More than one year ago, sisters Ella and Caitlin McEwan started a petition calling on McDonald's and Burger King to stop giving out plastic toys with children's meals. McDonald's UK originally responded with an automated email, but on Tuesday, the company pledged to stop putting hard plastic toys in its Happy Meals, The Independent reported.
"This represents the biggest reduction in plastic by McDonald's UK and Ireland to date and is the next step in its mission to reduce its environmental impact across all areas of the business," McDonald's said in a statement reported by AFP, as published in The Jakarta Post.
Starting in 2021, the company will replace all plastic toys in the UK and Ireland with either a soft toy, a paper toy or a book. This will cut the chain's plastic use by 3,000 metric tons (approximately 3,307 U.S. tons), it estimated.
For the environment, this will be huge.
For the kids, I don't think it'll matter a whole heckuva lot. Speaking from experience, those Happy Meal toys are usually very popular at the McD's table and in the car on the way home. In general, once they are in the house, they eventually end up at the bottom of the toy box prior to their final departure in a "FREE" box at the family's next garage sale.
I'm pretty sure that it's safe to say the "happy" will remain in the Happy Meal.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt