Circular Monday

This post is dedicated to Circular Monday! And how can we contribute to the reduction of consumption by buying second-hand or renting.

SOURCE: https://www.circularmonday.com/

As always, a little bit of Wikipedia first:

Circular Monday is a grassroots movement, database and shopping day for circular consumption. It involves businesses with circular economy business models that sell, rent, share and repair products made out of recycled materials, including second-hand services.

It was founded in 2017 in Malmö, Sweden, by Swedish start-up founder Henning Gillberg, and was initially called White Monday; it changed the name in 2020. It was devised as an antidote to Black Friday, which promotes linear consumption, and takes place on the Monday before Black Friday. By 2019, over 200 businesses were taking part. Participating companies - mainly based in Europe - discount their products to expose circular alternatives to the linear consumption offered by Black Friday and other shopping days.

Check out the official website for more details: https://www.circularmonday.com/

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Stroll In supports a circular economy, and, of course, wants to contribute to the awareness of the alternatives to buying new child gear.

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Physical Second-hand stores

• Barnens byrå

Children's products (clothes, toys, accessories) second-hand store located outside of Uppsala. This store claims to have carefully selected garments for children.

It doesn't have a website, but you can check its Instagram instead.

• Jenny's Barnkanal

Second-hand store outside of Stockholm (Åkersberga) with a huge selection of kids' clothes, accessories and toys as well as sports items for children. There are also maternity clothes.

There is a website but I recommend checking out Instagram if you want to see the shop and get an idea about the selection presented.

If you want to bring your child gear you get a 40% return on the items that sell in the shop, check details on the website.

• Bye Buy

Second-hand store located in Stockholm, Kungsholmen. This store has a selection of kids' second-hand clothing, accessories, shoes and some toys. The selection is limited, but all the items are of good quality.

You can always check their Instagram to see what is in store.

If you want to bring your child's gear you get a 15-30% return on the items that sell in the shop, depending on the condition and the type of the item, check details on the website.

• Röda Cross Mariatorget

This is a general second-hand store by Red Cross. What I have noticed there sometimes are brand new H&M clothes for kids with cut labels at a fraction of the price.

• PO.P Second Hand: Used&Loved

This is both an online and physical sale of used kids' PO.P. garments.

If you want to bring your child's gear you get a value check on the items that sell, check the details on the website.

• Stockholms Stadsmission

The NGO-driven organisation also has a chain of second-hand stores which has a selection of kids' clothes shows and toys. Generally, the quality is not so good, but the price is the most affordable.

You can donate your child's gear if you wish.

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Online second-hand stores

I found only one online store of children's clothes, the rest are second-hand trading platforms, meaning that there is no guarantee on the delivery itself or delivery time or the quality of the items purchased (unless you purchase extra "insurance"). Some platforms have no set price, but offer the bidding process instead, which could be beneficial for the seller, but frustrating for the potential buyer.

• Minikit - online store that specialises in children's clothing of a good quality&condition.

• Marketplace on Facebook

• Vinted - general second-hand trading platform (apparently, offers the cheapest delivery).

• Tradera - general second-hand trading platform.

• Sellpy - general second-hand trading platform.

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Rental Services

• Parently

Parently probably has the biggest selection of the children's gear to rent. One can find everything from strollers to high chairs, children's furniture and even reusable diapers.

Brands presented are AXKID, BabyDan, BBhugme, Bugaboo, EcoViking, ErgoBaby, Luie, Maxi-Cosi, Minimeis, STÅLHÄSTEN, Thule, TinySeats.

The rental period depends on the product desired to be rented, but, generally, the rental period could be 1, 6, 12, 18 or 24 months. There are some items, however, that can be rented for 1 week - a great option for those who come to visit as tourists and might need extra gear, like a stroller.

• Hyber

Hyber is the children's gear rental service (online or in the Hyber office in Stockholm) offering a wide selection of items to rent:

1. Clothes (PO.P., Isbjörn of Sweden, Tretorn, Reima) ,

2. Prams (Thule, Ergobaby)

3. Kids bikes (Stoy),

4. Car seats (Axkid)

5. and even some basic Maternity clothes (Boob Design).

The rental period depends on the product desired, for example for clothes it is 1 month, for pram - 3 months.

• STROLLY

Strolly - is a strollers&prams rental service.

Brands presented in the catalogue: Thule, Babyzen, Twistshake, Junama and Uppababy.

Rental period: 6, 12 or 24 months

• Hygglo

Hygglo is a general rental platform, where, among other items, one can rent (or rent out) children's gear. There is a wide variety of items and brands, as well as the conditions in which they are presented.

The benefit of this platform is that there is no minimum rental duration (one can find items to rent just for 1 day). On the other hand, there is no company guarantee of the quality/maintenance/cleanliness of the items.

