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Caring for your baby naturally

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Organic & natural baby needs

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Australia’s Largest Organic Baby Store

Green Baby Books

If you're planning for baby, you have probably dedicated an entire shelf with parenting books or your coffee table will be littered with riveting titles such as "Possum Magic" or "Baby Mozart". While you get down to do a little reading, consider adding these green titles to your collection.

You can't tell from their adorable little faces, but your baby's environmental impact is much bigger that what you can fit into an adorable pair of booties!

Some experts have gone so far as to suggest a ‘baby levy' in the form of a carbon tax, in line with the idea of ‘polluters pay' principle. ‘Every newborn baby in Australia represents a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions for an average of 80 years,' says Dr Barry Walters, Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetric Medicine at the Royal Perth Hospital. In a letter published in the Medical Journal of Australia in December 2007, Walters called for a carbon tax that would fund the planting of enough trees to offset the carbon cost generated by a new human being, which he estimated to be around $5000 at birth (to purchase the land needed to plant the trees) and then $400-$800 annually for the life of the child to maintain the planted trees.

‘The fact is that humans contribute hugely to the carbon economy, mainly through their consumption of energy, but also through their own metabolism, producing CO2 with every breath,' he says. ‘Children and adults today live indoors, use air conditioning, electricity, mobile phones, computers, get cars of their own much earlier, consume more by having many possessions.' The result is a quite a sizable increase in the modern carbon footprint.

Raising Baby Green - The Nappy Question

According to 2003 figures from the Women's Environment Network, it takes on average 22,250 MJ of energy, 75,000 ha of land for raw materials and 70 cubic metres of waste water is needed to manufacture enough disposable nappies for just one infant over the course of 2.5 years. Meanwhile, Jannine Barron, founder of Nature's Child, an online retail store for natural and organic baby products, estimates that disposables can cost a family more than $3500 per child.

Cloth nappies also have a substantial impact due to the amount of water and resources it takes to launder them. A UK study done by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) indicated that under ‘average' conditions, a traditional cloth nappy had a greater environmental impact of 570 kg when compared to a disposable nappy that they measured to have an impact of 550 kg. The study highlights ‘the importance of laundry choices for re-usable nappies in cutting their impact,' said a spokesperson from DEFRA.

The study assumed that only three quarters of nappies were line dried and the remainder were tumbled in a drier. Washing nappies in fuller loads or line-drying them outdoors all the time was found to reduce impact by 16 per cent. The nappies were also assumed to be used on only one child when re-using nappies for a second child reduces the impact by another 24 per cent.
Meanwhile, modern innovations have taken nappy production to new heights. Many varieties of eco-friendly nappies are now available, such as Weenees disposable eco-pads or Eco-bots, a disposable nappy endorsed by Planet Ark, which use bio-degradable wood pulp and modified corn starch bioplastics.

Raising Baby Green - Introduction

Are you looking to raise a "green baby"? While parents certainly don't want to bring up a child with jaundice , there are a number of eco friendly options available when it comes to raising baby green.

Babies have exceptionally sensitive skin and very delicate immune systems so baby items need to be selected with care. ‘Most people understand that residues from everything you put onto skin can be absorbed into the bloodstream and may also be responsible for rashes or irritation,' says Catherine Cervasio, founder of Aromababy. Petro chemically derived ingredients, such as mineral oil, are reported to reduce the skin's ability to ‘breathe'. Cervasio suggests less frequent bathing, less use of commercial products and a more natural approach to personal hygiene for babies and children.

Organic and natural fabrics for clothing and bedding will expose baby to less harmful chemicals and dyes that could be potential allergens. Toys should also be made from natural materials such as wood and cloth. Plastics, while durable, are made from petrochemicals and can contain polyvinyl chloride which has been known to release potentially harmful fumes - you'd be amazed at just how much plastic your child is exposed to from birth.

Food is another area where sustainable, organic choices can be made. First and foremost, breast milk is one of the most nutritious and environmentally friendly foods for baby - just consider the elimination of packaging and food miles. Andrew Radford, from the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, estimates that if every baby in the US was bottle-fed, almost 86,000 tonnes of tin plate would be required for 550 million discarded formula tins. Formula must also be heated up in plastic bottles, which of course, uses more energy and resources. ‘A 3 month-old bottle-fed baby needs 1 litre of water a day for mixing feeds,' Radford says.

Feed your family on $800 a year

Erin is a mother of three and last year fed herself, her daughters and her two dogs on an annual budget of just US$800 a year. In addition to being the "coupon queen", Erin is an advent gardener and has managed to keep to her tight budget in part because of her lush organic veggie garden and thoughtful recycling regime. "Produce in the stores is so expensive, even at farmers markets," she says. Instead, Erin and her family have put in their own garden using only organic fertiliser. "There are a few farms around here that will let you come and take their "droppings" which costs nothing more than the time to shovel it."
After her divorce, Erin realised that she and her family would have to be quite innovative to maintain the quality of living they were used to. "I wasn't getting more money at work or from child support so I turned to couponing," she recalls "Once I really got some good deals I took it to the extreme."

One of the first things the family did was put in their veggie garden. "Growing up, my family always had some type of garden. Nothing in the world compares to the excitement of eating food that your grew yourself," says Erin, who considers herself to have a good "green thumb". Her home has been designed with "edible landscaping" where typical shrubbery have been replaced with edible plants that are both beautiful and help sustain the family.

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