Giorginetto - I followed a link through to your collection of Romans earlier*. They clearly outnumber the trees - I too would be worried about space
I think if I need any space here, I will get rid of anything that doesn't possess a hard flat surface. I can't display Playmobil on the sofa, for example.
As for my boxes, the Playmobil ones go up in the loft for ever, boxes for things with guarantees go in the loft until the guarantee runs out, and it (along with cans, paper, textiles and some plastic) gets put out for the recycling lorry every other Thursday.
I never really considered the origins of our little plastic pals though. The modern world would stop turning without oil, although I'm no expert on how environmentally unfriendly oil extraction is (with the exception of pollution incidents).
Hijacking threads. Whatever next
*Amendment - since I posted this, I hve now read about Giorginetto's shopping trip