While a baby’s carbon footprint deters some mothers from ever having children at all, others bring into this world as many babies as they possibly can. Of course, the first woman who comes to mind these days is Nadya Suleman, the single California woman who, although already a mother to six children, had fertility treatments that resulted in the birth of the Suleman octuplets.
As we all know, Nadya Suleman has been widely criticized for having more children she cannot afford, but she’s also being scrutinized for the impact on the environment. For instance, in their first two-and-half years of life, the octuplets will go through more than 30,000 diapers. And if these diapers are of the disposable variety, it will take each one 500 years to decompose!
Of course, it doesn’t help that the octuplets were born in America, where a child typically generates as much carbon dioxide as 106 children living in Haiti.
So whether you have one child or 14, living green means doing all you can to reduce your baby’s carbon footprint, such as choosing:
• Cloth diapers or biodegradable diapers over disposable
• A diaper laundry service for cloth diapers, as it uses 30 percent less energy than if you washed them at home
• Organic homemade baby food, such as pureed vegetables and fruit that freeze well, and have more flavor and nutrition than the processed store-bought kind
• Borrowed baby clothes and accessories from family and friends
• One or two special eco-friendly gifts on birthdays and holidays instead of more toys and games than children can fully appreciate anyway
Reducing your baby’s carbon footprint will not only help to save the planet, but set the right example so that your child will grow up to do the same.
