Not Tempting Fete?

I am going to have a rant. And I am not going to apologise for it. I feel that village fetes generally aren't quite what they used to be. There is little I am tempted to buy at the stalls round the edge of the field.

I have been to a few this summer, and come away with the same question every time.  

Why are so many people selling small plastic animals ?

Every colour under the sun, some multi coloured rainbows, some shiny iridescent, others sparkling glittery finish...And why are people shelling out so much money for them [many cost £2+] when they cost about 4p each online?

At our village school fete, it was one of the most popular stands. At the event we dropped in on last Saturday there were three different stands,  all selling these horrid things.

They have no purpose, many are poorly made, and some are downright ugly. And they are all made of plastic - so will be littering our planet for centuries.

These items seem popular with children in Primary School. But they are a choking hazard for toddlers and small creatures.  Their popularity will not last long. Unlike Lego bricks and Playmobil figures, they are quite cheaply made, with limited play value and do not fit together as part of a larger creation. They cannot be recycled.

One stall holder was explaining that the dragons she was selling were unique, they were her own design made on her 3d printer at home, which is why they were £6.99 each. I hate to think how long her printer was running, and how much energy it consumed to produce these items. 

I know it is hard to be consistent, and we cannot avoid every piece of plastic - nobody makes wood and metal pcs, phones, or TVs. Unlike George Washington, who had wooden teeth, I am smiling because I have a synthetic dental implant. And the front of my car is plastic to make it safer for pedestrians in the case of RTAs. But surely these bits of tat are quite unnecessary?

What is the point of encouraging my grandchildren to think about litter, and landfill, and the pollution of the oceans if I then give them a handful of plastic lumps which they will tire of and discard within days [if not hours?] 

There were other 'craft' stalls at the last fete I attended - 3 with crochet items [I recognised two of the grannies and their products from other local events] a couple of 'wax melts' stalls, and a lady with handmade cards. I was not tempted by any of their items.

A teenager was selling friendship bracelets in aid of Breast Cancer. She told me her Mum died two years ago. I gave her a donation, but declined the bracelet, and told her to sell that to somebody else. She seemed slightly surprised that someone would give without expecting an item in return. 

If the fetes' food stalls have changed policy and now use recyclable cups and biodegradable paper napkins, why is it still acceptable for other stalls to churn out all these plastic items?

Is this an unreasonable rant? How can we make a better impact?