Save Resources and Money
- What: Environmentally friendly alternatives for parents
- When: Birth to 10 years
- Why: Environmentally friendly, affordable
- Where: Your home
Looking to celebrate the month of March by going green? Try one or more of these environmentally friendly ideas for your kids.
Make baby food: Preparing your own baby food means less packaging and fresher food for your baby. It takes more time (depending on how long you spend shopping and how far away you live from the store), but your infant also gets fresher food and you know exactly what ingredients go into each meal. Invest in a solid immersion blender, you can use long past the baby years and a set of containers that serve multiple purposes, too, and you can start today. Even one meal a week makes a difference.

IKEA Pruta containers work great for making, storing, and serving your own baby food.
Cloth diapers: Even if you only use one cloth diaper a day, it helps with the amount of waste going into landfills. You don’t have to commit to only cloth diapers. You can use a couple on weekends, for training pants, or overnight, when disposables just won’t do anyway. Or buy a reusable swim diaper instead of disposables and never worry about running out.

Using cloth diapers can save you money and helps the environment.
Reusable lunch boxes: Once your kid starts school, you start packing lunches. Invest in a sturdy set of lunch boxes and insulated bags to avoid tossing out plastic sandwich and snack bags on a daily basis.
Go for fresh fruits: Fresh fruits make great snacks. Plus they come in their own handy to go container, often without any extra packaging. Looking for some easy kid friendly options? Bananas work great if they don’t get squished. Apples can be pre-sliced or cut into strips to appeal to kids. And oranges are the ultimate snack on the go. The peel keeps them fruit protected, and offers a fun way to keep kids busy. You can help younger kids by starting the peeling for them, or adding fun shapes or designs by peeling select pieces.

Apples make great packaging free snacks on the go.
Pack plain water: Not only is it better for your kids, it’s easy and fun to pack water when you use one of these awesome water bottles. Instead of tossing in a juice box or milk in yet more packaging, reuse these water bottles for school, the park, travel, visits to the beach, and more.