So, the children of Iran don't get to play with Barbie dolls because they undermine their Muslim culture. American kids, meanwhile, are apparently eschewing the dolls because of the environmentally unfriendly packaging. There's probably not much Mattel can do about the former, but they're turning the latter into a profit center.

Barbie BCause is a new line of "eco-friendly accessories for girls." And what exactly makes it so eco-friendly? The product line "repurposes excess fabric and trimmings from other Barbie® doll fashions and products which would otherwise be discarded, offering eco-conscious girls a way to make an environmentally-friendly fashion statement with cool, patchwork-style accessories."

Barbie dolls come packaged in a huge amount of plastic packaging; I'm not sure that making some bags out of leftover fabric makes up for that. Certainly, from a business point of view, it makes sense -- why waste all that perfectly decent fabric when you can sell it and rack up some Brownie points for being "green" at the same time? From an environmental point of view, I think that picking up an equivalent product at the local thrift shop makes more sense. While I'm no expert on women's fashion accessories, I have to say I don't find the pictured items very attractive. What do you think?

via Eco Child's Play