Michigan Nuns Win Hasbro’s Commitment for Safer Toy Packaging after Four-Year Effort
January 3, Adrian, Michigan – Children will find safer toys and games under the Christmas tree thanks to an agreement that the Adrian Dominican Sisters and other concerned congregations of Catholic Sisters reached with Hasbro. The producer of such toys and games as Let’s Rock Elmo, Monopoly, and Play-Doh, Hasbro announced on December 8 that it would eliminate the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in its new core toy and game packaging, beginning in 2013.
“We are delighted to see Hasbro make this commitment and hope that other toy manufacturers will soon follow suit,” said Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. “Removing PVC from toy packaging is good news for children, workers, and the environment,” she added.
The agreement is the result of four years of engagement with the toy manufacturer, initiated by the Sisters over health, safety, and justice concerns. “PVC presents an array of potential dangers throughout the production lifecycle,” explained Margaret Weber, former Coordinator of Corporate Responsibility for the Adrian Dominican Sisters. “These range from the use of raw toxic chemicals, such as chlorine gas and cancer-causing vinyl chloride monomer in PVC production, to exposure of workers and surrounding communities where the PVC-utilizing packaging is produced, to the release of toxic additives such as lead and phthalates during use and disposal of PVC products,” Weber said.
In 2007, the Adrian Dominican Sisters, out of concern over Hasbro’s use of PVC in toys and packaging, filed a shareholder proposal that Hasbro publish a sustainability report. When the company took no action, the Sisters resubmitted the proposal in the 2008 shareholder season. It was backed by seven other shareholders: As You Sow Foundation; Catholic Healthcare West (CHW); School Sisters of Notre Dame Cooperative Investment Fund; School Sisters of Notre Dame, Milwaukee; Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia; and the Socially Responsible Investment Coalition, Texas.
Hasbro agreed to explore the issue during a meeting at the offices of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in New York City. The meeting ultimately resulted in Hasbro’s decision to eliminate the use of PVC from packaging. The Sisters will now press for a commitment from Hasbro to eliminate all use of PVC in their toys.
The agreement with Hasbro is only one recent example of the influence that socially responsible investors have on corporate policies and practices. Congregations of Catholic Sisters have been at the forefront of this movement, investing their retirement savings in various corporations so that they will have a voice in the ways that the corporations relate to their workers, the environment, and the community at large. During the past 35 years, the Adrian Dominican Sisters have voiced concerns with a wide range of corporations in such areas as militarism and violence, human rights, genetically engineered seeds and foods, energy and the environment, workers’ rights, and human trafficking.
The news story has garnered some local media attention. Read the article printed in the Adrian Daily Telegram. WTOL TV in Toledo also covered the story during its broadcast on December 24, 2011.