When economic pressure and the holidays meet, things can feel less than magical if children aren’t able to get presents. For the past four years, Lego has been working to prevent that from happening with its Replay program.
Going into this holiday season, more than 485,000 kids have received free Legos through the program, according to the company. It said 485,418 kids were playing with donated bricks as of this Saturday.
Lego announced the launch of the Replay pilot program in October 2019. According to a press release, the company partnered with Give Back Box, Teach For America, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston to start up the program and provide a way for Lego fans to donate their old sets and bricks to those in need across the U.S.
Children have been playing with Legos for decades – the Danish company’s history goes back to the 1930s – and today they can use the bricks to build models of everything from Star Wars ships to Notre Dame Cathedral. In 2010, Fortune reported that Legos were “the most popular toy ever made” and earlier this year, Audacy reported on a rare gold Lego that sold for $18,000.
“We know people don’t throw away their Lego bricks,” said Tim Brooks, then vice president of Environmental Responsibility at the LEGO Group, in 2019. “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.”
Anyone who has Legos collecting dust in their home who wants to pass the fun forward can learn how to donate on the Lego website. Currently, System Bricks Including elements from single or multiple sets; Minifigures and Mini-dolls, and Lego Baseplates are accepted donation items. Items that are not accepted include: third party toys, Duplo and Technic bricks, fully or partially built sets, batteries, electronic components, building instructions, packaging and non-brick items such as apparel and storage containers.
“We work closely with multiple donation partners, including First Book – a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to breaking down barriers to equitable education, who proudly give your much-loved Lego bricks a new life,” explained the company. It also said that donors do not need to clean their Legos before sending them off.
So far, 161,989 boxes of Legos have been donated to the Replay program. That’s 580,924 pounds of Lego bricks.
In addition to bringing holiday joy to kids in need, Lego is also aiming to reduce its environmental impact by re-using old bricks. Since 2019, the company has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 37% and it hopes to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
“We’re constantly looking for new ways to reuse and recycle Lego bricks,” said the company. “We want to create new ways to keep them in play.”
While many people have shipped off their boxes of Legos for a good cause, others have hoarded the toys for darker purposes. This summer, Audacy reported that police in Oregon recovered more than $200,000 worth of stolen Lego sets – authorities said thieves were selling the toys to buy drugs.