Environmentalism is an increasingly popular topic of conversation, and much of the reason for "Going Green" is to protect the environment for our children and grandchildren. Luckily, raising a baby "Green" is becoming easier every day, as more products and services become available to us that make it simple to make an impact on the health of your baby today and her hopes of seeing a greener world tomorrow.
There are many reasons for adopting a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, not the least of which is that it is usually healthier for you and your family because most products that are considered "green" contain less chemicals and hormones. On a larger scale, going green can have a significant impact on the health of our World. The world population continues to grow at an alarming rate: 1 billion people in 1800; 2 billion by 1922; and by 2000 an estimate 6 billion are estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is estimated that the population will swell to over 9 billion by 2050.
That means that if we evenly distributed the Earth's natural resources (which we don't), the population in 2050 - when your children's children are growing up - will have only 25% of the resources per capita that we had in 1950. With limited resources available on Earth, we need to watch our consumption. We must become more ecologically-minded and preserve precious resources in order to leave the world in a state that can sustain our grandchildren.
Becoming environmentally-friendly doesn't have to be hard. In fact, one of the best ways to do it is in small stages - one or two steps at a time. The deeper you get into green living the more you will see that there are infinite things that we can do, both big and small, to improve our environment. It is easy to become overwhelmed, but don't worry - just do as much as you can, and remember that every little bit helps!
Here are three small steps that you can take today to raise a green baby:
1. Organic Foods: Thanks to the growing popularity of organic foods, it is increasingly easy to find organic options for your baby. In many supermarkets you can find organic fruits and vegetables, organic cereals, and other baby staples.
2. Household Cleaners: Having a baby makes you realize how many chemicals there are in the home. Chemical-laded cleaners can easily be replaced by environmentally-friendly cleaners that are better for the world and your baby's skin.
3. Diapers: There are two green options in diapers: cloth and organic/unbleached. Cloth diapers work really well and you can get a service to take care of them so that you don't have to deal with too much mess, but they are still too much for many people. Luckily, you can now get affordable organic diapers that require fewer chemicals to produce, thus reducing overall stress on the Earth.
4. Milk: If you can, then breast feed your baby. This is the ultimate way to go in terms of environmentalism and economics. Of course, if you cannot breast feed for any reason, then you can still purchase organic baby formula, which will cut down on the chemicals and hormones in your baby's milk while reducing the impact on the environment.
5. Recycle Gift Packaging: Babies bring with them a lot of gifts! Every gift that you receive probably comes wrapped in cardboard, paper and plastic materials that can all be recycled. You can save nice gift bags and ribbons to wrap future presents, and recycle everything else.
As more people adopt a greener lifestyle, we are seeing more and more organic and environmentally-sound products in local supermarkets and even stores like Target and Wal-Mart. Keep your eyes open, and you'll realize that raising a green baby doesn't have to be a struggle.
Copyright (c) 2008 Virginia Ginsburg
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Virginia Ginsburg is a mother, writer and entrepreneur. She frequently writes about environmental and social issues. Please visit http://www.greenbabygiftsonline.com for more information.
» left by Avis Ward(13,599) Avis Ward (172 days 11 hours ago.)
*laughing* Virginia, I have no idea what happened but will you be so kind to delete the duplicates? Thank you for sharing, is what I was trying to say. And, thank you for removing the duplicates!
» left by Anonymous (172 days 11 hours ago.)
Hi Avis, I don't know how to delete, but maybe everyone will read this now, given your positive feedback ;-) Thank you! Respond to this comment
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