being a green dad

This article is written by Stefan Korn, DIYFather.com

When I found out I was going to be dad the first thing I thought about was that I’m not going to expose my child to all the usual harmful stuff most people seem to put up with. From day one we bought most clothes organic – especially the ones that our little Noah wears directly on his skin. In general we also tried hard to use as many natural materials as possible. This included the nursery (wooden furniture), toys and baby products such as skin care creams.

Another big thing for us was nappies – we decided not to go with cloth nappies for practical reasons but used bio-degradable disposable nappies. On average they are about 10-15c more expensive than your standard nappy (editors note: one of our customers reports 7c with free delivery from online store) but they also had the additional benefit of not being loaded with all sorts of chemicals (e.g. crystals) that supposedly improve baby’s comfort. They are also not bleached or fragranced. Whether or not this had anything to do with it fact is we never had any problems with nappy rash or skin rashes.

There are so many natural products out there that do as good a job as commercial / branded product. A good example is olive oil which is a superb natural product which can be used for many things such as general skin care or treatment of cradle cap. When we started introducing solids we cooked most of the food ourselves or if we had to we bought organic baby food in jars (which fortunately is readily available these days in most supermarkets).

We are certainly no eco warriors but I found that with simple choices I can provide a relatively green lifestyle for my child. It is also not overly arduous to find all those organic products – many of them are now available in high street stores or supermarkets. Is it more expensive – definitely! But in the greater scheme of things I do think it is worth it and when you do the maths you’ll probably find that “going green” adds 10-20% to your overall cost of raising a child.

I actually feel that sometimes the cost is used as a bit of an excuse. When challenged many parents say that they’d love to buy organic stuff but just can’t afford it. Well it’s all about priorities I think. Because if parents look at how they are spending money on themselves perhaps they could squeeze out the odd extra dollar for their child by simply going without that all important designer shirt.

Another excuse I often hear is the one about convenience - apparently it’s all just too hard. For some products or methods this may be the case – cloth nappies is a good example. However I can’t think of a reason (if price is not an issue) why people wouldn’t buy environmentally friendly nappies. In many countries they are now right next to your standard run of the mill nappy on the supermarket shelf.

When it comes to spending on their kids most parents are probably willing to pay an extra buck to get “the best” for their child. This is great and I think it’s an inherent characteristic of being a parent … you just want the best for your child. Unfortunately many parents don’t consider organic or green products as “the best” for their child. As a result the very kids we are currently getting “the best” for will have to deal with the problems these products create for their generation.

But times are changing – great! In many countries demand for organic (baby) produce and products now outstrips supply. This is a great sign that more and more parents are changing their minds about things – because that’s really all it takes. It’s a simple mindset change to create a more sustainable and healthy lifestyle for your child.

Favourite quote of a local advertiser “The climate is changing – why don’t you?”