When I think of buying baby products made from non-environmentally friendly materials, my mind starts racing about all the strange chemicals and second-order effects that come along with these products. Babies should have a green experience when growing up, which is why I fully endorse the use of eco-friendly baby products.
Eco-friendly baby products aren’t some futuristic, overpriced set of products that only a select few can attain. They’re readily available all over the world at extremely affordable prices, including baby wipes, blankets, skin care products, changing pads, and more. On top of that, they provide immense benefits to the health of our babies and the environment as a whole.
Let’s face it. Babies are supposed to explore, touch, and essentially learn about the world around them. However, it’s our job as parents to make sure they do that in a safe environment and that means ensuring they aren’t interacting with harmful elements now and that they actually have a planet they can call home in the future.
That’s why I came up with some amazing benefits of using eco-friendly baby products. I hope you enjoy!
1. No Harmful Plastics like BPA
Plastic toys and fabrics are potentially riddled with chemicals that aren’t safe for anyone to consume, especially babies. BPA has been known to interfere with the natural hormones within our bodies, which is extremely problematic for babies just starting out in the world.
By purchasing only eco-friendly baby products, such as baby wipes, blankets, skin care products, and changing pads, you’re virtually guaranteeing your baby won’t be exposed to this incredibly harmful chemical, regardless of what they put in their mouths or the clothes they wear. Next time you buy your baby a new toy or set of clothes, make sure if it’s made out of plastic that it’s absolutely 100% BPA-free.
2. Naturally Antibacterial and Antifungal
It’s hard enough keeping our kitchens and our homes in general clean and free from harmful bacteria, but it’s impossible to keep everything as clean as it should be when babies are around. That’s why using eco-friendly baby products made from bamboo is such a great idea since bamboo is 100% naturally antibacterial and antifungal.
If you haven’t heard about bamboo baby products, you definitely need to check them out. Bamboo is one of the most eco-friendly materials on the planet, so it makes sense they’d be popular with eco-friendly baby products. The great part is that bamboo is an excellent substitution for plastic and cotton, so you have a perfect replacement for both solid and fabric products!
3. Reduce Plastic Use
Reducing plastic use on our planet is incredibly important since most of our planet’s waste is caused by the overuse of plastic. Eco-friendly baby products, such as baby wipes, blankets, skin care products, and changing pads, aim to curb this use as much as possible while also creating a safer environment for our babies.
The truth is that almost everything nowadays is made out of plastic. Unfortunately, plastic can take up to 1,000 years to decompose and that’s likely to occur in a huge landfill. Thankfully, this can be avoided by focusing on more environmentally sound products, but it does take time to wake up to the fact that we do use plastic everywhere.
4. Dangerous Water Pollution and Runoff
Without the use of eco-friendly baby products, we’ll most likely end up using less sustainable materials that are also much more harmful to our planet. In the end, these types of materials end up in landfills in various parts of the world and produce an immense amount of pollution in our water.
The planet is over 70% water and the truth is that we as a species are increasing the amount of pollution at every passing day. Where do you think those non-recyclable baby products end up after using them? Eco-friendly baby products are a great solution to avoiding dangerous water pollution and runoff since less waste will end up in our world’s landfills.
5. Unknown, Untested Chemicals
Have you ever tried to read the ingredients on the back of your baby’s food? When it comes to baby products in general, do you know what chemicals they used to create them? Sadly, a lot of baby products nowadays are mass manufactured and contain a large variety of ingredients and materials that everyday people like you and I have no idea about.
By using eco-friendly baby products, such as baby wipes, blankets, skin care products, and changing pads, you’re virtually guaranteeing that the products you purchase for your baby are safe and free from harmful chemicals. Now, I’m not saying all chemicals are bad, but at least we should know what’s going on with our baby’s’ products. Why take the risk?
6. Hinders Vitamin Absorption Causing Vitamin Deficiencies
The use of various chemicals in plastics and other materials can have detrimental effects on our babies. Baby lotions and other liquids that contain strange ingredients have been found to hinder vitamin absorption and can eventually lead to causing vitamin deficiencies. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound good at all.
When getting lotions and other liquid-based products for your baby, make sure the ingredients on the label are readable and natural. Getting eco-friendly baby products would be a good start to ensure your baby is safe, but checking ingredients should be done for all baby products we buy regardless.
7. Phthalates Can Cause Liver and Kidney Damage
Baby lotions and other liquid-based products oftentimes contain phthalates which are chemical ingredients similar to a salt that improves the “fragrance” of the product. Unfortunately, phthalates have been known to cause liver and kidney damage, which should be an obvious no-no when using them in baby products.
