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Eco-friendly sex toys - time to go green?

Posted by Kinky Betty on

In everyday life most of us are increasingly environmental conscious - reducing use of plastics, using sustainable materials where possible, recycling etc. I guess the sale of second-hand sex toys won't catch on (!) but you can do things yourself and sex toy manufacturers are beginning to innovate and respond with things like biodegradable sex toys.

Before getting into green sex toy ideas a quick recap on being environmentally friendly. It's a complicated equation but key aspects include:

- relatively low resources used in the production

- sustainability of the raw materials

- long life of the product  

- being able to be recycled

- being biodegrade and in toxic free manner

Nothing will be perfect and something can be great in one aspect and not another.  I can't begin to compare the overall environmental impact of different products over the full life-cycle but it is pretty clear some natural jute rope for bondage is much more friendly than a PVC inflatable sex doll! 

How green are sex toys? 

Eco-friendly sex-toys - cucumber and dildo - vegan sex-toys - Kinky Betty's

 

Well cucumbers aside, the score card is mixed and trends over the last few years are not great in many ways but things are changing. 

Overall, there has been a lot of plastic in sex toys for some time and plastic is the environmental devil - from production, to difficulty recycling, taking forever to biodegrade and having a relatively short product life.  There has also been a long-trend for much more "buzz" - vibrating sex toys which typically include plastic in some form, lot of electronics and batteries. And lot of buzz and plastic usually means a relatively short product life as things wear out and go wrong - my local council has yet to introduce a sex toy recycling option :)  

If anything the the trend for buzz if is getting stronger with lots of remote and app-controlled vibrating toys and interactive and virtual reality gradually getting more popular. On the plus side silicone has become the predominant material and use of plastics is much reduced. 

Are silicone sex-toys environmentally-friendly?

Silicone isn't the most environmentally friendly material but it beats plastic. If you have a choice go for silicone although often silicone toys are a bit more expensive.  The cheaper vibrators and other vibrating toys tend to be plastic and the more expensive silicone but not always - for example, this OMG Silicone Wand is completely silicone top to bottom and reasonably-priced. 

Silicone is made from silica but still uses hydrocarbons from petroleum like plastic. It also takes a lifetime to biodegrade if it ends up in landfill. It can be recycled but requires a special process and it rarely happens. On the plus it has longer-life than plastic so less likely to end up being quickly thrown away. 

Best eco-friendly sex toy ideas...

Rechargeable not disposable batteries

Obvious perhaps, but if you go for cheaper toys, perhaps older models, often they will be powered by standard disposal batteries and people don't always realise. It's worth paying a little bit extra to get a rechargeable model - better for the environment and more convenient too. 

Biodegradable sex toys

Bioplastics are polymers made from renewable materials like starch or vegetable oils that resemble plastics - and in most cases are biodegradable. They are tiny part of the global polymer market but there is lot of research ongoing and the first sex-toy products have emerged. Try the Gaia Biodegradable Rechargeable Eco Bullet or the Gaia Biodegradable Eco G Spot Vibrator

 

Gaia Biodegradable Rechargeable Eco Bullet - Green Sex Toy - Kinky Betty'sGaia Biodegradable Eco G Spot Vibator - Eco-friendly Sex Toy - Kinky Betty's

Lots more of these sort of products will emerge I'm sure. (Now got a vision of dildos in the garden compost bin along with the potato peelings.) 

Glass dildos, butt plugs and kegel balls

Away from buzzing vibrating toys, glass is our favourite. It will last forever and is wonderfully sensual. There is also the option of temperature play, heating them up in warm water or cooling them down in the fridge before. There is the image of glass sex toys being very expensive, and some still are, but lots are very reasonably priced.  

Click here to see our full glass collection but this blue glass dildo is amazing value and great quality and the glass butt plug is a work of art - both under £15. 

Glass dildo blue - green sex toy - Kinky Betty's
Glass butt plug - Kinky Betty's

   

Wood

Wood is one of the most environmentally-friendly materials and so sensual. Options are limited and hygiene issues for sex toys used internally but there are lots of wooden bondage items. We don't yet have a huge range here and they tend to be custom made but here are a couple of options - a wooden flogger and paddle. 

Wooden Handled Flogger - Rouge Garments - Purple floggerWooden paddle - BDSM wooden flogger - Kinky Betty's

 

Steel dildos, butt plugs, nipple clamps, etc...

A bit like glass, steel lasts forever and is stunning and sensual - most items are more like jewellery or works of art than sex toys! I can't imagine every throwing away but, if you want to of course, they can be recycled. 

The downside of steel is that not cheap although some items are still pretty reasonably price - more of an investment in a beautiful item than buying a typical silicone dildo.  Saying that plenty of times under £15 covering all kind of toys.

Click here and have a browse and perhaps you'll be surprised at the variety and price - cock rings, handcuffs, medical bondage, nipple clamps, butt plugs, dildos, kegel balls, etc.

 

Steel nipple clamps - nipple vices

 

Natural rope for bondage

Rope made from natural materials is one of the most eco-friendly things you can get but we are huge fans of shibari and kinkaku so we are biased! Cotton is great dyed into lots of colours but we love the natural look and feel of hemp and jute.
Learning many of the shibari ties properly is a bit daunting, albeit tremendous sensual fun to practice. However, learning some basic ties and knots is really not that hard and one of two done really well can be very effective and impressive.  Have a look at theduchy.com for examples and learn how to make handcuffs or simple wrist restraints.  Just be careful on the safety aspects and have some shears or strong scissors around.
So instead of buying leather or PVC/leather imitation bondage restraints perhaps give rope a go. 
You can even make your own floggers using some cheap rope and they are so much more personal like the one below made by Mr Betty. 

Click here for our rope collection.

Rope flogger

 

 

Doxy Die Cast Wand Massager

I saw this on another site, saying if you are going to buy a wand and then the Doxy Die Cast is a more eco-friendly option. Bit of a stretch but sort of get it. The body is made of metal so should last longer and easier to recycle - not sure about the other bits but nothing is perfect. 

Everyday objects you can use as sex toys

If you use your imagination there are so many things around the house that can be used to as sex toys.  Please have a read of a blog we did a while ago - click here. You can even be touch kinky while saving the planet! 

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Please comment below with your own thoughts (any name will do and email will not show) or pop over the to the Naughty Corner and chat away. 

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