Sprig Eco Recycling Truck - An Amazon Exclusive in Frustration Free Packaging
The Sprig Eco Recycling Truck might be my favorite toy of the holiday season, but admittedly, I have a soft spot for eco-friendly toys and the fantastic people over at Sprig Toys. Today, as a special treat, I'll be introducing you to the Amazon Exclusive Sprig Eco Recycling Truck. Not only is it an exclusive, it comes in Amazon Frustration Free Packaging! And who better to talk about this fun truck than some of the great people over at Sprig, Chris and Steve. They both have some really good insight into the toy industry at the holidays, why frustration free packaging is important, and why getting kids to "be the batteries" is better for kids and the envirornment. My favorite part of the interview? Chris's quote:"5 million pounds of paper packaging waste is thrown out every holiday season on top of our regular waste load in the US." That is a little stomach turning, and I am glad Amazon can be part of the solution to this huge problem with our Frustration Free Packaging. Keep reading below for more of this great interview where Chris and Steve tell us about the Eco Recycling Truck and Sprig's plans for the future.
First, introductions- who are you, what do you do for Sprig?
Chris Clemmer, one of the designers and a co-founder of Sprig. I work on toy design, marketing, packaging; sales…we all wear 20 hats here at Sprig.
My name is Steve Markey; I’m the VP of Sales here at Sprig. I work with retailers, sales reps and international distributors to make sure as many people as possible around the world have the opportunity to buy our fantastic toys.
What is Sprig core philosophy in a few sentences?
(Chris) Sprig was born from our desire to create toys that energize children with active, engaging play using smart sustainable design solutions. We want to let kids fill in the blanks instead of paint. We want them to be the batteries. We want to get them off the couch. Ultimately we want kids to play like we used to.
What are the holidays like around Sprig HQ?
(Steve) Holiday time is busy here at Sprig Shedquarters. We’re getting ready for the International Toyfair which is held every February in New York, as well as a trade show in Hong Kong where many of our international customers will be seeing the 2010 products for the first time. But we also find time for fun, including a party for the whole team and their families.
(Chris) BUSY BUSY BUSY. The toy industry is unique in that every holiday season you find yourself out on the trail talking about Sprig’s exciting new toys like Captain Owen’s Dolphin Explorer Boat, while back in our top secret headquarters we are busy engineering toys for the future….Toy Fair is coming!!
What are the holidays like for you and your family?
(Steve) I have three children, so we’re all about playing games (we’re huge board game fans), watching movies and just being together. My wife and I travel a lot for our jobs, so just being at home with no trips on the horizon is a blessing. And, of course, being in Colorado, we get out to the mountains for some skiing and snowboarding.
(Chris) We take the holiday time to visit family. This year we will spend time in New Mexico enjoying quiet time in mountains. It’s always fun for our daughter to get some quality family time in during the holidays. Santa Claus always seems to find us to the surprise of our daughter. Although she still wonders why I make toys and how that works with Santa’s agenda…
I have noticed that much of your “shelf packaging” for your toys is minimal, why did you make this kind of decision about how to display toys?
(Chris) We want our toys to play right out of the box. As a child, the thrill of getting a toy in a box that you can open and instantly play with is rare these days. With our toys, if the little ones can get past the security sticker they will be able to open the box and start to play. No little screwdrivers, no knives, no blister packs, no twist ties…just plain simple fun.
The benefit of not using twist ties and packaging blisters is we eliminate tons of material that usually ends up in landfills. During the holiday season, 5 million pounds of paper packaging waste is thrown out every holiday season on top of our regular waste load in the US. We wanted to be part of the solution and are always looking for ways to improve our packaging to make it as lean as possible.
(Steve) For me, there are two main reasons. Firstly, as an eco-conscious company, we try to reduce the amount of materials we use in our packaging, whether it be the amount of cardboard, or those really annoying twist ties that hold so many toys in place.
