Green Baby Basics

Copyright (c) 2008 Virginia Ginsburg

Raising your baby in a green environment has multiple rewards. First, green products tend to have fewer dangerous chemicals associated with them. Second, by taking care of your baby’s world today, you are ensuring that there will be trees, flowers and bees for her to enjoy in the future.

There are many reasons for adopting a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, not the least of which is that it is usually healthier for you and your family because most products that are considered “green” contain less chemicals and hormones. On a larger scale, going green can have a significant impact on the health of our World. The world population continues to grow at an alarming rate: 1 billion people in 1800; 2 billion by 1922; and by 2000 an estimate 6 billion are estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is estimated that the population will swell to over 9 billion by 2050.

That means that if we evenly distributed the Earth’s natural resources (which we don’t), the population in 2050 – when your children’s children are growing up – will have only 25% of the resources per capita that we had in 1950. With limited resources available on Earth, we need to watch our consumption. We must become more ecologically-minded and preserve precious resources in order to leave the world in a state that can sustain our grandchildren.

Becoming environmentally-friendly doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, one of the best ways to do it is in small stages – one or two steps at a time. The deeper you get into green living the more you will see that there are infinite things that we can do, both big and small, to improve our environment. It is easy to become overwhelmed, but don’t worry – just do as much as you can, and remember that every little bit helps!

Here are three small steps that you can take today to raise a green baby:

1. Organic Foods: Thanks to the growing popularity of organic foods, it is increasingly easy to find organic options for your baby. In many supermarkets you can find organic fruits and vegetables, organic cereals, and other baby staples.

2. Household Cleaners: Having a baby makes you realize how many chemicals there are in the home. Chemical-laded cleaners can easily be replaced by environmentally-friendly cleaners that are better for the world and your baby’s skin.

3. Diapers: There are two green options in diapers: cloth and organic/unbleached. Diaper services can take much of the headache out of using cloth diapers, but some people simply don’t like them. Luckily, you can now get affordable organic diapers that require fewer chemicals to produce, thus reducing overall stress on the Earth.

4. Milk: If you can, then breast feed your baby. If you are looking at it from a strictly environmental and economic point of view, this is the way to go. Of course, if you cannot breast feed for any reason, then you can still purchase organic baby formula, which will cut down on the chemicals and hormones in your baby’s milk while reducing the impact on the environment.

5. Recycle Gift Packaging: Babies bring with them a lot of gifts! Every gift that you receive probably comes wrapped in cardboard, paper and plastic materials that can all be recycled. You can save nice gift bags and ribbons to wrap future presents, and recycle everything else.

As more people adopt a greener lifestyle, we are seeing more and more organic and environmentally-sound products in local supermarkets and even stores like Target and Wal-Mart. Keep your eyes open, and you’ll realize that raising a green baby doesn’t have to be a struggle.