• Lekobox

Lekobox is a toy box subscription service in Stockholm.

Brands presented are Moulin Roty, Akros, Petit Boum, Hape, HABA, Ever Earth, Micki, Jecko, Plan Toys, Janod, Orchard Toys and Vilac.

Subscription duration can be as long as 3 or 6 months (starting with a 1-month discovery box).

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Interview with the Founder

A few weeks back I had the privilege to speak to Eleonore - the founder of Lekobox and ask her a couple of questions about Lekobox and the benefits of using the opportunity to rent instead of buy.

Q: What was your main motivation to start this business?

It all started of course when we became parents and spent our wonderful parental leaves with our son, Roman.

We quickly realized that children in general, as well as our own, get tired of their toys very quickly. They have an unquenchable thirst to discover, to learn, to be amazed and of course, we wanted to meet this need. As new parents but also new to the toy business, we did spend a lot of time looking for quality, educational and/or environment-friendly toys, only to resell them on second-hand's marketplaces or give them away a few months later. That's when we came up with the idea to create the service we were missing: Toy rental! This idea appeared to us as an obvious answer to the needs of the children, the parents but also of our environment. After thinking about it for a long time and talking about this project around us, we understood that we were not the first to have this idea and that this type of service already existed in several European countries and in the USA. Without any further hesitation, and a little less than a year after the idea was born, Lekobox was created.

Q: How renting is better than buying second-hand?

At home, we often use second-hand tools such as Facebook market, Blocket and others. It's a great way to extend the life of things and therefore reduce waste. At Lekobox we will always recommend buying second-hand over buying new. The advantage of renting-as-a-the-service: we choose for you good quality toys in our catalogue (material used, toys aiming to develop motor and intellectual skills, suppliers sharing ethical values) but also toys cleaned after each rental and completed/restored if needed. In addition to the rental service, we deliver and pick up the toys at your door, which saves parents the hassle of having to pick up toys in the four corners of Stockholm, setting a date and place of meeting with the seller, etc. Last but not least: Since the toys are rented, this means that once the child is tired of them they will be returned to Lekobox rather than being stored all over the house gathering dust. Enjoy your clutter-free home!

Q: What happens if the product is worn off/broken/damaged by the user?

No problem, "wear and tear" is included in the price of the box. We think that its normal for a kid to discover a toy in every way possible and sometimes by mismanaging it. ;-)

Q: How do you ensure cleaningness of the product before sending it off to a new customer?

When a box comes back from a family, before returning the toys in our stock, we make sure to clean it with non-toxic disinfectant and a high-temperature steam cleaner depending on the toy (wood, plastic, fabric...). Sometimes we also use water and Marseille soap to remove stains by rubbing, or simply an eraser.

Q: How do you justify the pricing for the customer?

Lekobox is a service : - We take time to choose good quality and ethical toys/games for our catalogue. - The parents have two options when choosing a Lekobox: They can choose the toys by themselves from the catalogue or we can prepare the toy box for the kids according to their age - We deliver and pick up the box at the door. - We make sure to clean and restore the toys before sending them to another family. - Wear and tears are included in the price. - We are flexible: You keep the box as long as you want - We offer the possibility to buy a toy at a fair price if your kid fell in love with it.

Q: What is the shortest time a customer can rent? Can your products be rented per day/week?

For the moment, the families can rent a Lekobox for a minimum of one month but it is in our plans to also rent for a shorter period of time later.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with the reader?

We are very much looking forward to getting the newly updated website up and running, there are just a few small details to be worked out before we are ready. This is a really big step for us and Lekobox. The main features that will be integrated are for example : The catalogue: With the current site, parents simply inform us of the age of the child and we select the toys according to that. This is a process that most parents like because they "trust" us on the selection and don't waste time browsing a catalogue. In addition, it allows children to discover toys that their parents would not have thought of buying them.

However, we know that other parents would like to choose the toys for their children themselves, so we are very happy to have the new catalogue and to offer both possibilities. The second big change will be the orders & payment method. At the moment we contact parents at the end of each subscription month to ask if they want to continue, exchange, or stop their Lekobox. After that, we have to determine a new delivery/pick-up date and also send a new invoice if needed. That's a lot of email and SMS exchanges and we know that our customers don't always have time for all that. With the new website, families with a Lekobox subscription will be able to keep the box as long as they want and will have the possibility to exchange the toys or stop the subscription directly via the website in a very simple way. The payment will be deducted automatically from the account. Easier and faster.

Amazing! Thank you so much to Lekobox and its founder, Eleonore, for taking the time to answer questions about the service and circular economy in general. Looking forward to the newly updated Website, meanwhile, check out the Lekobox current website and Instagram!