Is Your Baby A Green Baby?
The term ‘Green Baby’ does not mean that your son or daughter is related to the Incredible Hulk or the Green Giant. Neither does it mean that your child is feeling slightly ill therefore turning a little bit green. The term refers to being environmentally friendly, and raising your child in an eco-aware way.
How and why would you do this?
Raising a child by being an eco-friendly parent is not as complex as it might seem. Yes it might require a little more thought and consideration when you buy certain products, but ultimately it will benefit not only yourself and your child, but it will have an impact on the wider environment. Below are some simple ideas that will help you to become more environmentally friendly in your parenting:
- Buy Wooden Toys Instead of Plastic. – The manufacturing of plastic toys uses a huge amount of crude oil, from the formation of the raw materials which make the products, through to fueling the machinery which assembles and shapes the toys themselves. Crude oil is a precious commodity and supplies are decreasing at a rapid rate, so by choosing wooden products you help to reduce the use of crude oil in manufacturing baby toys. Wooden toys are also able to be manufactured from sustainable sources – meaning that for every tree used to manufacture products, a new tree is planted in its place. There are some great wooden toy retailers like Baby Republic who have a great range of traditional children’s toys.
- Choose Reusable Nappies – It’s no secret that a newborn baby will go through a whopping amount of nappies within their first year of life, but actual figures suggest that the average baby will use over 3,200 disposable nappies at a cost of over £740 (based on average cost of leading brand nappies). Using cloth nappies (also known as Terry Nappies) can not only help to reduce the amount of money you sepnd on the disposable alternative, but will reduce landfill, and decrease your carbon footprint by up to 40%!
- Opt For Organic Baby Clothes – It might sound strange, but you can actually buy organic clothing for your child! Organically produced clothing means that the agricultural practices employed in growing the raw materials like cotton, are much better for the environment and also for your childs health. Removing the use of pesticides in the growing process greatly reduces the chance of eczema and irritation on your baby’s skin. Sustainable approaches to the use of soil in farming also means that the land used will be able to yield many crops over many seasons, rather than becoming fruitless due to poor soil management.
Being an eco-friendly parent is about awareness. Spend some time doing some research into ec0-friendly products for you and your baby, finding out which products and companies are environmentally aware and certified, and you’ll be surprised how much money you can save, as well as how much you can reduce your carbon footprint.
Written by Brendan on April 19th, 2012 with no comments.
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