Zero Waste Ideas for Parents to follow On Day One

When we become parents it’s one of the greatest experiences and accomplishments we can achieve in our lives. There is so much to think about as a new parent with budgets and the things we need for our newborn baby. It can be quite overwhelming at times but it’s vital to not only budget for everything but also that we plan out everything our baby needs from formula, to clothing to baby gear.

With that said it’s also important to make sure the earth is in a better place for our children once they grow up. That’s why as new moms we should be thinking of ways to reduce our environmental footprint and reducing our waste as much as possible.

Eventually, you will need to teach your children the importance of sustainability. However, there are things that you need to do while they are still infants. We’ve put together a guide of zero waste ideas for new parents to follow on the first day of the new member of the family arriving.

An Environmental Box of Goodies

We all love new gifts from friends and at the baby shower it’s a great time to think about zero waste ideas from friends and family. You could request certain gifts so everything is usable and practical. Something from Your Baby Club as an example could be their baby box which is filled with an abundance of baby goodies that aren’t only great but are practical so waste is limited.

Cloth Diapers and Cloth Pads

It’s well known that reusable cloth diapers are better than single use diapers. Single use diapers are estimated to use 20 times more land for production and raw materials than cloth diapers. It’s also estimated that each child uses 1 tonne of dirty diaper waste when reaching around 2 years old. They use 60 times more solid waste and 20 times more raw materials. In general if parents decided to change to reusable nappies there would be a massive reduction on landfills with this type of waste.

Breast Feeding Over Formula

Breast feeding over using formula is another way to reduce waste in the environment and leave less of an environmental footprint. With breastfeeding no products are needed. Energy is used when manufacturing products such as bottles, packaging and even recycling. So breastfeeding is always the preferred option here.

A breast pump may use other gear, accessories etc, it’s still more friendly to the earth than formula. All the products used for a breast pump are reusable overall it uses less packing, less waste and less natural resources.

However, there are mothers who do not have the ability to breastmilk their baby, so it is important that they give alternative milk that can provide complete nutrition to their baby such as the top organic baby formula.

Use homemade wipes

Using homemade wipes that flush are biodegradable and are much better for the environment than normal wipes. Normal baby wipes are bad for the environment as they take forever to decompose and lay in the oceans and drain toxins into the natural environment. Homemade wipes are a friend to the earth.

Eco Friendly Baby Names

Plant the seed of zero waste and environmentally friendly behaviour by giving your child an eco friendly baby girl name. Or boy name for that matter. Names such as Hazel, Luna, Iris, Rose and Isla are some of the most popular baby girl names.

These are some of the top ways for zero waste ideas for parents to follow from day one. Breast feeing over formula, stop using baby wipes and use a homemade alternative, cloth pads, cloth diapers as well as asking friends and family for practical usable gifts at the baby shower. Using eco friendly baby names transcends the message your newborn for the years to come.