Prior to having my son, I was working diligently towards zero waste for my household. I’d done well switching to zero waste cosmetics, using reusable produce bags for bulk foods, and taking advantage of our farmer’s market for organic produce and other groceries. I’d use reusuable shopping bags for all purchases, plus take my water bottle, stainless steel straw, and utensils with me everywhere. I even purchased a stainless steel dispenser for our drinking water. I’ve continued some of my zero waste practices, yet once my son was born things changed a lot. It became extremely difficult to maintain zero waste.
Birth
When you decide to have a baby, you’re already inviting disposable waste into your life. I had planned a home birth. The supplies needed for the home birth included many one time use disposable items such as gloves, trash bags, the plastic liner for the birthing tub, and bleach for sanitation purposes. These were only some of the items requested by my midwife as apart of our birthing kit.
Despite planning a home birth, due to complications we ended up delivering in the hospital which contributed to more disposable waste. You can read my birth story here. Hospitals use a lot of plastic and disposables for sanitation purposes etc. This is necessary so I’m not going to complain about it. I’m just sharing my experience since zero waste is also about refusing plastic and disposable waste even when away from home.
Once we had brought our son home, I made more adjustments that leaned away from zero waste. Being insanely exhausted, I wasn’t going to complain about take out containers or the plastic packaging of food and groceries bought for us. At that time there was too much going on to be particular. We needed help, and we were grateful to have it.
Under 2
Now as a new mom, I’ve ordered more new items online than I’d like to admit. I do my best to make organic and ecofriendly purchases, yet they are still new items. I no longer have the time to run multiple errands to find one particular item. The time and effort it takes to be out and about with a baby needs to be productive. Online orders often have excessive packaging, but it’s the most time efficient and convenient way to shop. I actually reuse as much of this packaging for shipping my organic skin care line AZUHA to customers, but I can’t always use everything.
What I’ve succeeded in doing is minimizing necessities altogether. Having a minimalist philosophy for so many years now has helped tremendously. I actually shared my 25 Minimalist Baby Necessities-The 1st Year. Cloth diapering, breastfeeding, and elimination communication also greatly minimize waste while saving a ton of money.
We lucked up on finding a children’s consignment shop which has been an ecofriendly and economical lifesaver. I’ve found great items at Goodwill or The Discovery Shop as well. Most of my son’s clothing (just like my own) looks practically new, but is secondhand. We’ve also found books, a baby carrier that my husband used, wooden toys, a playpen, and a high chair secondhand.
Inspiration
I haven’t seen many women in the zero waste community with very young children, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. It honestly would have been really nice to have the inspiration. When my son reaches the age of two, I’m hoping for a bit more flexibility, and to be able to get back on a truly zero waste path. In the meantime I plan to continue with any zero waste principles that I can. It’s always helpful when your entire household is committed to zero waste too.
Do you know any mothers with young children under the age of two doing zero waste?
(Image by Dawn Michelle)
nofixedstars says
well, when you think about it, mothers have been rearing babies and kids forever in a zero waste context… prior to the invention of plastics, and the modern single-use/disposable mentality created and sustained by marketing, most people just lived a low to no waste lifestyle. it was the only option. purchases were wrapped in paper or muslin and string; in some cases, leaves. there were whole occupations based on collecting household “waste” for re-use, and on repairing worn or broken items. rag-men (for patching, insulation, re-spinning, paper production, etc), bone collectors (for charcoal and finings production), tinkers (metal menders), etc made their rounds in cities and through the countryside. cobblers and dressmakers not only made new shoes and garments—they repaired and altered old ones. even used kitchen fats and candle ends were collected/sold for re-use in various ways. at festivals, food vendors sold their goods on/in edible containers (bread slices, pastry, ice cream cones,) unwrapped or paper-wrapped, or for things such as beverages or soft foods, provided them in cups/glasses/bowls/spoons that were handed back after consumption nearby.
in our modern world, though, we lack ready access to quality re-use streams. our whole environment, especially in urban centres, has been made into a throw-away paradigm. we are utterly unfamiliar with zero-waste as a society, and public spaces especially make no provision for it. by moving towards no-waste at home, and by carrying reusable items out with you, you are already doing a great deal towards changing the paradigm and minimising your personal footprint. we all make trade-offs on occasion for temporary ease, sanity, or low-energy levels; but doing it consciously and deliberately ensures that it doesn’t become a habit. your child will grow up with a different mindset than the single-use culture, so he will know that a different way is possible and desirable, and that is a HUGE positive impact in itself. 🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi nofixedstars,
Thank you for the encouragement and for your awesome comment! Our society no longer caters to reuse and minimizing waste. It is very challenging to go against the norm, yet it never stops me from trying.
I was just thinking the other day how much money and waste our family has saved by using the same organic cloth diapers since my son was born. Also frequenting consignment shops for our other needs has been extremely helpful. Teaching my son a more conscious and minimalist way of living is definitely the goal too.
Stephanie L says
Dawn it is so refreshing to have an honest mothers perspective on this subject.
Zero waste has its place in many areas but the health of a delivering mother and baby for example is a situation I feel “waste” is allowed.
Think of it this way Dawn, you have more than balanced out any waste you created by the way you live. Your DIY products, your cloth diapering, purchasing used clothing, not purchasing plastic wrapped/packaged cosmetics all remove waste from landfills. If we piled everything up that resulted from your hospital/delivery it would be a much tinier pile than the pile you would have if you did not live consciously!
I feel that any waste reduction should be celebrated and you have done an outstanding job reducing your waste and I think you should be praised for your effort even if you are not 100 percent zero waste. Truly the term “zero waste” is daunting to many people and I believe it discourages people from even trying to reduce their waste. So bravo! Keep up your fantastic efforts
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Stephanie L,
I think you are so right about the term “zero waste” being daunting. Not everyone can manage to live with only making a single glass jar of waste annually. Someone mentioned to me the term “low waste lifestyle” and that is much more realistic in many ways. There are different seasons in everyone’s lives which must be considered despite the goals we have. I truly appreciate your encouragement!
Chelsea says
Zero Waste Nerd and The Rogue Ginger both have small children. If you’re interested, we have a pretty great zero waste Facebook group in LA. There are lots of parents with young children in the group. https://m.facebook.com/groups/1052894921433350?ref=bookmarks
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Chelsea,
Thanks so much for sharing this! I hope you are having an amazing week.