Green Options

Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”

When my daughter was born (May 2007), I bought and used the well-known products that most parents use, the common brands of lotions and soaps, the standard baby furniture and linens, the cute clothes that were given as gifts. I planned to make my own baby food, and maybe even buy organic foods, but I was totally unaware of the toxicity of everyday name brands and common personal care products, even the ones that claimed to be “natural.”

One day, when talking to a friend about homemade baby food and buying organic, she recommended a book to me called Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care by Dr. Alan Greene. I checked it out at the library, devoured it, and decided I needed to buy it to have on hand as a resource. The book opened my eyes to simple ways and reasons why to de-toxify and pointed me to where my little green revolution really began: Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep Database, and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

By Alan Greene, M.D.
www.drgreene.com

As a father and pediatrician, I’ve changed many diapers—enough to teach me that diapers are a daily reminder that as humans we deplete resources as we consume, and we make messes with our waste.

Those landfill diapers that are so easily tossed into the trash are clearly a major ecological issue. But what about the energy, water, and often chlorine involved in laundering cloth diapers? Comparing the environmental impact of different types of diapers has been the subject of a number of studies—with differing results often linked to the vested interests of those behind the study.

The largest and most objective study to date was carried out by the Environment Agency, the public body responsible for protecting the environment in England and Wales. The panel compared disposable diapers to home-laundered cloth diapers and commercially laundered cotton diapers in terms of global warming, ozone depletion, smog formation, depletion of nonrenewable resources, water pollution, acidification, human toxicity, and land pollution. The study did not include what I call hybrid diapers—the reusable diapers equipped with flushable, biodegradable liners.