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Make Your Baby a Green Baby
By Green Guest | January 1, 2010
The green movement is taking over and society expects you to take your part. Whether you choose to take part or not is up to you but one thing is for certain, going green will not only help the environment but it will make you feel better about yourself. One way you can go green is with your baby and the needs that come with him or her. Most of the needs associated with a baby have a green alternative.
Diapers leave a huge environmental impact considering a baby will use around 5,000-6,000 diapers before being potty-trained. A disposable diaper can take up to 500 years to decompose bringing to the mind of most people, cloth diapers. Cloth diapers are better in the sense that they have about half of the environmental impact as disposable diapers but you have to wash them which takes water, chemicals, electricity and labor. There are services out there that cater to washing a household’s cloth diapers and if you choose to take that route then the environmental impact will be cut in half again as well as save you time and money.
Cloth diapers today can be fitted so you no longer have to deal with the hassle of diaper pins and they can be made from hemp, organic cotton or even bamboo making these diapers more ecologically friendly. You can also buy liners for these diapers that are made to be flushed down the toilet safely, minimizing the amount of laundry you need to do. There are also diapers that are biodegradable and while they do not seem to break down in landfills, you can set up the right compost pile and the earthworms will take care of it, leaving you with nice, rich soil. Hopefully, your baby does not have to go through this a lot but should your baby develop a diaper rash then there are green products out there to treat it. The best is simply olive oil because it is natural and inexpensive.
When it comes to feeding your baby, breastfeeding is the best option. Breastfeeding yields benefits to both the mother and child, especially the child. Breast milk is free so you do not have to spend money on fancy formulas and milks and it leaves behind no negative environmental side effects. Breastfeeding also provides the mother and child with some special bonding time which is very important as the child grows. There are many green options out there for the various products associated with breastfeeding. Instead of buying the commercially produced nipple creams, get some organic cream or try using olive oil. Try buying some re-usable breast pads instead of the disposable ones. There are a lot of organic formulas out there for bottle-feeding but before you buy those, try pumping your own because it is free and better for the baby. Once your baby starts eating more solid foods such as meat and eggs and vegetables try buying fresh frozen food instead of buying all those jars or if you do not want to do that, cook the food yourself.
There are a lot of cute clothes out there that are really tempting to buy but sometimes cuter is not better. All those cute clothes typically run a high price and considering your baby will grow out of those clothes rapidly; why not spend a little less? Buy clothes made from a bamboo, wool or cotton material as these materials are safer on a baby’s skin and hold up longer through the consistent washings sustained throughout its lifetime. Sometimes money can become an issue and if that does pose a problem, try looking for used clothes in your local classified ads, Craigslist, EBay or a secondhand clothing store.
There are many other ways to go green, you should be encouraged to go as green as possible to reduce your ecological footprint and preserve the environment for generations to enjoy. Start off by making simple changes step by step and then try looking at it from a larger perspective. Look up more green alternatives by typing into a search engine such as Yahoo, Google, or Ask. The benefits of going green are immense and are waiting to be taken advantage of you.
Category: Green Living, Green News, Green Shopping
Tags: baby, bamboo, child, children, cloth diapers, decompose, disposable, ecological footprint, environment, environmental impact, green, organic 3 Comments »
January 1st, 2010 at 11:02 pm
[...] Read more: Make Your Baby a Green Baby | Green Company Canada [...]
January 11th, 2010 at 8:40 am
i think this is really grose
but it could be a good idea
and your not saving money on diapers if your paying a company to wash them
January 16th, 2010 at 5:48 am
[...] See more here: Make Your Baby a Green Baby | Green Company Canada [...]