Secondly, as parents, we are often frustrated by large boxes with very little in them. We just don’t feel good about shipping vast quantities of air around the world.
Did you have to sacrifice anything else to make these kind of packages work?
(Chris) We are learning and experimenting with our packaging with each generation of toys we produce. With our Eco-Trucks we actually see a sales benefit to using minimal packaging. The Eco-Trucks are very accessible and lightweight allowing children to pick them up on shelf. In some cases we have used closed boxes in order to eliminate twist ties, but we are working on some great new open packaging that will still play right out of the box.
(Steve) Less packaging means less space to tell people about our products, to explain what is actually inside the box, so we have learned to tell our story in the most concise way possible. For example, using graphic icons to show that our toys are paint-free rather than actually spelling it out in words.
Why did you decide to partner with Amazon on Frustration Free Packaging?
(Chris) It makes perfect sense for to partner with Amazon on this, as “Frustration Free” packaging is what we call the “new normal” for Sprig. Designing a package that serves as a shipper is a great way to reduce our impact on raw material usage, as it’s one package for all. No Twist ties and reduced printing were things we do and we especially love it when retailers share the same vision as Sprig.
Tell us a little about the new Amazon Exclusive Eco Recycling Truck. Where was it made? Why did you decide on a recycling truck? What makes it different than other toy trucks out there?
(Chris) The Eco-Recycling truck is made in the beautiful Czech Republic (our toys are made in North America and Europe). We decided on a recycling truck as it really fits the message behind the toys. We make our toys out of Sprigwood, which utilizes bits of recycled plastic and sawdust. This bio-composite material is a great alternative to using virgin oil based plastics. Our eco-recycling truck smells like WOOD, is very lightweight, and has fantastic play value. What makes this toy different is its play value. The recycling truck features a great carry/push handle, 2 distinct dump mechanisms, a recycling garbage can, and a fold open truck cab. These features make this toy rich in play and smart in design. We don’t use any paints on our toys and they are also dishwasher safe on the top rack which is great for toys that are shared by lots of kids.
One of the first trucks my son recognized was our local recycling truck. Do you think kids are more aware of recycling than we were at this age?
(Steve) Absolutely – maybe I’m showing my age here, but I don’t think I even saw a recycling truck as a kid, whereas now, my own kids would not dream of throwing away a bottle or a can into a regular trash can. My 5 year old daughter Ella says it best - “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.
(Chris) Definitely. When we were kids curbside recycling was very rare so we only had the garbage truck coming by our house in the mornings. It’s great to see curbside recycling become the “new normal” to our youngest generation. It’s also a focus for a lot of elementary schools around the world as well. We find it refreshing when we hear kids telling their parents about the benefits and need to recycle. They are great little police officers for the planet.
What other plans does Sprig have for the future? Do you see Sprig heading into other directions in toys?
(Chris) While we have primarily focused on preschool toys, Sprig is excited to announce that we will be introducing a line of toddler toys for this upcoming spring. Just in time for earth day, our new Safe and Smart toddler toys will feature stacking, shape sorting, and active push around play. These toys will be made from our exclusive Sprigwood material, will use NO PAINT, and will be made in North America (closer to our material source).
That’s just a snippet of what is to come from Sprig in 2010. We will leave the rest for another surprise.
(Steve) I’m especially excited about the toddler line Chris just told you about. We’ve taken classic toddler toys and “Sprigified” them. (We don’t just invent toys here, we invent words, too.)
Additionally, we will be introducing new toys to our boys and girls preschool product lines throughout next year, so keep checking back on Amazon.com to see our latest releases.
_________________
Thanks to Chris and Steve. You can see the whole Sprig line here, as well as the awesome new Amazon Exclusive Eco-Recycling Tuck in Frustration Free Packaging.
--Laura McMullan
configuration management on October 24, 2009 at 05:09 AM
It was really nice post. And must say that you written it really well as you got so strong response. I had seen some other blogs also on the same topic but the content are so rich here. I am really impressed. Keep it up.