Good-bye plastic: Lego announces a huge change in the future of its toys.
Get ready to say good-bye to the Legos of yesteryear.
Legos. A classic children's toy.
The literal building blocks of imagination can bring many hours of joy.
Just take a look at that imagination! Photo by mureut/Flickr.
Hours of joy that are quickly forgotten when you step on them and want to die from the pain.
One thing I don't miss after giving away my Legos. GIF from Jerry Purpdrank/Vine.
To say that Legos are popular would be an understatement.
People love them! In 2012, over 45 billion Lego pieces were made, and enough were sold that year to circle the world 18 times.
That's A LOT of plastic.
Literally 6,000 tons of plastic each year. And we all know how bad plastic is for the environment.
Just a drop in the bucket. Photo by Curtis McHale/Flickr.
That's why the Lego Group just made a huge announcement about the future of Lego building blocks.
They're going to invest 1 BILLION Danish Krone (which is about $150 million USD) in a program that'll make the Lego blocks we know and love even better!
They're going to spend the money to hire 100 amazing, smart people to figure out materials that aren't harmful to the environment that can be used to make Legos instead.
An example of smart people. Image by U.S. Army RDECOM/Flickr.
They're establishing the Lego Sustainable Materials Center, which is the latest move by Lego to reduce its carbon footprint.
Currently, Legos are made out of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, which is a long way of saying "really strong plastic."
Knowing how much the colorful little blocks can hurt the Earth, Lego's been trying to do things that are better for the environment, like using less paper in their packaging and investing in an offshore wind farm.
In the announcement about the recent commitment, Lego Group owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (who is the grandson of Lego founder, Ole Kirk Kristiansen — how cool is that?) said:
"The investment announced is a testament to our continued ambition to leave a positive impact on the planet, which future generations will inherit. It is certainly in line with the mission of the LEGO Group and in line with the motto of my grandfather and founder of the LEGO Group, Ole Kirk Kristiansen: 'Only the best is good enough.'"
Thank you, Lego, for working hard to help us continue to bring our imaginations to life — without destroying the environment.
Take a look at their announcement in its entirety.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."