毛绒玩具“领养”公司让旧毛绒动物玩具重获新生

In 2016， Charlotte Liebling was volunteering at a thrifts3 shop in London，England.

Liebling noticed that many people dropped off stuffed animals. People broughtteddy bears， rabbits and other stuffed animals in good condition. Some were sold，but most of the well-loved soft toys were thrown away.

“I knew they had sentimental4 and emotional value，”she said. “I was sad tolearn most of them ended up at the landfill5.”She said she couldn’t imaginethrowing hers away.

In 2019， she put her ideas into motion6. The company she has set up is a“soft-toy adoption agency”. It cleans up donated soft toys and resells them online.

In the past five years， Leibling has collected more than 60，000 soft toys. Shehas cleaned them up and sent them to new homes.

She has donated 50 percent of her profits7 to charity， she said.

Before the stuffed animals are posted for the public， they go through a hightemperaturesteam cleaning. Some of them will then get extra repairs.

“Our stuffed animals help teach children the importance of giving somethingsecondhand a second chance，”said Liebling.

Liebling has big hopes for each Loved Before toy. She wants them tobe looked after and passed down for decades8 instead of ending up in alandfill.

She said she believes that her second-chance toys are very valuable.It’s because of the love and adventure they’ve already experienced.

“I love that we can give them a second chance to be loved，”she said.

2016 年，夏洛特·利布林在英国伦敦一家旧货店做志愿者。

利布林注意到，许多人丢弃了毛绒动物玩具。人们带来了状况良好的泰迪熊、兔子和其他毛绒动物。有些被卖掉了，但大多数深受喜爱的毛绒玩具都被扔掉了。

“我知道它们具有情感和情绪价值。”她说，“得知它们中的大多数最终被扔进了垃圾填埋场，我很难过。”她说，她无法想象会把自己的毛绒玩具扔掉。

2019 年，她将自己的想法付诸实践。她创立的公司是一家“毛绒玩具收养机构”，负责清理捐赠的毛绒玩具并在网上转售。

在过去的五年里，利布林已经收集了6 万多个毛绒玩具。她已经把它们清理干净，送到了新家。

她说她已将50%的利润捐给慈善机构。

在毛绒动物玩具向公众发布之前，它们要经过高温蒸汽清洗。然后，它们中的一些会得到额外的修补。

“我们的毛绒玩具有助于教会孩子们给二手物品第二次机会的重要性。”利布林说。

利布林对每一个曾被爱过的玩具都抱有很大的希望。她希望它们能得到照顾并被传承几十年，而不是最终被扔进垃圾填埋场。

她说，她相信自己重获新生的玩具非常有价值。这是因为它们已经经历过爱和冒险。

“我很高兴我们能给它们第二次被爱的机会。”她说。