IF YOU’RE LIKE MANY Americans, chances are your family is swimming in stuff: toys, clothes, trophies, electronics, cheap plastic figurines. To afford this abundance is a privilege, of course, but when it comes to our kids, we’re a nation of overconsumers. The U.S. is home to just 3.1 percent of the world’s children but consumes 40 percent of the world’s toys. Researchers in Los Angeles went into 32 homes to catalog the overconsumption epidemic: In one child’s room alone, they counted 165 Beanie Babies, 36 figurines, 22 Barbie dolls, three porcelain dolls, 20 other dolls, one troll, and a miniature castle. (“Where was everything else hiding?” you might ask.)
Much of this stuff is around for an ostensibly sweet reason: We buy lots of toys, clothes, and other items for…
