Taking off layer after layer, getting ever closer to the treasured prize which you can feel beneath your fingers, until you can't contain yourself any longer and in your excitement you rip it open...

And what have you got?

A small toy figurine, dwarfed by plastic wrapping and cardboard boxes that seem ten times bigger than the toy itself.

What is going on with the amount of packaging that toy producers and the like decide to use for their products? Often products will be packaged in a bag within a bag within a box at the very least, and the amount of waste they are creating is detrimental to the environment.

According to UK statistics, it is estimated that three million tonnes of household rubbish was created by householders in Britain this Christmas, including 800,000 tonnes from toy packaging alone.

For every one tonne of rubbish produced by householders, a further 15 tonnes has been created through manufacturing of the goods and extraction of raw materials.

Research into this year's predicted best-selling toys shows that manufacturers are still producing toys in excessive and unnecessary packaging. Unbelievably, the World's current number one selling toy uses a staggering 82% more packaging than is required for the toys dimensions.

Obviously a certain amount of packaging is required to keep the toys from damage and to ensure it meets safety requirements. However, manufacturers and retailers often seem to take this to the extreme, using excess packaging to create a 'superior' display on shelves.

Making the toy look bigger ultimately increases the appeal to the children's market, where the belief that 'bigger is better' is all too familiar. But although this may help line the pockets of retailer companies, it certainly doesn't help the environment.

Thankfully, a new environmental website is campaigning for the general public to stop and think before buying toys with excessive packaging, and put into practice more environmentally friendly alternatives.

Green Sword is a campaigning web site which aims to shape people’s understanding, attitude and behaviour in relation to the environment and play a significant role in the fight against climate change.

According to Green Sword, if each UK household had bought just one toy last Christmas which did not require packaging, or minimal packaging, the waste saved would equate to 1,325 double-decker buses.

Professor Ian Swingland, Director of Science, comments: "Few toys biologically degrade and even batteries are not recycled, despite the poisons they contain contaminating the ground water we use. The packaging alone accounts for some 20% of the cost and 35% of the total amount of material, toy and packaging."

"The UK's lack of legislation outlawing the over packaging of such wasteful and damaging ephemera, that are so difficult to dispose of without harming the environment, is a disgrace when Norway recycles nearly 70% of its waste and the UK still only manages about 20%."

It does seem as though governments around the globe are beginning to take a greener approach to legislation by finally beginning proposals to cut carbon emissions and the impact of global warming, but packaging is an issue which the UK government has yet to tackle.

Good things come in small packages, and it's about time the government, toy manufactures, retailers and consumers realised this.