‘Toymaker Mattel Inc. says it will stop using packaging from a Singapore-based company accused of clear-cutting swaths of Indonesian rainforest. Mattel’s action follows a campaign by Greenpeace that targeted, among other products, the packaging used in Mattel’s popular Barbie doll. While Mattel said it does not typically dictate where its suppliers obtain their materials, the company said it has now “directed” packaging suppliers to stop using pulp from Sinar Mas/APP, one of the world’s largest palm oil and paper companies, until Mattel is able to investigate allegations of illegal deforestation. “Additionally, we have asked our packaging suppliers to clarify how they are addressing the broader issue in their own supply chains,” the company said in a statement. Greenpeace has accused Mattel — as well as Hasbro, Lego, and Disney — of buying paper packaging sourced from disappearing rainforests, especially in Indonesia, where about 40 percent of rainforest has been cleared in recent decades. A Greenpeace campaign launched this week attracted attention globally after an online video spoofing its Barbie character as a rainforest “serial killer,” posted in 18 languages, attracted more than a half-million viewers.’
‘Drinking glasses decorated with cartoon superheroes and movie characters were found to contain the dangerous chemical cadmium and levels of lead far exceed federal safety standards for children’s products, according to a laboratory analysis commissioned by the Associated Press. The enamel used to decorate the glasses — which are produced in China and sold at the Warner Brothers store in Burbank, Calif. — contained 16 to 30.2 percent lead, far exceeding the 0.03 percent standard, according to the AP. The laboratory analysis also found that the glasses contained the toxic metal cadmium, although there are currently no federal standards for safe limits of that substance. In separate tests, the AP found that several other types of decorative glasses targeted to children also shed small but notable levels of lead or cadmium after regular handling. After learning of the results, Coca-Cola, the producer of one of the decorative glasses, voluntarily recalled 88,000 glasses.’
Directed by Edward Scott-Clarke, Plastic Shores explores the problems of plastic pollution in the world's oceans and discusses what we can do about reducing our own use of disposable plastics.
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