When you become a mother you feel a stronger need to leave this planet a little better than you found it. As we want a better planet for our children. Our planet is affected by the choices our ancestors made but that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can do.
Today I want to share a few tips to be more sustainable as a parent.
Sustainable fashion
Not only for ourselves but also for our kids we want clothing made with eco-friendly resources (often organic cotton) and made by people who are treated fairly and receive a decent wage.
Next to being better for our planet and for the people creating it, it is also better for your baby’s health. This is because a baby has a higher skin surface to body volume ratio which means their skin and body absorb many chemicals easier compared to adults.
So avoid clothing that is made with cotton that is heavily treated with pesticides and fertilizers and go for a sustainable option like organic cotton.
Yes, these are a little more expensive as the workers received a decent wage but, clothing for your child doesn’t have to be new. Kids grow extremely fast and will go up in size frequently so secondhand clothes are often only worn a few times and can go another round or two.
Toys
Avoid plastic toys for your children. Plastic is derived from fossil resources like coal, gas, and crude oil. This undergoes extensive treatment to become the plastic that is used in toys.
Even though most plastics are extensively tested, there could be toxins present in plastic you would like to avoid like: Bisphenol A, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), and fire retardants.
All these chemicals are known to affect the human body and are better avoided. So what is the alternative?
Wooden toys. Wooden toys are eco-friendly, have great durability, and feel much nicer in your hands. They are also quieter and less distracting compared to plastic toys.
Diapers
Diapers are the most wasteful part of a child’s life. A baby uses over 6000 disposable diapers during its first 2,5 years of life.
This is an incredible amount of waste because diapers are often made from fossil resources that are turned into plastic, a diaper takes about 500 years to decompose in a landfill. Before the 1950’s people did this differently, and I think we can do that again.
The cloth diapers we use nowadays look so much different from what they did 70 years ago. They are much more user-friendly and our washing machines are much more efficient so boiling diapers is no longer a thing (this is very bad for your cloth diapers btw).
Besides the fact that they produce less waste, there are also fewer chemicals near your baby’s delicate bits and you can save thousands of dollars by using cloth diapers.
I hope these eco-friendly tips will help you up to your game towards a more eco-friendly world. Not only for yourself but also for your loved ones.
