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It is our children who will have to deal with the consequences of climate change. The least you can do is help them to protect their own future by minimising their impact on the planet from day one.
For starters, the most eco-friendly way to feed a new baby is to breastfeed. Breastfeeding requires no packaging or bottles, and it is always the right temperature, so there is no need for energy to heat milk. Added to that, it’s free and healthier. The recommendations from the World Health Organisation are to breast feed for the first 6 months. However, if breastfeeding your baby is not possible, there are organic baby milk formulas now available.
After six months, your baby will start needing to eat other foods as well. Again, stick to organic food if you can. As well as protecting your baby from the chemicals and pesticides sprayed on non-organic produce, you will also be minimising the damage these substances cause to the environment.
Rather than buying pre-prepared baby food, cut out the wasteful packaging by making up your own dishes. These can be quite simple, such as puréed banana or carrot.
The problem of nappies
The biggest impact most babies have on the planet is the huge number of disposable nappies they get through. Nearly 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away in the UK every day, with 90% of these sitting on landfill sites where they take hundreds of years to decompose (source: Women’s Environmental Network) – which means that every single disposable nappy that has ever been sent to landfill is still sitting there.
Avoid adding to this huge mountain of waste by using reusable nappies. As well as being better for the environment, they’ll also work out cheaper in the long run – particularly if you use them again on subsequent children.
A few years ago the Environment Agency released a report that concluded that washable nappies were just as bad for the environment as disposable nappies (source: BBC News). However, the findings were based on some very wasteful practices by reusable nappy users. To make sure using reusables really is greener, avoid tumble-drying them as much as possible, wash them at 60 ºC and not 90 ºC and don’t iron them.
If you simply can’t do reusable nappies, then at least consider paying a little bit more for greener disposables that will biodegrade quicker in landfill sites.
And if you think even the damage associated with reusable nappies is too much, and you are feeling particularly brave, you could try a technique widely used in China and parts of Africa which involves ditching the nappies altogether. Instead, you learn to interpret your baby’s signs from the first few weeks and take it to the loo every time it needs to go. It’s commonly known in the west as Elimination Communication and there are lots of websites explaining how it works.
Wooden toys
Having a baby means your house will almost certainly begin to fill up with toys. Unfortunately, many of these will be made of plastic. As well as being petroleum-based, many cheaper plastic toys are also badly made and will break after a short time. Good quality wooden toys may cost more, but they’ll last longer and can be passed on to younger siblings or sold on the web when you’re finished with them. If they do end up being thrown away, then at least they’re biodegradable and carbon neutral.
If you do buy wooden toys, however, look for the FSC-certified label. This will guarantee they haven’t been made from illegally logged timber, which is responsible for the destruction of some of the world’s most important forests.
Avoid battery toys
Try also to avoid battery-operated toys. Batteries are full of harmful toxins and are difficult to dispose of safely. Many of the toxins in batteries end up leaking out into the ecosystem. Also, toys with sounds and flashing lights may seem whizzy in the shop, but after the batteries wear out, they’ll probably end up discarded and unwanted at the bottom of the toy box.
Our children are going to inherit the problems associated with climate change, so it's important for them that as babies they aren’t making things worse. For their benefit, bring them up green.
Related information:
Make your home child-friendly – there are lots of changes you can make at home to ensure the safety of young children.
Baby on board – how to make your car and driving safe for baby passengers.
Keeping the kids amused on long car journeys – the answers all parents are looking for.
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