LEGO building bricks and kits are amazing. You can build almost anything out of LEGO bricks: spaceships, windmills, cars that move, and anything that you can imagine. There are big bricks for little hands, a large assortment of packages for older kids, techno kits for kids and adults who like to play like kids.
More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been made since the Danish toy company was founded in 1932. That's a huge amount of bricks. But what do you do with all those LEGOs when the kids outgrow their playthings and leave the nest?
The answer is Replay them. The LEGO Group recently announced a pilot program in the US where you can send all the bricks you find in toy boxes, packed in attics or basements and send them to be re-loved by children.
The company said in a news release that Replay program is a collaboration with Give Back Box, Teach for America and Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston. And it is very simple to do. Just collect all your bricks and box them, print a free UPS shipping label on the Replay site, and send. It's really simple.
The super durable bricks will be sorted, inspected and given a thorough cleaning before being donated to give another generation the gift of play.
“We know people don’t throw away their LEGO bricks,” Tim Brooks, vice president, environmental responsibility at the LEGO Group said in the news release. “The vast majority hand them down to their children or grandchildren. But others have asked us for a safe way to dispose of or to donate their bricks. With Replay, they have an easy option that’s both sustainable and socially impactful.”
The program took three years to develop but LEGO made sure to find the perfect partners to work with. Give Back Box already recycles 11 tons of clothing, textiles and footwear to keep them out of landfills every year.
Monika Wiela, founder of Give Back Box said, " What’s better than giving a child the gift of play? For us, the number of donations we receive is critical to a successful campaign, so we’ve made it as easy as possible for folks at home to send in their idle bricks.”
Teach for America will receive the majority of the bricks to allow children in thousands of US classrooms to learn and develop through playing and the rest of the bricks will be used in after school programs.
The pilot program will run through the spring of 2020 and then LEGO will evaluate whether to extend and or expand it.
So, pack up your no longer needed bricks and send them in. The child you are helping may grow up to be a rocket scientist or the architect to design the homes of the future.
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