Kickstart: More toys for your collection

Children of the '80s may want to dig their old toys out of the closet or at least prepare to buy new ones.

Toy maker Hasbro Inc. announced during a virtual meeting with investors on Feb. 25 that it has deals in hand to remake cartoons featuring some popular toys.

So prepare for a surge in demand for Transformers (with two different series headed to Netflix), a My Little Pony reboot (also on Netflix) and a GI Joe series, Lady Jaye, making its way to Amazon Prime.

Will there be new characters for children (or collectors) to buy? Of course. The description of the new My Little Pony covers Earth ponies, unicorns and "the world's cutest flying pomeranian."

There are also projects in the works involving other Hasbro brands such as the games Clue, Magic the Gathering, Risk and Dungeons and Dragons.

And that's not the only action on toys from Hasbro. The company found itself caught up in controversy when the Associated Press reported that the brand is changing its name to a gender-neutral Potato Head rather than Mr. Potato Head or Mrs. Potato Head. But Mr. and Mrs. will remain, Hasbro clarified on Twitter. It's just the logo being simplified.

Can there be a compromise when it comes to sustainability?

Steve Toloken has a story from Virginia, where the state Legislature has signed on to a trade-off. The state will ban the use of expanded polystyrene in foodservice containers. But at the same time, legislators will make it easier to build chemical recycling plants, so companies can plan recycling infrastructure without so many hoops to jump through.

"I'm not talking about a water bottles and so on. I'm talking about potato chip bags and other nuisance plastics that you don't know how to recycle and turn it into a low-carbon fuel," state Del. Ken Plum said. "By recognizing it, we allow these companies to attract more investors … and apply for grants that are available to further the cost of cleaning up our waste system."

As we head into the final weekend of February — during a second year of COVID-19 restrictions — doesn't a drink sound nice? Especially one where you can recycle your used personal protective equipment while you're relaxing?

Global brewing company AB InBev is teaming with TerraCycle to recycle PPE at 18 of its craft beer brands with Pints for PPE. (Yes, AB InBev owns small-label beers in addition to giants like Budweiser, and yes, going out for drinks is still a complicated issue.)

"[The breweries] installed TerraCycle zero-waste boxes, specially intended for single-use masks and gloves, at 18 craft breweries across the U.S.," AB InBev said in a news release. "Once the boxes are filled, they will be returned to TerraCycle for recycling. The collected PPE will be cleaned, melted and processed into a raw material that can be used to make new products, such as composite decking, outdoor furniture and reusable shipping pallets."

You can find the full list of participating brewers here.