still remain safe and of good quality for children to play with for a long time.

Mattel says the Green Town range's carbon neutral status included the purchase of 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide offsets from a forest conservation project in Canada. They are working toward their 2030 goal of having 100 percent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastics in all of their products and packaging.

Similarly in 2018, Lego unveiled its first range of sustainable building blocks, made entirely from plant-based plastic, in a bid to tackle waste and environmental damage. The new elements were made from polyethylene, a soft, durable plastic that can be produced with ethanol extracted from natural sugar cane material.

^{PHOTO: CHILDREN PLAYING WITH MATTEL'S MEGA BLOKS GREEN TOWN TOYS / SOUNDBITES WITH DR ELIZABETH EAVES, MATTEL SUSTAINABILITY ENGINEER / VIDEO ADVERT FOR MEGA BLOKS GREEN TOWN / CHILDREN PLAYING WITH SUSTAINABLE LEGO BRICKS MADE WITH PLANT-BASED PLASTIC}