Today, we are so happy to have Sasha from The Mushy Mommy here. This south-Louisiana blogger and stay-at-home-mom is giving us an intro to eco-friendly living with baby. We hope you enjoy her guest post, and after reading be sure to head on over to her fab blog and take a look around! Now, here’s Sasha!
So I’m here to tell you all about how you should become a tree-hugging hippy.
Actually no, I’m just here to explain some of the cool things that you can do to help this planet out all while making a healthier and safer home for your baby. Bingo. “Healthier and safer home for your baby” is the part that will hopefully keep you reading past this paragraph.
Bringing your baby up green (aka: healthier and safer) doesn’t mean you have to run outside and hug a tree while picketing in your neighbor’s yard for all of the disposable diapers in their trash. Trying to bring your baby up green is all about doing what you can to create a safer, healthier home that will eventually teach your baby about taking care of this planet, too.
Becoming more eco-conscious can be very challenging in such a fast-paced world that doesn’t always focus on the green things as much as the quick and easy things. Here are some of my easy (not so life changing) tips to bringing baby up green.
Use Homemade Cleaners: Did you know that research has proven that hydrogen peroxide and vinegar are a stronger disinfectant than any of those fancy ones sold in the stores? Just pour some HP in a spray bottle and some vinegar in another spray bottle, spray one on top of the other and wipe with a damp cloth. Waaaalaaa. You’ve disinfected for practically nothing and you’ve cleaned with non-toxic chemicals that are safe for baby! Take that Lysol.
Make Your Own Baby Food: Move out of the way Gerber, there is a new baby food maker in town. Making your own baby food is a wonderful alternative to buying tons and tons of jars of food each week. By simply buying some fresh produce (organic, if available) you can make your baby’s food and know exactly what is in it. There’s no additives, no pesticides if you go organic and you save a ton of money. You’re not buying fancy labeling, wasted jars and plastic containers; you’re simply purchasing produce for your family.
Cloth Diaper: I seriously in a million years never thought I’d be a CD mama. I made the switch when my baby was four months old and I’m kicking myself for not starting it sooner. I literally cringed at all of the disposables piling up. That is just money down the drain! Not to mention that disposables are full of – you guessed it – toxins and even carcinogens and they are not biodegradable. I’m not going to get all “you should cloth diaper“, but girl poop is poop and with either system you still have to deal with it.
Use Natural Skin Care Products: I hate to break it to you, but many of those popular brands of baby products have actually been proven to be not so healthy. I won’t name any names, but let’s just say the “no more tears” brand has been under fire for having traces of carcinogens (Formaldehyde specifically) in their products. Many skin care products that we use contain parabens and other nasty chemicals that are unfortunately carcinogenic and/or toxic. This isn’t to say that you should just throw out all bottles and start over (that’s not very green either) BUT you should reconsider what you put on your baby’s delicate skin. We’re their only protector and their only voice. If we know there are alternatives (that don’t cost a fortune) then we should strive to protect them and their future.
As you can see, bringing baby up green is all about how green you want to go. You move at your own pace and do the things that you know are healthy for your child, your family and the environment. Small, comfortable changes can still mean big results. Anyone can go GREEN. It’s not a trend or a fad, and it certainly doesn’t make you a tree-hugging hippy.
It’s just a way of living. It’s a greener way of living.
So maybe in this new year, we can all live a little more green to keep our families, children and planet safer, healthier and happier.
Cool post! I actually had such a fun time making baby food for my son. I was unable to breastfeed, and I think this sort of took the place in a way, because I was still pretty sad about how that turned out. I would keep him in a high chair and let him try all sorts of things as I made it. His face would be so hilarious as he tasted the new things! We saved a good bit of money too. I did not buy anything special – just used the food processor and blender that I had. Fun times 🙂 I’ll be doing that again soon!