Each April, we celebrate Earth Day by committing to make better choices and take more thoughtful care of our planet. This year, we wanted to focus on a problem that, just like our babies, our access to fast fashion, and our Amazon wishlists, is always growing - the Global Landfill Crisis.
Solid waste landfills are growing in size all around the world, pumping methane gas into the environment and cluttering up once-beautiful natural spaces. And here in the US, we’re number one in per-capita waste, making 12% of the world’s garbage, even though we’re only 4% of the world’s population.
If we want to leave a better world behind for our kids, we’ve got to start making some changes.
So, what’s going into those landfills? Well, it turns out mostly plastic - even the kind we think is recyclable. According to a 2023 report by Greenpeace, very few plastics that make up the packaging, toys, clothes, and baby products we use every day are actually recyclable. And for the few that are, the process is expensive and unreliable. It’s cheaper to just keep making new plastic, so that’s what manufacturers keep doing - and our landfills keep growing.
There’s also an increasing problem with fast furniture and fast fashion. In her article “Fast furniture is cheap. And Americans are throwing it in the trash.”, Debra Kamin reports: “Each year, Americans throw out more than 12 million tons of furniture, creating mountains of solid waste that have grown 450 percent since 1960, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.”
As a new parent, we know you already have plenty to worry about. But we also know that we all want to leave a healthy planet to our little ones. So, we’ve assembled a list of five ways that new parents can help solve the landfill crisis. Some are simple, some require a little more effort - but all of them come with the satisfaction of knowing you’re doing your part.
Make furniture purchases that will LAST.
The issue:
Fast-furniture can be really appealing. It’s affordable, accessible, and often adorable. And with that cheap accessibility comes the temptation to simply discard and buy new when tastes or trends change, leaving tons of furniture trash behind.
The earth-friendly commitment:
Buy furniture that’s built to last. Lean toward natural materials, like hardwoods, that can stand the test of time, grow with your baby, and be handed down through generations. By choosing quality, timeless pieces, you can help keep fast furniture trash out of landfills with the added bonus of adding the beautiful, sustainable tradition of heirlooms to your family history.
Embrace hand-me-down clothing.
The issue:
New baby clothes are almost irresistible. But babies grow fast, so many of those tiny clothes only get worn once or twice, or even not at all. The resources used to produce most clothing are taxing the planet, and discarded clothes wind up adding to the landfill piles.
The earth-friendly commitment:
Celebrate those hand-me-downs! Because babies grow fast, there’s often more than enough barely used clothing to be found. Collect adorable options from friends and family, and pass them along to another family or a new sibling when your little one grows out of them. The more we can share and save the clothes we have, the less demand there is for new fast, disposable options.
Choose natural, non-plastic toys.
The issue:
Plastic is by far the most popular baby toy material. But plastic also lives almost forever, which means that sweet light up car or dancing robot might be sitting in a landfill for the next several centuries, long after your little one is done playing with it.
The earth-friendly commitment:
Whenever possible, choose toys made from natural materials. Renewable wood, cotton, wool, or even paper are great places to start. If you do need a plastic toy or two, do your best to find a secondhand option, and try to pass it on to another family when your child stops being interested.
Opt for reusable food and milk storage solutions.
The issue:
Babies eat often, and you’ve got to bring food on the go. Whether it’s pumping and storing breastmilk, packing snacks, or saving leftovers, plastic bags and containers tend to be the most common, go-to choice.
The earth-friendly commitment:
Go reusable! Instead of single use bags for breastmilk, choose a machine washable multi-use storage option. Invest in glass containers for leftover storage, and glass bottles instead of plastic for everyday use. Pack snacks in reusable cloth bags or beeswax wrappers. The best part? You’ll save money in the long run by only needing to buy these items once, AND you can save them to use with a future sibling!
Whenever possible, aim for less packaging.
The issue:
Babies have SO. MUCH. STUFF. And that stuff all comes inside of other stuff. You’ll find yourself doing more laundry and buying more laundry detergent. Diapers and wipes come in plastic containers or contain plastic themselves. Clothes come on hangers. Snacks come in individual plastic bags. Toys come enclosed in literal layers of throwaway wrapping. If you aren’t careful, it’s easy to let one new baby nearly double your family’s waste.
The earth-friendly commitment:
Whenever possible, aim for less packaging. Choose solid laundry detergents that ship in cardboard. Buy snacks in the bulk section of your grocery store. Experiment with baby-safe shampoo bars, cloth diapers, and plastic free wipes.
Even if you make just one or two of these small changes, your family will be taking one or two small steps closer to a better, brighter future for all of our babies. A future with less mess, less landfill, and more earth-friendly options.
Sounds like an Earth Day worth celebrating!