4 Green Baby Tips for Raising a Green Baby

At the heart of global warming and environmental woes is the carbon footprint of humans on earth. Infants are a significant part of this footprint as 92% of the 30 billion disposable diapers sold each year end up carted off to the landfill. Disposable diapers take up to 500 years to decompose. When raising a green baby in an eco-friendly household, changing out disposable diapers is just one step in the green baby direction.

Tip 1: Make your own green baby food at home. Instead of buying thousands of small baby food jars over the duration of your infant's early months and years, spend one day a week preparing whole foods as green baby foods. In the beginning, you will need to cook fresh vegetables until mushy before pureeing the vegetables and freezing for baby food. Carrots, zucchini, sweet potato and butternut squash are perfect for use as first foods for your green baby. Remember to offer a new food only once every four days and watch closely for food allergies.

Tip 2: Repurpose old clothes as green baby clothes. Green baby clothing is one of the simplest things to recycle and reuse. Old clothing like shirts, shorts and pants can easily be customized to fit your green baby. Contact a local seamstress and ask about infant patterns. One large adult shirt can be transformed into one or two outfits for a green baby with just a few cuts and seams. Adult t-shirts are perfect for layettes and old adult socks make the perfect mittens to prevent green baby from scratching in the night.

Tip 3: Repurpose old clothing as cloth diapers for your green baby. Cloth diapers are created from nothing more than layers of cloth sewn together. Mom and dad can easily clean out that old T-shirt drawer and have more than enough fabric for a complete set of green baby cloth diapers. Cloth diapers are typically 6-ply and measure 14-inches by 20-inches.

Tip 4: Buy a green baby crib made in the USA. Many crib manufacturers will outsource parts and assembly to countries outside the United States. While the not so green baby cribs are required to follow safety guidelines for the United States, the finished products must be shipped from the country of origin to the United States causing a significant carbon footprint on the earth. The ideal alternative is shortening the shipping process by ordering a green baby crib made in the USA. Land of Nod sells green baby cribs and other green baby furniture that is made in the USA. There are others located across the United States and even if the green baby crib must be shipped to your home, the impact on the earth is much smaller than an outsourced crib carted into the states by ship.

Having a green baby does not have to alter your eco-friendly lifestyle. There are earth friendly ways to care for a green baby from the first few weeks until graduation with a little careful thought and planning.