Making sure your baby products are fragrance-free is a good start to ensure they’re 100% phthalate-free. In all honesty, these chemicals shouldn’t be in any products that humans use, but that’s just not the reality. At the very least, we should make sure phthalates don’t find their way to our babies.
8. No More Parabens That Cause Allergies
The amount of times I’ve seen products stating themselves to be paraben-free is truly uncountable, which is a great thing! Parabens are chemicals commonly found in cosmetic and other pharmaceuticals which also have been found in baby products. Unfortunately, parabens have been found to cause allergies and problems in the endocrine system of humans.
Parabens are a problem that should be 100% avoided, so be sure your baby products are free from them. Allergies that form from paraben-filled products are not uncommon and an irregular endocrine system can lead to an imbalance in your baby’s hormones, metabolism, growth, sleep, mood, and other human functions. Eco-friendly baby products to the rescue!
9. Get Rid of Cotton Pesticides and Insecticides
We see cotton all over the place just like plastic, but there are a lot of issues with this fluffy little plant. After finding out that over 10% of the world’s pesticides and about 25% of the world’s insecticides are used to produce cotton, I was stunned. When you think of all the kinds of objects we plant in the soil, those percentages are enormous.
And those chemicals not only hurt the planet that we live on, but also potentially the skin that we let it touch. Using eco-friendly baby products, such as baby wipes, blankets, skin care products, and changing pads, that use alternative materials such as organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, and recycled materials helps a lot in reducing the consumption of cotton.
10. Biodegradable Products for When Your Baby Outgrows Them
Let’s face it. Our babies grow so fast it’s really shocking to see! Sometimes I wish they’d just stay in their bite-size form, but of course they grow unabated. By using eco-friendly baby products such as clothes, shoes, and more, whatever they outgrow will hopefully be recycled or reused in some capacity.
By ensuring your baby’s products are naturally biodegradable, you’re able to help the planet reduce its consumption and move toward a more zero-waste lifestyle. Most products aren’t biodegradable, so using eco-friendly baby products is definitely the way to go in this situation.
11. Invest in Sustainable, Long-Lasting Materials
We live in a throw-away culture nowadays which can lead to harmful effects on our planet and the mindset of future generations. By using eco-friendly baby products, such as baby wipes, blankets, skin care products, and changing pads, we can help create a more green earth that reduces, reuses, and recycles more sustainable and long-lasting materials.
Some of my favorite environmentally sustainable materials include bamboo and hemp. These super plants have enormous benefits to our planet and they’re used quite often to create eco-friendly baby products that are safe and sustainable for our babies.
12. Greater Resource Efficiency
When it comes to using eco-friendly baby products, one of the best outcomes to these products is that they’re made from materials that are more resource-efficient. What that means is they not only produce far less waste than less eco-friendly products, but they require much less of the planet’s resources to produce.
In fact, the amount of water it takes to produce 2.2 pounds (1 kg) of cotton is about over 5,000 gallons (22,000 liters). That seems shocking when you read that for the first time. It certainly was for me!
13. Improves Local Economies
One of the greatest outcomes when using eco-friendly baby products is the improvement of local economies. The truth is that a lot of brands that produce eco-friendly products, such as baby wipes, blankets, skin care products, and changing pads, are smaller in size compared to much larger brands, thus they cater to a smaller community. This means more face time with people we share similar values with.
I’m a big fan of reinvesting in my local community. What’s really great is that some eco-friendly brands reinvest some of their profits that help improve the sustainability of our planet’s resources as well as the community as a whole. This is an easy win in my book.
14. Help Companies and Organizations That Want a Better Planet
It’s hard to avoid the impact humans have on this planet. It’s becoming more clear year after year. That’s why we need to start taking action by, at least, supporting companies and organizations that actually want to help improve our world and move toward a more sustainable and livable planet.
By purchasing eco-friendly baby products, we’re able to, at the very least, vote with our money on how products should be manufactured and how companies should ideally operate. If we’re going to spend our hard-earned money anyway, it might as well go toward a good cause.
15. Improve the Planet for Future Generations
Sadly, we’ve put our planet in a tough situation. Focusing on reducing our use of plastics, entering a more zero-waste mentality, and buying eco-friendly products is a good first step in the right direction of saving our planet. Eco-friendly baby products are truly just a drop in the pond when it comes to rescuing our planet, but it’s a start nonetheless.
We want to be able to hand off a great future for our children, which means not only making sure they grow up healthy, strong, and safe. It also means that they have a place to live well and thrive. One step at a time is all it takes, so take the first steps now.
