Babies and Kids
It is often when children arrive in our lives that we begin being concerned about toxic chemicals in our environment. These wee people becomes more important than even our own selves and we want the best for them. Unfortunately, these days, from toys to sippy cups, everything seems to be made of plastic.
CLOTH DIAPERING
Cloth diapering is a wise option. Not only because it avoids baby being in contact with the numerous chemicals contained in popular brands of disposable diapers that could cause rashes or irritation on baby’s soft skin, but also because it helps limit the amount of disposable plastics generated and sent to landfills.
There are now so many cloth diaper options available, it’s not nearly as difficult or daunting as you might think. You just need to make the shift and put a system in place. Then it becomes normal and natural. There are also home delivery and pickup cloth diaper services, which make it super easy.
Image credit: Esembly baby
TOYS
Big box mainstream toy stores are palaces of cheap plastic toys. Rows and rows of plastic junk, much of which may end up in landfills within months. Plastic toys are often such low quality that they break easily and don’t necessarily get passed down to the next sibling or friends. But there are tons of non-plastic options out there now. Some online stores specialize in natural toys, and the selection is impressive. Look for wooden trucks, silk fairy dresses, wool felt fake fruits and vegetables.
Because children love to imitate their parents, another toy theme to consider is mini versions of adult tools such as mini baking kits, mini gardening kits and mini tool kits... all made of natural materials such as wood, metal and natural fibers. These items can continue to be used by the parents or other children after the child has grown into other types of games.
Image credit: Le Toy Van
DISHES
If you’re cautious about not exposing your children to plastic toys, you’ll likely also want to ensure they are not eating their food and drinking out of plastic cups, plates and bowls.
Stainless steel dishes are the best plastic-free option for many reasons. There is the obvious avoidance of leaching chemicals. But another key one is that, unlike glass or ceramic, they won’t break if they fall on the floor. They are extremely durable and can be passed on to the next generation. They can be repurposed as camping dishes. They have a positive recycling value, meaning you can get money for taking stainless steel items to an industrial recycler. And very importantly, they can be completely sterilized at high temperature in a dishwasher.
Unfortunately, most childcare centers don’t use stainless steel, and must instead use chemical sanitizing solutions and high heat to sterilize dishes between meals. Melamine dishes are often the dishes of choice for such centers because each dish piece is so inexpensive. However, this is a short-term saving because melamine dishes wear out quickly and discolor over time - especially when subjected to sanitizing chemicals and the high heat of dishwashers.
A child care center director who supervises four child care centers told us he needs to replace parts of his dish inventory every six months. Consider recommending stainless steel dishes to your daycare center or request that your child be allowed to use her own stainless steel dishes.
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CLOTHING
When it comes to children’s clothing, it is especially important to choose sleepwear made of natural fabrics because of a flammability regulation in force in the United States. This law requires children’s sleepwear sized above nine months and up to size fourteen to pass certain flammability tests or be sufficiently tight fitting.
Various chemicals are added to pyjama fabrics to meet these standards, including chlorinated and brominated flame retardants. These particular flame retardants tend to accumulate in the body and they do not wash out of clothes easily because the regulations require the chemicals to be able to sustain at least 50 washes. All pyjamas made of synthetic fabrics contain flame retardants.
The best way to avoid them is to avoid synthetic fabrics such as polyester and nylon. Instead, purchase a snug-fitting natural fiber pyjama, such as organic cotton. Snug-fitting sleepwear meets the flammability standard because it is sufficiently close to the body that no loose fabric can catch fire easily. Non-organic cotton pyjamas will likely still contain flame retardants. Another good textile for pyjamas is wool because it is naturally flame retardant.
