These eco parenting tips are perfect for any busy parent looking to incorporate more sustainable living into their parenting. Eco parenting is not an easy task! As an environmental educator, I work to help spread environmental awareness and share practical solutions to living a more sustainable, eco-conscious life. When I became a parent, I struggled for a while to figure out how I could be sustainable AND be a mom. It almost seemed like an oxymoron.
Kids require a lot! Not to mention, they don’t always understand the reason we make certain decisions or cannot give them the things they think they need. As I continue to develop along my eco-conscious journey, I am getting more confident in my role as an eco-parent.
I’ll mention here – I’m far from perfect! But I make a considerable effort to practice eco-parenting every single day.
If you’re looking for some legit eco parenting tips to elevate your current green parenting, you’re in the right place!
What is eco-parenting?
Eco parenting definition
Eco parenting means parenting with the environment in mind. This is similar to eco-conscious living or living with the environment in mind.
This means that in each decision you make, you’re considering how that decision may impact the environment.
Eco parenting questions to ask yourself before purchasing items for your child
- Will my child use this item?
- How long will my child use this item?
- Where did this item come from?
- What is this item made of?
- How will I dispose of this item?
- Can this item be repurposed or reused in some way?
- What is the most sustainable way I can purchase this product?
- How/where will this item fit in our home?
How can parents be more eco-friendly?
Buy less
The answer to how parents can be more eco-friendly is simple – BUY LESS STUFF. The first step to becoming an eco-parent is to buy less. This can begin before you even have kids, during pregnancy. We live in a where we encourage buying more, getting bigger, and having the best. This makes it incredibly difficult to take pride in buying less. We always want the best for our kids and often times that translates to buying more for them. Keep this in mind though, one of the best things we can give our kids is a thriving, habitable planet to live on. Buying less reduces our greenhouse emissions which has a direct impact on our climate crisis.
Stay informed through research, reading, and other influencers
I recently read a book called The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting. The book was incredible and provided so many practical, actionable steps to take when you are beginning your eco parenting journey. The book mentions several key facts that drive the importance of eco parenting, but here are a few notable ones.
- Having a child can release anywhere between 210 and 5000+ tonnes of CO2
- 60% of global greenhouse emissions are a result of household consumption
- Moms make over 80% of the buying decisions within households
- 50% of food waste occurs in the home
- It’s not necessarily the number of children that’s the problem, it’s the volume of stuff that comes with each of them
Check out Jen Gale’s book to learn more guilt-free eco-ideas for raising your kids!
Keep these things in mind
- Avoid expecting perfectionism with parenting, especially eco parenting
- We cannot allow our idea of sustainable perfectionism to scare us into not doing anything at all
- Do not focus on blaming others, or corporations, for our climate crisis.
- It is everyone’s responsibility to make better decisions for a better planet
- Every family is unique. Do not compare your eco parenting style to someone else’s
- We have to check our privileges. What is obvious and attainable for us, may not be possible, accessible, or even a valid concern for another family.
10 Eco Parenting Tips to Help Busy Moms
Here are some eco parenting tips I’ve incorporated into my lifestyle!
1. Buy less
I talked more about this tip earlier in the blog post. Buying less is one of the biggest ways to make a difference on our planet. According to the USDA, we spend about $13,000 a year raising a child. This calculation is only done to the age of 18. However, just because your child turns 18 doesn’t necessarily mean the spending stops there either!
This calculation was done based on the basic needs of a child. Often, we buy things over and beyond our child’s needs. To help you buy less and buy only what is necessary, try to use the questions listed above to decide what is truly necessary to purchase.
This is something I am actively working on. I have two young kids, I run a blog and I work full-time. I’m a busy mom, like most of us. Sometimes, I find myself buying my kids things just to keep them entertained, or because I feel guilty for being away working, or because I haven’t bought them anything new in a while, or because I think this “thing” will save us so much time or make my life so much easier. Can you relate to that? While I’m not saying it is never appropriate to buy for your child above their basic necessities, we have the power to control how much we buy and how often.
Check out this blog post on 19 things I no longer buy for my family.
2. Buy second hand
Honest truth: I used to be embarrassed at how much I enjoyed thrifting! Growing up, thrifting was associated with not being able to afford to purchase new. Being able to purchase something new came with a sense of pride. The type and quality of clothing worn were a status symbol.
This is similar to our mindset as a society – newer, bigger, better. The idea of choosing things second-hand first is counter-cultural and not always easy for families to adapt to their life. We always want the best for our kids and when we think of “the best”, thrifting doesn’t always come to mind.
Although these things may not be new, they’re new to you! What’s more, they didn’t require any more virgin materials to be extracted from the Earth to make! In an EPA study, it is evident that the rate of landfilled textiles is increasing much faster than the rate of recycled clothing. See the chart here.
