In its ongoing commitment to adopting business practices that benefit customers and the environment, online retailer LoveHoney launched its Rabbit Amnesty program Tuesday, introducing the world's first official sex-toy recycling scheme.
LoveHoney will deliver used vibrators, which are sent in by customers, to a designated collection facility to be recycled in an "ecologically sound manner." For each vibrator returned through the Rabbit Amnesty program, LoveHoney will donate £1 to the World Land Trust to support the charity's rainforest-protection projects.
As an added incentive, those who send in a used vibrator can buy a new Rabbit vibrator at half-price from LoveHoney. The program is limited to United Kingdom residents, but LoveHoney hopes sex-toy retailers around the world will follow its lead.
"Rabbit Amnesty is a unique way for Rabbit lovers to enjoy cleaner, greener orgasms," Head Buyer Bonny Hall said. "By sending an old Rabbit to LoveHoney, customers get the satisfaction of having it recycled-without the inconvenience or embarrassment of taking a used sex toy to a local council rubbish dump."
"Although some people might think it's strange to recycle sex toys, Rabbit sales are growing every year, and we don't want old ones dumped in landfill sites across the country. We hope that Rabbit Amnesty will encourage people to reduce waste by recycling their Rabbits."
Marketing Representative Ruth Wilkinson echoed Hall's sentiments. "As a sex-toy company, we have a responsibility to our customers-and also the environment-to ensure that our products are disposed of properly, and Rabbit Amnesty is just the beginning," she said. "It was also a great way for us to support the World Land Trust and thus make the world a better place."
According to Wilkinson, the idea had been in the works for some time.
"We'd been keen to start a sex-toys recycling scheme for a long time, and the introduction of the new laws prompted us into action," she said. "We first had the idea around two years ago, but we've been working on it in earnest for around six months."
SexToyRecycling.com attracted media attention earlier this year by announcing a similar program, but the site's validity hasn't been verified yet.
The EU's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), which took effect on July 1, 2006, requires consumers to properly dispose of electrical equipment -including vibrators. Directive 2002/95/EC was designed to "tackle the fast-increasing waste stream of electrical and electronic equipment" and makes producers of such equipment responsible for taking it back and recycling it.
Visit LoveHoney's website to see a video explaining the Rabbit Amnesty program.
