The Bigger Looming Truth about Loom Bands

The bigger looming truth about loom bands
Stephanie Ferguson, The Idea Tree Consulting
September 2014

The children that routinely play in the adjoined yards of the complex next door to our building sometimes are a bit, shall we say, vocal. It makes me look forward to the school year beginning again, almost on a daily basis. But my momentary annoyance is overshadowed by the fact that I’m glad kids are outdoors, running loom bandsaround, playing, getting exercise and – yes – sometimes screaming their heads off. Because they could be inside instead, playing with an unrecyclable and potentially toxic product like the Rainbow Loom, also known as loom bands.

Loom_bandsThis toy craze is everywhere now, with some parents looking on the bright side – the toy and the elastics are cheap, and it encourages kids to be crafty, putting down the technology for once.[1] I crafted when I was a kid too. My partner was practically raised in an art studio. And crafting sure as hell doesn’t exist because of little plastic bands. It happens because parents provide their children with the necessary materials and instructions. Loom bands as a solution to getting kids creative isn’t an excuse for another plastic toy, it’s just unimaginative.

One set of adults that are not impressed, are teachers. Many schools are banning the little elastic bands. Mainly this is for safety concerns, taking out eyes, flinging the bands at classmates, cutting off the circulation to your fingers – if I was a teacher I’d sure want these things nowhere near my classroom.[2] There are additional safety concerns about toxicity, as levels of phthalates that were as high as 500 times the legal UK limit were found in some of the charms that go along with these bands.[3]

loom band and kelp dorset twitter user SteveTrewhella1

Twitter user @SteveTrewhella1 found this loom bracelet on the shores of Dorset

And of course, there’s reason that often comes last for so many people, but for me is number one. They are a perfect example of exactly what the environment and especially the ocean does not need any more of; single-purpose, unbiodegradable, non-recyclable, tiny plastics that are just waiting to make their way into terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

Much talk of a ban on the product goes around, with a couple of online petitions being circulated.  A poll on The Guardian’s website also leaned in favour of a ban on the toy, with 60% voting on the yes side.[4] Others are barely optimistic that recycling could be developed for the bands.[5] It’s just another teeny tiny addition to a much bigger problem, one that environmentalists really didn’t need on top of everything else. And sadly, the most important thing is the one thing that hasn’t really entered the discussion yet: that this product should never have been allowed to be manufactured in the first place.

loom bands in field twitter user _beshlie

Twitter user @_beshlie tweeted this photo of loom bands she found in a field.

Now that these bands have been created and are out into the world, they can never become something new. Once the fun has been had, they can languish in a closet or drawer for years before being sent to a landfill, or perhaps they can escape a child’s pocket or wrist to become litter washed into waterways or ingested by wild and domestic animals alike. And once again, like plastic bags, balloons or bottles, it’s again the citizen who is tasked with keeping this indestructible product out of the environment; encourage your children to treasure the bands and keep them safe “as if it they were as precious as a Tiffany necklace” says one blog.[6] Maybe it will be the beginning of environmental stewardship behavior, claim others.[7],[8]. That’s right, consuming the unrecyclable, potentially poisonous fad toy that you’ll probably throw out or find washed up on the beach one day, that’s a surefire way to cultivate a sense of respect and responsibility for the natural world.

loom-bands.jpeg

Think before you buy? What about think before you sell?

Loom bands can’t be returned to the store or the manufacturer for repurposing or recycling, or in other words there is no extended producer responsibility. It would be ludicrously uneconomical for such a cheap, disposable product. And therein lies the real problem here, a problem that won’t end with loom bands, unless we change the overall rules for what kind of short-term consumer products can be manufactured and sold in Canada, and in any country around the world. The product simply shouldn’t be made if there is no end plan for what the product will become next, i.e. biodegraded in a composting facility, upcycled into a useable material, or as a last option, safely incinerated. (Exceptions for things like condoms or medical supplies are likely as there are obvious biocontamination issues.) It’s not good enough to say a solution will be
found down the road; the facilities ready to take your product for said recycling or decomposition processes should already exist, and the process already been tested long before the item ever hits the shelves. If these aspects are not part of the plan to create and earn money from the sale of said product, then it should be a no-go. Period. The idea that someone, with all we understand about ecology today, can still dream up and become a multi-millionaire on a product that doesn’t have a full life cycle plan simply shouldn’t be acceptable anymore.

Sources:

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/21/loom-bands-tweens-are-obsessed-with-it-and-its-a-welcome-sight

[2] http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/loom-bands-pose-risk-children-consumer-affairs-6041200

[3] http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/thousands-plastic-loom-bands-fill-7624775

[4] http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2014/aug/04/loom-bands-cannot-be-recycled-should-they-be-banned

[5] http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Loom-band-craze-hurt-wildlife-experts-claim/story-22066154-detail/story.html

[6] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/10/are-loom-bands-next-environmental-disaster

[7] http://sb-tribe.com/blog/looming-disaster-harmless-fun-loom-bands-vs-environmentalists/?utm_content=bufferfbd76&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[8] http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/is-rainbow-loom-bad-for-the-environment-the-downside-of-this-years-hot-toy/2014/01/06/11b4dc84-71a0-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html