Go Green for Baby

By Caitlin Grogan and Nicole Kwan

A healthier planet starts at home

Sanitize Sensibly
Little ones’ hands are hot spots for germs, but there are loads of good bacteria on those hands too. In fact, that good bacteria helps fight the bad. Hand sanitizers not only zap those bad bacteria, they also wipe off the good. The next time you want to get those sticky fingers clean, Gavigan recommends using traditional hand soap. Classic hand washing gets the job done, while keeping that good bacteria fighting.

Cottony Goodness
If you’re looking to get green early, it’s best to start at the bottom of things, literally. The Real Diaper Association  estimates that over 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed each year, loading our environment with unwanted paper and traces of chemicals like dioxin, a byproduct from paper-bleaching. Instead of tossing out tons of disposables, try using cloth diapers, suggests Lori Taylor from the RDA. Not only are cloth diapers a more environmentally friendly way to swath your baby’s bottom, they’re also more economical. If you’re too busy for the cloth solution, try a disposable like Seventh Generation’s Chlorine-Free Diapers.

---