1. Breastfeeding
You might think that its odd that ive listed breastfeeding as good for the environment, but it is! Breastmilk is naturally produced by the mother, it does not require any paper, plastic or tin packaging, it doesn't need to be fed in bottles with teats & lids that need to be sterilised. It doesn't require our forests to be cleared to provide cattle feed or trees to be felled to produce labels & advertising material or mountains to be mined to produce the tin cans & definitely doesn't require the burning of fossil fuels to support the complex cycle of producing, transporting & storing it. (taken from the article Breastmilk environment friendly too)
Breastmilk is the most ecological food available to humans!!!
2. Cloth Nappies
* Every disposable nappy ever dumped still exists today as they take centuries to break down.
* 1.375 Billion disposable nappies used annually in Australia and New Zealand.
* 3.75 Million disposable nappies dumped every single day in these 2 nations alone.
* 3 Million trees felled every year to make disposable nappies for Australia / New Zealand.
* 100 intestinal viruses leach from untreated human waste at rubbish dumps, contaminating ground water at land fill and creating risks to sanitation workers.
* 50% of total household waste will be disposable nappies, in a household with 1 baby using disposable nappies full time.
* 2 Tonnes of landfill created by each baby in disposable nappies full time.
* 3.5 Litres of water needed to make each disposable nappy.
* 1 Litre of water required to wash a cloth nappy (depending on machine, and how many nappies are washed in one load).
* 1 cup of crude oil used to make the plastic components of each disposable nappy.
(these figures were taken from the Australian nappy network website)
These are just some of the facts & figures on disposable nappies. Modern Cloth Nappies are easy to use, shaped just like a disposable so there are no nasty pins to struggle with or funky folds to get your head around. You simply toss them in a bucket when they are dirty (with no water in it - no need to soak) then chuck them in the washing machine once you have a full load of them. You only use 1/2 the regular strength of detergent & no fabric softener. You can even just stick them in with your regular washing - thats what i do, i just do a rinse first then stick all my clothes in too. Then stick them on the line to dry. Much better for the environment all round! Yes it does take water to wash them, but the production of disposables uses water as well.
Even if you just had a couple of cloth nappies that you used during the day at home it would benefit your hip pocket & the environment immensely! So i say give cloth a go!!!
Heres a couple of great websites:
153 Ways To Go Green
Be Climate Clever
Tree Hugger
Australian Nappy Network
Green Family Values (on breastfeeding & the environment)
