Barbie BCause, toymaker Mattel’s attempt to appeal to the green-minded tyke, has turned out to be not so popular with green-minded parents. The line of patchwork-y Barbie accessories made from cast-off fabric has inspired a blogging backlash. “The eco-conscious young girls I know of steer clear of Barbie,” wrote Jennifer Lance on blog Eco Child’s Play. “Truly green families will not be fooled by Mattel’s greenwashing.” Mother Jones blogger Jen Phillips agreed that touting Barbie BCause as green is “pretty ironic given that Barbie dolls themselves are made out of plastic and are packaged in even more plastic.” And that’s no insignificant amount of plastic: all of the Barbies sold since 1959, placed end to end, would circle the Earth more than seven times.
