Climate Changemakers: ‘I had a fire in my belly' – the woman driving change in the toy industry
Sharon Keilthy founded Jiminy.ie, one of Ireland's leading eco-friendly toy stores, and now advises major global toymakers on how to reduce their products' environmental impact
In 2018, Sharon Keilthy wanted to purchase a birthday gift for her daughter's fourth birthday. 'I walked into a nice family-run store,' she recalls. 'I wanted to buy a toy I could feel good about – one that wasn't wrapped in plastic or shipped all the way from China. But I walked out empty handed. I couldn't find a single thing on the shelves that matched what I had hoped for.'
So she founded Jiminy.ie, one of Ireland's leading eco-friendly toy stores, and ran it for six years. She gradually started speaking, organising and consulting on sustainability for the children's toy industry and now advises major global toymakers on how to reduce the environmental impact of their toys. She speaks at, and co-organises, bio!TOY, a bi-annual conference about sustainable plastics for toymakers and plastics producers. At the world's biggest toy fair, Spielwarenmesse, she has spoken on the main stage, judged the Toy Award, and co-curated the Toys Go Green exhibition over the past three years. In 2024, she decided to devote herself full-time to consulting with the leading Irish independent sustainability consultancy, Sustainability Works.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sunday World
5 hours ago
- Sunday World
€250m Euromillions jackpot won in Ireland
The national lottery announced the news on their website There has been an Irish winner of the enormous €250m Euromillions jackpot this evening. The national lottery announced the news on their website this evening. The winning numbers were: 13, 22, 23, 44 ,49 and the Lucky Stars were 3 and 5. The jackpot is the joint-biggest in the history of the game. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content More to follow..
Irish Independent
5 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Climate Changemakers: ‘I had a fire in my belly' – the woman driving change in the toy industry
Sharon Keilthy founded one of Ireland's leading eco-friendly toy stores, and now advises major global toymakers on how to reduce their products' environmental impact In 2018, Sharon Keilthy wanted to purchase a birthday gift for her daughter's fourth birthday. 'I walked into a nice family-run store,' she recalls. 'I wanted to buy a toy I could feel good about – one that wasn't wrapped in plastic or shipped all the way from China. But I walked out empty handed. I couldn't find a single thing on the shelves that matched what I had hoped for.' So she founded one of Ireland's leading eco-friendly toy stores, and ran it for six years. She gradually started speaking, organising and consulting on sustainability for the children's toy industry and now advises major global toymakers on how to reduce the environmental impact of their toys. She speaks at, and co-organises, bio!TOY, a bi-annual conference about sustainable plastics for toymakers and plastics producers. At the world's biggest toy fair, Spielwarenmesse, she has spoken on the main stage, judged the Toy Award, and co-curated the Toys Go Green exhibition over the past three years. In 2024, she decided to devote herself full-time to consulting with the leading Irish independent sustainability consultancy, Sustainability Works.
Irish Independent
5 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Court date set for appeal of €550k award to man unfairly dismissed by Elon Musk's X
Home > Business > Irish Business Former executive did not respond to new CEO's 'Fork in the Road' email Elon Musk, owner of the X social media platform. Photo: Reuters In the ruling last August, Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator Michael MacNamee found that Twitter International UC – since renamed X Internet Unlimited Company – unfairly dismissed a former company executive Gary Rooney in December 2022. It came after he failed to respond to Mr Musk's 'Fork in the Road' email which was sent to all employees following the billionaire's takeover of the firm. Mr Rooney has yet to receive any of the monies as the case is before the Labour Court on appeal from Twitter International UC. Solicitor for Mr Rooney, Barry Kenny of Kenny Sullivan Solicitors in Bray, confirmed the case 'is listed for hearing in the Labour Court on July 29 for three days'. Mr Kenny said: 'My client is anxious to put all this behind him. The WRC determined that X's treatment of him as a long-standing and loyal employee amounted to an unfair dismissal. Mr Rooney is anxious that the Labour Court will affirm this decision. 'Mr Rooney is also hopeful that the claim under the Payment of Wages Act and his loss of income arising due to the fact that he was unfairly dismissed is also affirmed. 'It is open to the Labour Court to increase or reduce sums awarded in the WRC as it will be a de novo hearing. 'X have advised that they intend to call at least three witnesses. Some or all of them may be giving evidence remotely from the USA. Mr Rooney is the only witness in his own case.' At the WRC, Twitter International UC fully contested Mr Rooney's claim over five days of hearing, contending that he had resigned voluntarily. In his findings, Mr MacNamee found that Mr Rooney was dismissed because he did not click 'yes' to Mr Musk's 'Fork in the Road' email on November 16, 2022, and for that reason alone. Mr Musk said: 'If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below.' After Mr Rooney opted not to click 'yes', three days later on November 19, 2022, he received a further company email which stated that it is 'to acknowledge your decision to resign and accept the voluntary separation offer'. On November 26, 2022, Mr Rooney – who began working with the company in 2013 – emailed his employer to outline 'that at no time have I indicated to Twitter that I am resigning my position'. In evidence, Mr Rooney told the WRC that before the change of ownership, he loved his job. On receiving Mr Musk's 'Fork in the Road' email, Mr Rooney told the hearing that his first reaction was disbelief and he was initially afraid to open it for fear that it was spam or malware. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news Elon Musk X (formerly Twitter)
