Rent-A-Toy Offers Solutions for Frugal Green Parents
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 01. 6.09
We just talked about libraries experiencing a booming business thanks to the recession. And it looks like the crummy economy could lend a helping hand to another business - toy rental.
Rent-A-Toy is a new company that helps parents cut cost and clutter by renting out toys.
From anywhere in the US, you can hop on Rent-A-Toy's website and pick out what toys you'd most like your kiddo to have for awhile. The toys are sanitized and tested to ensure they aren't broken, so there are relatively few safety concerns beyond what a parent would have when buying a new toy.
When your child has outgrown or is bored with the toy, you send it on back to the company and rent out something else.
The whole program is pretty darn eco-friendly in philosophy, but if you really want to get green about it, you can choose from their selection of environmentally friendly toys.
The pricing is pretty reasonable, with plans starting at $25 a month, delivery is free, and pre-paid return labels are included with the shipment.
While it might be cheaper to head down to the local thrift store or network with other parents to accomplish the same toy recycling, this program is still a neat way to use toys already in the life stream and have an excuse to get rid of old toys - after all, they have to be returned at some point. It also shows us another way in which recessions are good for greening us up.
More on Toys:
Rent Toys for Your Kids
One in Three Toys on Shelf Found To Be Toxic
Video: Are we Witnessing the Dematerialization of Toys?
Milk Jugs Recycled Into Green Toys
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Renting toys? I would love to be a fly on the wall when the parent takes the toy away from the kid to mail back. Good luck with that! Just get your toys from a thrift store and do some good in your community instead.
What happens if the child breaks the toy? Or it is too worn out to be recycled again? Considering that most toys at my local Good Will run under $4 each, I can buy a lot of toys for $25/mo. I'm glad that people are trying to think outside the box to be eco-friendly and cost effective, but this seems a bit silly.
BabyPlays.com is actually the first and best toy rental service our there! I have tried the 3 that seem to exist and BabyPlays.com has the cleanest, safest, most quality toys of all of the rental businesses out there. I read somewhere also, that the owner of rentatoy.com was actually a member of BabyPlays and then tried to copy their idea. Anyhow...BabyPlays seems so have all of the kinks worked out and their customer service is AWESOME!
As for taking the toys away from the kids every month...I love babyplays, and it has been a good opportunity for me to teach my daughter about sharing. When we return the toys we say we are sending these toys to share with someone else and we will get some new toys that someone is sharing with us. It is really so great.
Try http://www.babyplays.com
I've been a member of both BabyPlays and rentAtoy.com and I prefer rentAtoy. The main reason I switched was because rentAtoy has all educational toys. Plus I have a 7-year-old too and they have toys for older kids. Regardless of which company you choose, renting toys is genius and I'm a huge fan, not to mention it's better for the environment!