3. Choosing non-toxic cleaning supplies
Removing toxins from our life is a goal we should strive for whether or not we have kids. However, bringing a new human into the world is an even better reason to take a look at what you have in your home and reduce the toxins.
One of the best ways to tackle the toxins in your home is to take a look at your cleaning supplies! Some of my favorite products are purchased at Grove Collaborative. Grove allows you to choose from natural, non-toxic items and have them shipped straight to your home. These products can be sent to you monthly, bi-monthly, or however often you need them. Click here to receive a Grove sustainable starter set for FREE with your 1st purchase of $30 or more.
If you’re not sure if you’re using toxic cleaning supplies in your home, consider how you feel after you’re using the products. For me, when I use a toxic product I immediately get a headache and there is often a strong smell that causes me to want to open the windows.
Get Your FREE Grove earth-friendly cleaning set with your 1st purchase of $20+
Here are some of my favorite non-toxic household products for cleaning:
- Baking Soda
- Meliora Laundry Powder
- Meliora All Purpose Home Cleaner
- Thieves Household Cleaner
- Meliora Home Cleaning Scrub
- Soy Candles
- Essential Oils
4. Shopping for sustainable clothing
When do choose to buy new, can you find a sustainable source?
This is again something we’re working on for our family. This time around, the clothing options I chose for my daughter when she was born were much more sustainable. There is a noticeable difference when you purchase quality clothing. It lasts better for longer, helping to reduce our desire to purchase more to replace that item. In addition, these items often make excellent items to pass to family and friends or younger children because they are still in great condition.
Here is a blog post with a ton of recommendations for organic, ethical, and eco-friendly clothing recommendations.
Here is a blog post with recommendations for summer eco-friendly swaps for kids!
5. Plan
I know that planning isn’t for everyone, but for me, planning is essential to maintaining a sustainable lifestyle with my family. Things like remembering our reusable straws, bringing our reusable bags, choosing experiences over toys, etc. revolve around planning.
When eco parenting, try to incorporate plans to prevent you from being in a position where you have to make unsustainable choices. For example, when I’m rushing to get out the door with my kids and I don’t properly pack our bag and plan, I completely forget my reusables and end up having to buy water and snacks instead of bringing my own. To decrease waste, I prefer to bring reusable water bottles and containers with snacks for the car ride.
Check out these blog posts to help you plan:
- How to Create a To Do List That Actually Motivates You
- Organization and Time Management Strategies
- 19 Practical Eco Parenting Affirmations For Imperfect Sustainable Parents
6. Cloth diaper/use less disposables
Cloth diapering is better for your baby’s skin, and the environment, and much cheaper than disposable diapers. Every disposable diaper ever used is most likely still sitting in the landfill. In addition, disposable diapers contain chemicals and toxins that irritate your child’s skin and contribute to diaper rash.
If you’re looking for more information about cloth diapers, download my FREE cloth diaper e-book!
Also, check out these blog posts:
- The Ultimate Guide to Cloth Diapering
- The Best Way to Deal With Poop In Cloth Diapers
- Pocket Cloth Diaper Tutorial
- Overcoming the Stigma of Cloth Diapers
7. Research
As I stated before, eco parenting is hard. One of the hardest parts for me personally is the research. However, research is imperative to making informed, eco-friendly decisions. Research can begin with a simple search engine search on Google, Ecosia, or Pinterest. You can also browse my blog for more eco-conscious living tips!
I was raised valuing education. Our family motto was knowledge is power. This motto is something I hold near and dear to my heart and fuels the success of my eco parenting journey.
8. Make your own food
Another way to decrease the number of toxins in your family is by making your own food more often. Often times we don’t know (or even think about!) where our food comes from. Unless we have specific food allergies or are dieting, we also don’t often think about what was added to our food before we eat it.
By making your own food you are not only in control of what you are adding to your family’s food, but also decreasing your greenhouse gas emissions. Making your own food reduces waste and the miles your food may have traveled to get to your plate.
9. Use what you have
This is where you can get creative! By using what you already have at home you are eliminating your need to buy more. We all know about reduce, reuse, recycle, but there are a few more “R’s” that we don’t always talk about. These include refuse, repair, and repurpose.
Instead of immediately going out to buy something new, can you challenge yourself to find a way to use what you have instead?
10. Model environmentalism
This is my favorite tip! Modeling environmentalism is so incredibly important to eco parenting. We want to raise informed, conscious, and Earth-loving children who will protect the planet for the future.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about eco parenting tips and can incorporate them in your busy lives.
Have you considered eco parenting? Would you consider yourself an eco parent? Any eco parenting tips you would like to share? I love to hear from you!
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